diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/255-cloudfront_distribution_create_wait_crash.yml b/changelogs/fragments/255-cloudfront_distribution_create_wait_crash.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1ea1f943c66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/255-cloudfront_distribution_create_wait_crash.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - cloudfront_distribution - no longer crashes when waiting for completion of creation (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.aws/issues/255).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/cloudfront_distribution.py b/plugins/modules/cloudfront_distribution.py
index 26cdc02336d..db6375ca1fb 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/cloudfront_distribution.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/cloudfront_distribution.py
@@ -2316,7 +2316,8 @@ def validate_distribution_id_from_alias(self, aliases):
 
     def wait_until_processed(self, client, wait_timeout, distribution_id, caller_reference):
         if distribution_id is None:
-            distribution_id = self.validate_distribution_from_caller_reference(caller_reference=caller_reference)["Id"]
+            distribution = self.validate_distribution_from_caller_reference(caller_reference=caller_reference)
+            distribution_id = distribution["Distribution"]["Id"]
 
         try:
             waiter = client.get_waiter("distribution_deployed")