diff --git a/awsshell/resource/index.py b/awsshell/resource/index.py
index dd0366f..0dbff75 100644
--- a/awsshell/resource/index.py
+++ b/awsshell/resource/index.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import jmespath
 from botocore import xform_name
+from botocore.exceptions import BotoCoreError
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -221,11 +222,21 @@ def retrieve_candidate_values(self, service, operation, param):
         # param='InstanceIds'.
         if service not in self._describer_creator.services_with_completions():
             return []
-        client = self._client_creator.create_client(service)
+        try:
+            client = self._client_creator.create_client(service)
+        except BotoCoreError as e:
+            # create_client() could raise an exception if the session
+            # isn't fully configured (say it's missing a region).
+            # However, we don't want to turn off all server side
+            # completions because it's still possible to create
+            # clients for some services without a region, e.g. IAM.
+            LOG.debug("Error when trying to create a client for %s",
+                      service, exc_info=True)
+            return []
         api_operation_name = client.meta.method_to_api_mapping.get(
             operation.replace('-', '_'))
         if api_operation_name is None:
-            return
+            return []
         # Now we need to convert the param name to the
         # casing used by the API.
         completer = self._describer_creator.create_completer_query(service)
@@ -235,7 +246,9 @@ def retrieve_candidate_values(self, service, operation, param):
             return
         try:
             response = getattr(client, xform_name(result.operation, '_'))()
-        except Exception:
+        except Exception as e:
+            LOG.debug("Error when calling %s.%s: %s", service,
+                      result.operation, e, exc_info=True)
             return
         results = jmespath.search(result.path, response)
         return results
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_resources.py b/tests/unit/test_resources.py
index d006c37..d02c35d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_resources.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_resources.py
@@ -1,8 +1,23 @@
 """Index and retrive information from the resource JSON."""
 import pytest
+import mock
+
+from botocore.exceptions import NoRegionError
+
 from awsshell.resource import index
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def describer_creator():
+    class FakeDescriberCreator(object):
+        SERVICES = ['ec2']
+
+        def services_with_completions(self):
+            return self.SERVICES
+
+    return FakeDescriberCreator()
+
+
 def test_build_from_has_many():
     resource = {
         'service': {
@@ -211,14 +226,42 @@ def services_with_completions(self):
     assert factory.create_completer_query('ec2') == result
 
 
-def test_empty_results_returned_when_no_completion_data_exists():
-    class FakeDescriberCreator(object):
-        def services_with_completions(self):
-            return []
+def test_empty_results_returned_when_no_completion_data_exists(describer_creator):
+    describer_creator.SERVICES = []
 
     completer = index.ServerSideCompleter(
         client_creator=None,
-        describer_creator=FakeDescriberCreator()
+        describer_creator=describer_creator,
     )
     assert completer.retrieve_candidate_values(
         'ec2', 'run-instances', 'ImageId') == []
+
+
+def test_no_completions_when_cant_create_client(describer_creator):
+    client_creator = mock.Mock(spec=index.CachedClientCreator)
+    # This is raised when you don't have a region configured via config file
+    # env var or manually via a session.
+    client_creator.create_client.side_effect = NoRegionError()
+    completer = index.ServerSideCompleter(
+        client_creator=client_creator,
+        describer_creator=describer_creator)
+
+    assert completer.retrieve_candidate_values(
+        'ec2', 'foo', 'Bar') == []
+
+
+def test_no_completions_returned_on_unknown_operation(describer_creator):
+    client = mock.Mock()
+    client_creator = mock.Mock(spec=index.CachedClientCreator)
+    client_creator.create_client.return_value = client
+
+    client.meta.method_to_api_mapping = {
+        'describe_foo': 'DescribeFoo'
+    }
+
+    completer = index.ServerSideCompleter(
+        client_creator=client_creator,
+        describer_creator=describer_creator)
+
+    assert completer.retrieve_candidate_values(
+        'ec2', 'not_describe_foo', 'Bar') == []