diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource-provider/index.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource-provider/index.ts
index 99b97a74578b9..b962cc2cc7ea3 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource-provider/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource-provider/index.ts
@@ -62,11 +62,18 @@ export async function handler(event: AWSLambda.CloudFormationCustomResourceEvent
     const call: AwsSdkCall | undefined = event.ResourceProperties[event.RequestType];
 
     if (call) {
-      const awsService = new (AWS as any)[call.service](call.apiVersion && { apiVersion: call.apiVersion });
+      const awsService = new (AWS as any)[call.service]({
+        apiVersion: call.apiVersion,
+        region: call.region,
+      });
 
       try {
         const response = await awsService[call.action](call.parameters && decodeBooleans(call.parameters)).promise();
-        flatData = flatten(response);
+        flatData = {
+          apiVersion: awsService.config.apiVersion, // For test purposes: check if apiVersion was correctly passed.
+          region: awsService.config.region, // For test purposes: check if region was correctly passed.
+          ...flatten(response),
+        };
         data = call.outputPath
           ? filterKeys(flatData, k => k.startsWith(call.outputPath!))
           : flatData;
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource.ts
index 064de0584f135..bf23fa7e2c973 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/aws-custom-resource.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export interface AwsSdkCall {
    * resource id. Either `physicalResourceId` or `physicalResourceIdPath`
    * must be specified for onCreate or onUpdate calls.
    *
-   * @default no path
+   * @default - no path
    */
   readonly physicalResourceIdPath?: string;
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export interface AwsSdkCall {
    * `physicalResourceId` or `physicalResourceIdPath` must be specified for
    * onCreate or onUpdate calls.
    *
-   * @default no physical resource id
+   * @default - no physical resource id
    */
   readonly physicalResourceId?: string;
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export interface AwsSdkCall {
    * `Error` object will be tested against this pattern. If there is a match an
    * error will not be thrown.
    *
-   * @default do not catch errors
+   * @default - do not catch errors
    */
   readonly catchErrorPattern?: string;
 
@@ -68,10 +68,19 @@ export interface AwsSdkCall {
    * API version to use for the service
    *
    * @see https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/locking-api-versions.html
-   * @default use latest available API version
+   * @default - use latest available API version
    */
   readonly apiVersion?: string;
 
+  /**
+   * The region to send service requests to.
+   * **Note: Cross-region operations are generally considered an anti-pattern.**
+   * **Consider first deploying a stack in that region.**
+   *
+   * @default - the region where this custom resource is deployed
+   */
+  readonly region?: string;
+
   /**
    * Restrict the data returned by the custom resource to a specific path in
    * the API response. Use this to limit the data returned by the custom
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/sdk-api-metadata.json b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/sdk-api-metadata.json
deleted file mode 100644
index e8fa54a288461..0000000000000
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/lib/sdk-api-metadata.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,770 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "acm": {
-    "name": "ACM",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "apigateway": {
-    "name": "APIGateway",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "applicationautoscaling": {
-    "prefix": "application-autoscaling",
-    "name": "ApplicationAutoScaling",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "appstream": {
-    "name": "AppStream"
-  },
-  "autoscaling": {
-    "name": "AutoScaling",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "batch": {
-    "name": "Batch"
-  },
-  "budgets": {
-    "name": "Budgets"
-  },
-  "clouddirectory": {
