diff --git a/.changelog/35736.txt b/.changelog/35736.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..70b588cb4d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/35736.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+resource/aws_eks_access_policy_association: Retry IAM eventual consistency errors on create
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/service/eks/access_policy_association.go b/internal/service/eks/access_policy_association.go
index e7c532178b31..be91b69eca6c 100644
--- a/internal/service/eks/access_policy_association.go
+++ b/internal/service/eks/access_policy_association.go
@@ -111,7 +111,9 @@ func resourceAccessPolicyAssociationCreate(ctx context.Context, d *schema.Resour
 		PrincipalArn: aws.String(principalARN),
 	}
 
-	_, err := conn.AssociateAccessPolicy(ctx, input)
+	_, err := tfresource.RetryWhenIsAErrorMessageContains[*types.ResourceNotFoundException](ctx, propagationTimeout, func() (interface{}, error) {
+		return conn.AssociateAccessPolicy(ctx, input)
+	}, "The specified principalArn could not be found")
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return sdkdiag.AppendErrorf(diags, "creating EKS Access Policy Association (%s): %s", id, err)