diff --git a/libraries/aws_backend.rb b/libraries/aws_backend.rb
index b8aa00cc9..910d89ab2 100644
--- a/libraries/aws_backend.rb
+++ b/libraries/aws_backend.rb
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ def initialize(params)
 
   def aws_client(klass)
     # TODO: make this a dict with keys of klass.to_s.to_sym such that we can send different args per client in cases such as EC2 instance that use multiple different clients
+
+    # @client_args[:stub_data][:client] ||= klass if @client_args[:stub_data].present?
+    if @client_args && @client_args[:resource_data] && !@client_args[:resource_data].empty?
+      return AwsMockResource.new(@client_args[:resource_data])
+    end
     return @cache[klass.to_s.to_sym] ||= klass.new(@client_args) if @client_args
     @cache[klass.to_s.to_sym] ||= klass.new
   end
@@ -331,6 +336,20 @@ def waf_client
   end
 end
 
+class AwsMockResource
+  def initialize(opts)
+    @opts = opts
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  attr_reader :opts
+
+  def method_missing(_symbol, *_args)
+    [opts[:resource_data]]
+  end
+end
+
 # Base class for AWS resources
 #
 class AwsResourceBase < Inspec.resource(1)
@@ -354,6 +373,13 @@ def initialize(opts)
       client_args[:client_args][:retry_limit] = opts[:aws_retry_limit] if opts[:aws_retry_limit]
       client_args[:client_args][:retry_backoff] = "lambda { |c| sleep(#{opts[:aws_retry_backoff]}) }" if opts[:aws_retry_backoff]
       # this catches the stub_data true option for unit testing - and others that could be useful for consumers
+      if @opts.key?(:resource_data)
+        @opts[:resource_data] = @opts[:resource_data].to_h
+      end
+      if @opts[:resource_data] && !@opts[:resource_data].empty?
+        client_args[:client_args][:stub_responses] = true
+        client_args[:client_args][:resource_data] = @opts[:resource_data]
+      end
       client_args[:client_args].update(opts[:client_args]) if opts[:client_args]
 
       @resource_data = opts[:resource_data].presence&.to_h
diff --git a/libraries/aws_ec2_instance.rb b/libraries/aws_ec2_instance.rb
index 596b8a276..06d7af894 100644
--- a/libraries/aws_ec2_instance.rb
+++ b/libraries/aws_ec2_instance.rb
@@ -23,21 +23,23 @@ def initialize(opts = {})
     super(opts)
     validate_parameters(require_any_of: %i(instance_id name))
 
-    if opts[:instance_id] && !opts[:instance_id].empty? # Use instance_id, if provided
-      if !opts[:instance_id].is_a?(String) || opts[:instance_id] !~ /(^i-[0-9a-f]{8})|(^i-[0-9a-f]{17})$/
-        raise ArgumentError, "#{@__resource_name__}: `instance_id` must be a string in the format of 'i-' followed by 8 or 17 hexadecimal characters."
+    if !opts[:resource_data]
+      if opts[:instance_id] && !opts[:instance_id].empty? # Use instance_id, if provided
+        if !opts[:instance_id].is_a?(String) || opts[:instance_id] !~ /(^i-[0-9a-f]{8})|(^i-[0-9a-f]{17})$/
+          raise ArgumentError, "#{@__resource_name__}: `instance_id` must be a string in the format of 'i-' followed by 8 or 17 hexadecimal characters."
+        end
+        @display_name = opts[:instance_id]
+        instance_arguments = { instance_ids: [opts[:instance_id]] }
+      elsif opts[:name] && !opts[:name].empty? # Otherwise use name, if provided
+        @display_name = opts[:name]
+        instance_arguments = { filters: [{ name: 'tag:Name', values: [opts[:name]] }] }
+      else
+        raise ArgumentError, "#{@__resource_name__}: either instance_id or name must be provided."
       end
-      @display_name = opts[:instance_id]
-      instance_arguments = { instance_ids: [opts[:instance_id]] }
-    elsif opts[:name] && !opts[:name].empty? # Otherwise use name, if provided
-      @display_name = opts[:name]
-      instance_arguments = { filters: [{ name: 'tag:Name', values: [opts[:name]] }] }
-    else
-      raise ArgumentError, "#{@__resource_name__}: either instance_id or name must be provided."
     end
 
     catch_aws_errors do
-      resp = @aws.compute_client.describe_instances(instance_arguments)
+      resp = opts[:resource_data] || @aws.compute_client.describe_instances(instance_arguments)
       if resp.reservations.first.nil? || resp.reservations.first.instances.first.nil?
         empty_response_warn
         return