diff --git a/google/resource_compute_target_pool.go b/google/resource_compute_target_pool.go
index 5fcf2655..9cef0f88 100644
--- a/google/resource_compute_target_pool.go
+++ b/google/resource_compute_target_pool.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 	"google.golang.org/api/compute/v1"
+	"google.golang.org/api/googleapi"
 )
 
 var instancesSelfLinkPattern = regexp.MustCompile(fmt.Sprintf(zonalLinkBasePattern, "instances"))
@@ -189,6 +190,9 @@ func resourceComputeTargetPoolCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) e
 	op, err := config.clientCompute.TargetPools.Insert(
 		project, region, tpool).Do()
 	if err != nil {
+		if gerr, ok := err.(*googleapi.Error); ok && gerr.Code == 404 && strings.Contains(gerr.Message, "httpHealthChecks") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Health check %s is not a valid HTTP health check", d.Get("health_checks").([]interface{})[0])
+		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("Error creating TargetPool: %s", err)
 	}