-    "name": "CloudDirectory",
-    "versions": [
-      "2016-05-10*"
-    ]
-  },
-  "cloudformation": {
-    "name": "CloudFormation",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cloudfront": {
-    "name": "CloudFront",
-    "versions": [
-      "2013-05-12*",
-      "2013-11-11*",
-      "2014-05-31*",
-      "2014-10-21*",
-      "2014-11-06*",
-      "2015-04-17*",
-      "2015-07-27*",
-      "2015-09-17*",
-      "2016-01-13*",
-      "2016-01-28*",
-      "2016-08-01*",
-      "2016-08-20*",
-      "2016-09-07*",
-      "2016-09-29*",
-      "2016-11-25*",
-      "2017-03-25*",
-      "2017-10-30*",
-      "2018-06-18*",
-      "2018-11-05*"
-    ],
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cloudhsm": {
-    "name": "CloudHSM",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cloudsearch": {
-    "name": "CloudSearch"
-  },
-  "cloudsearchdomain": {
-    "name": "CloudSearchDomain"
-  },
-  "cloudtrail": {
-    "name": "CloudTrail",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cloudwatch": {
-    "prefix": "monitoring",
-    "name": "CloudWatch",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cloudwatchevents": {
-    "prefix": "events",
-    "name": "CloudWatchEvents",
-    "versions": [
-      "2014-02-03*"
-    ],
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cloudwatchlogs": {
-    "prefix": "logs",
-    "name": "CloudWatchLogs",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "codebuild": {
-    "name": "CodeBuild",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "codecommit": {
-    "name": "CodeCommit",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "codedeploy": {
-    "name": "CodeDeploy",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "codepipeline": {
-    "name": "CodePipeline",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cognitoidentity": {
-    "prefix": "cognito-identity",
-    "name": "CognitoIdentity",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cognitoidentityserviceprovider": {
-    "prefix": "cognito-idp",
-    "name": "CognitoIdentityServiceProvider",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cognitosync": {
-    "prefix": "cognito-sync",
-    "name": "CognitoSync",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "configservice": {
-    "prefix": "config",
-    "name": "ConfigService",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "cur": {
-    "name": "CUR",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "datapipeline": {
-    "name": "DataPipeline"
-  },
-  "devicefarm": {
-    "name": "DeviceFarm",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "directconnect": {
-    "name": "DirectConnect",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "directoryservice": {
-    "prefix": "ds",
-    "name": "DirectoryService"
-  },
-  "discovery": {
-    "name": "Discovery"
-  },
-  "dms": {
-    "name": "DMS"
-  },
-  "dynamodb": {
-    "name": "DynamoDB",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "dynamodbstreams": {
-    "prefix": "streams.dynamodb",
-    "name": "DynamoDBStreams",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "ec2": {
-    "name": "EC2",
-    "versions": [
-      "2013-06-15*",
-      "2013-10-15*",
-      "2014-02-01*",
-      "2014-05-01*",
-      "2014-06-15*",
-      "2014-09-01*",
-      "2014-10-01*",
-      "2015-03-01*",
-      "2015-04-15*",
-      "2015-10-01*",
-      "2016-04-01*",
-      "2016-09-15*"
-    ],
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "ecr": {
-    "name": "ECR",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "ecs": {
-    "name": "ECS",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "efs": {
-    "prefix": "elasticfilesystem",
-    "name": "EFS",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "elasticache": {
-    "name": "ElastiCache",
-    "versions": [
-      "2012-11-15*",
-      "2014-03-24*",
-      "2014-07-15*",
-      "2014-09-30*"
-    ],
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "elasticbeanstalk": {
-    "name": "ElasticBeanstalk",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "elb": {
-    "prefix": "elasticloadbalancing",
-    "name": "ELB",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "elbv2": {
-    "prefix": "elasticloadbalancingv2",
-    "name": "ELBv2",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "emr": {
