diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d671f12d..89b23fc4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ MOCKGEN_VER := v0.4.0
 MOCKGEN_BIN := mockgen
 MOCKGEN := $(BIN_DIR)/$(MOCKGEN_BIN)-$(MOCKGEN_VER)
 
-GINKGO_VER := v2.22.0
+GINKGO_VER := v2.22.2
 GINKGO_BIN := ginkgo
 GINKGO := $(BIN_DIR)/$(GINKGO_BIN)-$(GINKGO_VER)
 
diff --git a/pkg/aks/check.go b/pkg/aks/check.go
index 33ecd39c..ff8576c4 100644
--- a/pkg/aks/check.go
+++ b/pkg/aks/check.go
@@ -175,3 +175,43 @@ func generateUniqueLogWorkspace(workspaceName string) string {
 	shaString := fmt.Sprintf("%x", hexHash)
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", s, shaString[0:16])
 }
+
+var aksRegionsWithAzSupport = map[string]bool{
+	"australiaeast":      true,
+	"brazilsouth":        true,
+	"canadacentral":      true,
+	"centralindia":       true,
+	"chinanorth3":        true,
+	"centralus":          true,
+	"eastasia":           true,
+	"eastus":             true,
+	"eastus2":            true,
+	"eastus2euap":        true,
+	"francecentral":      true,
+	"germanywestcentral": true,
+	"israelcentral":      true,
+	"italynorth":         true,
+	"japaneast":          true,
+	"koreacentral":       true,
+	"mexicocentral":      true,
+	"newzealandnorth":    true,
+	"northeurope":        true,
+	"norwayeast":         true,
+	"polandcentral":      true,
+	"qatarcentral":       true,
+	"southafricanorth":   true,
+	"southcentralus":     true,
+	"southeastasia":      true,
+	"spaincentral":       true,
+	"swedencentral":      true,
+	"switzerlandnorth":   true,
+	"uaenorth":           true,
+	"uksouth":            true,
+	"westeurope":         true,
+	"westus2":            true,
+	"westus3":            true,
+}
+
+func CheckAvailabilityZonesSupport(location string) bool {
+	return aksRegionsWithAzSupport[location]
+}
diff --git a/pkg/aks/check_test.go b/pkg/aks/check_test.go
index a2584246..4ba60bd5 100644
--- a/pkg/aks/check_test.go
+++ b/pkg/aks/check_test.go
@@ -120,3 +120,20 @@ var _ = Describe("CheckLogAnalyticsWorkspaceForMonitoring", func() {
 		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
 	})
 })
+
+var _ = Describe("CheckAvailabilityZonesSupport", func() {
+	var (
+		locationWithAZ    = "eastus"
+		locationWithoutAZ = "westus"
+	)
+
+	It("should success for region with availability zones", func() {
+		result := CheckAvailabilityZonesSupport(locationWithAZ)
+		Expect(result).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("should fail for region with availability zones", func() {
+		result := CheckAvailabilityZonesSupport(locationWithoutAZ)
+		Expect(result).To(BeFalse())
+	})
+})
diff --git a/pkg/aks/create.go b/pkg/aks/create.go
index 03765052..8bbfe007 100644
--- a/pkg/aks/create.go
+++ b/pkg/aks/create.go
@@ -173,6 +173,9 @@ func createManagedCluster(ctx context.Context, cred *Credentials, workplacesClie
 			agentProfile.OrchestratorVersion = np.OrchestratorVersion
 		}
 		if np.AvailabilityZones != nil && len(*np.AvailabilityZones) > 0 {
+			if !CheckAvailabilityZonesSupport(spec.ResourceLocation) {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("availability zones are not supported in region %s", spec.ResourceLocation)
+			}
 			agentProfile.AvailabilityZones = utils.ConvertToSliceOfPointers(np.AvailabilityZones)
 		}
 
@@ -306,6 +309,9 @@ func createManagedCluster(ctx context.Context, cred *Credentials, workplacesClie
 // CreateOrUpdateAgentPool creates a new pool(s) in AKS. If one already exists it updates the upstream node pool with
 // any provided updates.
 func CreateOrUpdateAgentPool(ctx context.Context, agentPoolClient services.AgentPoolsClientInterface, spec *aksv1.AKSClusterConfigSpec, np *aksv1.AKSNodePool) error {
+	if np.AvailabilityZones != nil && len(*np.AvailabilityZones) > 0 && !CheckAvailabilityZonesSupport(spec.ResourceLocation) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("availability zones are not supported in region %s", spec.ResourceLocation)
+	}
 	agentProfile := &armcontainerservice.ManagedClusterAgentPoolProfileProperties{
 		Count:               np.Count,
 		MaxPods:             np.MaxPods,
diff --git a/pkg/aks/create_test.go b/pkg/aks/create_test.go
index 2e246e4c..8a2b787c 100644
--- a/pkg/aks/create_test.go
+++ b/pkg/aks/create_test.go
@@ -336,6 +336,7 @@ var _ = Describe("newManagedCluster", func() {
 				},
 			}, nil)
 		clusterSpec.ResourceLocation = "chinaeast"
+		clusterSpec.NodePools[0].AvailabilityZones = nil
 		managedCluster, err := createManagedCluster(ctx, cred, workplacesClientMock, clusterSpec, "test-phase")
 		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
@@ -394,6 +395,12 @@ var _ = Describe("newManagedCluster", func() {
 		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
 	})
 
+	It("should fail for region without availibility zones", func() {
+		clusterSpec.ResourceLocation = "westus"
+		_, err := createManagedCluster(ctx, cred, workplacesClientMock, clusterSpec, "test-phase")
+		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+	})
+
 	It("should successfully create managed cluster with custom node resource group name", func() {
 		clusterSpec.NodeResourceGroup = to.Ptr("test-node-resource-group-name")
 		workplacesClientMock.EXPECT().Get(ctx, String(clusterSpec.LogAnalyticsWorkspaceGroup), String(clusterSpec.LogAnalyticsWorkspaceName), nil).
@@ -545,6 +552,11 @@ var _ = Describe("CreateOrUpdateAgentPool", func() {
 
 		Expect(CreateOrUpdateAgentPool(ctx, agentPoolClientMock, clusterSpec, nodePoolSpec)).ToNot(Succeed())
 	})
+
+	It("should fail for region without avaibility zones", func() {
+		clusterSpec.ResourceLocation = "westus"
+		Expect(CreateOrUpdateAgentPool(ctx, agentPoolClientMock, clusterSpec, nodePoolSpec)).ToNot(Succeed())
+	})
 })
 
 func newTestClusterSpec() *aksv1.AKSClusterConfigSpec {