diff --git a/kong/db/dao/plugins.lua b/kong/db/dao/plugins.lua
index 9bf8447ef047..f05c31d677a2 100644
--- a/kong/db/dao/plugins.lua
+++ b/kong/db/dao/plugins.lua
@@ -355,29 +355,5 @@ function Plugins:get_handlers()
   return list
 end
 
-function Plugins:execute_plugin_init()
-  local handlers, err = self:get_handlers()
-  if not handlers then
-    return nil, err
-  end
-
-  local errors
-
-  for _, handler in ipairs(handlers) do
-    if implements(handler.handler, "init") then
-      local ok, err = pcall(handler.handler.init, handler.handler)
-      if not ok then
-        errors = errors or {}
-        errors[#errors + 1] = "on plugin '" .. handler.name .. "': " .. tostring(err)
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  if errors then
-    return nil, "error executing plugin init: " .. table.concat(errors, "; ")
-  end
-
-  return true
-end
 
 return Plugins
diff --git a/kong/init.lua b/kong/init.lua
index 5bb4aa68c97a..f158c0b0358f 100644
--- a/kong/init.lua
+++ b/kong/init.lua
@@ -627,8 +627,6 @@ function Kong.init()
   -- Load plugins as late as possible so that everything is set up
   assert(db.plugins:load_plugin_schemas(config.loaded_plugins))
 
-  assert(db.plugins:execute_plugin_init())
-
   if is_stream_module then
     stream_api.load_handlers()
   end
diff --git a/kong/plugins/aws-lambda/handler.lua b/kong/plugins/aws-lambda/handler.lua
index 3b791b1fbc75..b04efa26d826 100644
--- a/kong/plugins/aws-lambda/handler.lua
+++ b/kong/plugins/aws-lambda/handler.lua
@@ -16,10 +16,9 @@ local build_request_payload = request_util.build_request_payload
 local extract_proxy_response = request_util.extract_proxy_response
 
 local aws = require("resty.aws")
-local AWS_GLOBAL_CONFIG
-local AWS_REGION do
-  AWS_REGION = os.getenv("AWS_REGION") or os.getenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION")
-end
+local aws_config = require("resty.aws.config")
+-- Fetch and cache env vars during init phase
+local AWS_GLOBAL_CONFIG = aws_config.get_config()
 local AWS
 local LAMBDA_SERVICE_CACHE = setmetatable({}, { __mode = "k" })
 
@@ -35,20 +34,27 @@ local AWSLambdaHandler = {
   VERSION = meta.version
 }
 
-function AWSLambdaHandler:init()
-  AWS_GLOBAL_CONFIG = require("resty.aws.config").global
-  AWS = aws()
-end
-
 
 function AWSLambdaHandler:access(conf)
   -- The region in plugin configuraion has higher priority
   -- than the one in environment variable
-  local region = conf.aws_region or AWS_REGION
+  local region = conf.aws_region or AWS_GLOBAL_CONFIG.region
   if not region then
     return error("no region specified")
   end
 
+  if not aws_config.global then
+    -- Fetch region from metadata service, or from
+    -- environment variable
+    AWS_GLOBAL_CONFIG = require("resty.aws.config").global
+  end
+
+  if not AWS then
+    AWS = aws({
+      region = region
+    })
+  end
+
   local host = conf.host or fmt("lambda.%s.amazonaws.com", region)
 
   local port = conf.port or 443