diff --git a/boto/ec2/instance.py b/boto/ec2/instance.py
index c84124cf4c..9e8aacf2dc 100644
--- a/boto/ec2/instance.py
+++ b/boto/ec2/instance.py
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ def get_attribute(self, attribute):
         :return: An InstanceAttribute object representing the value of the
                  attribute requested
         """
-        return self.connection.describe_attribute(self.id, attribute)
+        return self.connection.get_instance_attribute(self.id, attribute)
 
     def modify_attribute(self, attribute, value):
         """