-    "prefix": "elasticmapreduce",
-    "name": "EMR",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "es": {
-    "name": "ES"
-  },
-  "elastictranscoder": {
-    "name": "ElasticTranscoder",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "firehose": {
-    "name": "Firehose",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "gamelift": {
-    "name": "GameLift",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "glacier": {
-    "name": "Glacier"
-  },
-  "health": {
-    "name": "Health"
-  },
-  "iam": {
-    "name": "IAM",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "importexport": {
-    "name": "ImportExport"
-  },
-  "inspector": {
-    "name": "Inspector",
-    "versions": [
-      "2015-08-18*"
-    ],
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "iot": {
-    "name": "Iot",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "iotdata": {
-    "prefix": "iot-data",
-    "name": "IotData",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "kinesis": {
-    "name": "Kinesis",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "kinesisanalytics": {
-    "name": "KinesisAnalytics"
-  },
-  "kms": {
-    "name": "KMS",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "lambda": {
-    "name": "Lambda",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "lexruntime": {
-    "prefix": "runtime.lex",
-    "name": "LexRuntime",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "lightsail": {
-    "name": "Lightsail"
-  },
-  "machinelearning": {
-    "name": "MachineLearning",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "marketplacecommerceanalytics": {
-    "name": "MarketplaceCommerceAnalytics",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "marketplacemetering": {
-    "prefix": "meteringmarketplace",
-    "name": "MarketplaceMetering"
-  },
-  "mturk": {
-    "prefix": "mturk-requester",
-    "name": "MTurk",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "mobileanalytics": {
-    "name": "MobileAnalytics",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "opsworks": {
-    "name": "OpsWorks",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "opsworkscm": {
-    "name": "OpsWorksCM"
-  },
-  "organizations": {
-    "name": "Organizations"
-  },
-  "pinpoint": {
-    "name": "Pinpoint"
-  },
-  "polly": {
-    "name": "Polly",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "rds": {
-    "name": "RDS",
-    "versions": [
-      "2014-09-01*"
-    ],
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "redshift": {
-    "name": "Redshift",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "rekognition": {
-    "name": "Rekognition",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "resourcegroupstaggingapi": {
-    "name": "ResourceGroupsTaggingAPI"
-  },
-  "route53": {
-    "name": "Route53",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "route53domains": {
-    "name": "Route53Domains",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "s3": {
-    "name": "S3",
-    "dualstackAvailable": true,
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "s3control": {
-    "name": "S3Control",
-    "dualstackAvailable": true
-  },
-  "servicecatalog": {
-    "name": "ServiceCatalog",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "ses": {
-    "prefix": "email",
-    "name": "SES",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "shield": {
-    "name": "Shield"
-  },
-  "simpledb": {
-    "prefix": "sdb",
-    "name": "SimpleDB"
-  },
-  "sms": {
-    "name": "SMS"
-  },
-  "snowball": {
-    "name": "Snowball"
-  },
-  "sns": {
-    "name": "SNS",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "sqs": {
-    "name": "SQS",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "ssm": {
-    "name": "SSM",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "storagegateway": {
-    "name": "StorageGateway",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "stepfunctions": {
-    "prefix": "states",
-    "name": "StepFunctions"
-  },
-  "sts": {
-    "name": "STS",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "support": {
-    "name": "Support"
-  },
-  "swf": {
-    "name": "SWF"
-  },
-  "xray": {
-    "name": "XRay"
-  },
-  "waf": {
-    "name": "WAF",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "wafregional": {
-    "prefix": "waf-regional",
-    "name": "WAFRegional"
-  },
-  "workdocs": {
-    "name": "WorkDocs",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "workspaces": {
-    "name": "WorkSpaces"
-  },
-  "codestar": {
-    "name": "CodeStar"
-  },
-  "lexmodelbuildingservice": {
-    "prefix": "lex-models",
-    "name": "LexModelBuildingService",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "marketplaceentitlementservice": {
-    "prefix": "entitlement.marketplace",
-    "name": "MarketplaceEntitlementService"
-  },
-  "athena": {
-    "name": "Athena"
-  },
-  "greengrass": {
-    "name": "Greengrass"
-  },
-  "dax": {
-    "name": "DAX"
-  },
-  "migrationhub": {
-    "prefix": "AWSMigrationHub",
-    "name": "MigrationHub"
-  },
-  "cloudhsmv2": {
-    "name": "CloudHSMV2"
-  },
-  "glue": {
-    "name": "Glue"
-  },
-  "mobile": {
-    "name": "Mobile"
-  },
-  "pricing": {
-    "name": "Pricing",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "costexplorer": {
-    "prefix": "ce",
-    "name": "CostExplorer",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "mediaconvert": {
-    "name": "MediaConvert"
-  },
-  "medialive": {
-    "name": "MediaLive"
-  },
-  "mediapackage": {
-    "name": "MediaPackage"
-  },
-  "mediastore": {
-    "name": "MediaStore"
-  },
-  "mediastoredata": {
-    "prefix": "mediastore-data",
-    "name": "MediaStoreData",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "appsync": {
-    "name": "AppSync"
-  },
-  "guardduty": {
-    "name": "GuardDuty"
-  },
-  "mq": {
-    "name": "MQ"
-  },
-  "comprehend": {
-    "name": "Comprehend",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "iotjobsdataplane": {
-    "prefix": "iot-jobs-data",
-    "name": "IoTJobsDataPlane"
-  },
-  "kinesisvideoarchivedmedia": {
-    "prefix": "kinesis-video-archived-media",
-    "name": "KinesisVideoArchivedMedia",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "kinesisvideomedia": {
-    "prefix": "kinesis-video-media",
-    "name": "KinesisVideoMedia",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "kinesisvideo": {
-    "name": "KinesisVideo",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "sagemakerruntime": {
-    "prefix": "runtime.sagemaker",
-    "name": "SageMakerRuntime"
-  },
-  "sagemaker": {
-    "name": "SageMaker"
-  },
-  "translate": {
-    "name": "Translate",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "resourcegroups": {
-    "prefix": "resource-groups",
-    "name": "ResourceGroups",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "alexaforbusiness": {
-    "name": "AlexaForBusiness"
-  },
-  "cloud9": {
-    "name": "Cloud9"
-  },
-  "serverlessapplicationrepository": {
-    "prefix": "serverlessrepo",
-    "name": "ServerlessApplicationRepository"
-  },
-  "servicediscovery": {
-    "name": "ServiceDiscovery"
-  },
-  "workmail": {
-    "name": "WorkMail"
-  },
-  "autoscalingplans": {
-    "prefix": "autoscaling-plans",
-    "name": "AutoScalingPlans"
-  },
-  "transcribeservice": {
-    "prefix": "transcribe",
-    "name": "TranscribeService"
-  },
-  "connect": {
-    "name": "Connect"
-  },
-  "acmpca": {
-    "prefix": "acm-pca",
-    "name": "ACMPCA"
-  },
-  "fms": {
-    "name": "FMS"
-  },
-  "secretsmanager": {
-    "name": "SecretsManager",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "iotanalytics": {
-    "name": "IoTAnalytics"
-  },
-  "iot1clickdevicesservice": {
-    "prefix": "iot1click-devices",
-    "name": "IoT1ClickDevicesService"
-  },
-  "iot1clickprojects": {
-    "prefix": "iot1click-projects",
-    "name": "IoT1ClickProjects"
-  },
-  "pi": {
-    "name": "PI"
-  },
-  "neptune": {
-    "name": "Neptune"
-  },
-  "mediatailor": {
-    "name": "MediaTailor"
-  },
-  "eks": {
-    "name": "EKS"
-  },
-  "macie": {
-    "name": "Macie"
-  },
-  "dlm": {
-    "name": "DLM"
-  },
-  "signer": {
-    "name": "Signer"
-  },
-  "chime": {
-    "name": "Chime"
-  },
-  "pinpointemail": {
-    "prefix": "pinpoint-email",
-    "name": "PinpointEmail"
-  },
-  "ram": {
-    "name": "RAM"
-  },
-  "route53resolver": {
-    "name": "Route53Resolver"
-  },
-  "pinpointsmsvoice": {
-    "prefix": "sms-voice",
-    "name": "PinpointSMSVoice"
-  },
-  "quicksight": {
-    "name": "QuickSight"
-  },
-  "rdsdataservice": {
-    "prefix": "rds-data",
-    "name": "RDSDataService"
-  },
-  "amplify": {
-    "name": "Amplify"
-  },
-  "datasync": {
-    "name": "DataSync"
-  },
-  "robomaker": {
-    "name": "RoboMaker"
-  },
-  "transfer": {
-    "name": "Transfer"
-  },
-  "globalaccelerator": {
-    "name": "GlobalAccelerator"
-  },
-  "comprehendmedical": {
-    "name": "ComprehendMedical",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "kinesisanalyticsv2": {
-    "name": "KinesisAnalyticsV2"
-  },
-  "mediaconnect": {
-    "name": "MediaConnect"
-  },
-  "fsx": {
-    "name": "FSx"
-  },
-  "securityhub": {
-    "name": "SecurityHub"
-  },
-  "appmesh": {
-    "name": "AppMesh",
-    "versions": [
-      "2018-10-01*"
-    ]
-  },
-  "licensemanager": {
-    "prefix": "license-manager",
-    "name": "LicenseManager"
-  },
-  "kafka": {
-    "name": "Kafka"
-  },
-  "apigatewaymanagementapi": {
-    "name": "ApiGatewayManagementApi"
-  },
-  "apigatewayv2": {
-    "name": "ApiGatewayV2"
-  },
-  "docdb": {
-    "name": "DocDB"
-  },
-  "backup": {
-    "name": "Backup"
-  },
-  "worklink": {
-    "name": "WorkLink"
-  },
-  "textract": {
-    "name": "Textract"
-  },
-  "managedblockchain": {
-    "name": "ManagedBlockchain"
-  },
-  "mediapackagevod": {
-    "prefix": "mediapackage-vod",
-    "name": "MediaPackageVod"
-  },
-  "groundstation": {
-    "name": "GroundStation"
-  },
-  "iotthingsgraph": {
-    "name": "IoTThingsGraph"
-  },
-  "iotevents": {
-    "name": "IoTEvents"
-  },
-  "ioteventsdata": {
-    "prefix": "iotevents-data",
-    "name": "IoTEventsData"
-  },
-  "personalize": {
-    "name": "Personalize",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "personalizeevents": {
-    "prefix": "personalize-events",
-    "name": "PersonalizeEvents",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "personalizeruntime": {
-    "prefix": "personalize-runtime",
-    "name": "PersonalizeRuntime",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "applicationinsights": {
-    "prefix": "application-insights",
-    "name": "ApplicationInsights"
-  },
-  "servicequotas": {
-    "prefix": "service-quotas",
-    "name": "ServiceQuotas"
-  },
-  "ec2instanceconnect": {
-    "prefix": "ec2-instance-connect",
-    "name": "EC2InstanceConnect"
-  },
-  "eventbridge": {
-    "name": "EventBridge"
-  },
-  "lakeformation": {
-    "name": "LakeFormation"
-  },
-  "forecastservice": {
-    "prefix": "forecast",
-    "name": "ForecastService",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "forecastqueryservice": {
-    "prefix": "forecastquery",
-    "name": "ForecastQueryService",
-    "cors": true
-  },
-  "qldb": {
-    "name": "QLDB"
-  },
-  "qldbsession": {
-    "prefix": "qldb-session",
-    "name": "QLDBSession"
-  },
-  "workmailmessageflow": {
-    "name": "WorkMailMessageFlow"
-  }
-}
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/test/test.aws-custom-resource-provider.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/test/test.aws-custom-resource-provider.ts
index ce4e47d09adcd..010197f858603 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/test/test.aws-custom-resource-provider.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/custom-resources/test/test.aws-custom-resource-provider.ts
@@ -297,4 +297,41 @@ export = {
 
     test.done();
   },
+
+  async 'can specify apiVersion and region'(test: Test) {
+    const publishFake = sinon.fake.resolves({});
+
+    AWS.mock('SNS', 'publish', publishFake);
+
+    const event: AWSLambda.CloudFormationCustomResourceCreateEvent = {
+      ...eventCommon,
+      RequestType: 'Create',
+      ResourceProperties: {
+        ServiceToken: 'token',
+        Create: {
+          service: 'SNS',
+          action: 'publish',
+          parameters: {
+            Message: 'message',
+            TopicArn: 'topic'
+          },
+          apiVersion: '2010-03-31',
+          region: 'eu-west-1',
+          physicalResourceId: 'id',
+        } as AwsSdkCall
+      }
+    };
+
+    const request = createRequest(body =>
+      body.Status === 'SUCCESS' &&
+      body.Data!.apiVersion === '2010-03-31' &&
+      body.Data!.region === 'eu-west-1'
+    );
+
+    await handler(event, {} as AWSLambda.Context);
+
+    test.equal(request.isDone(), true);
+
+    test.done();
+  },
 };