diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws.go
index d6129b6ca0d..2cc06409dab 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws.go
@@ -741,15 +741,6 @@ func (p *awsSDKProvider) KeyManagement(regionName string) (KMS, error) {
 	return kmsClient, nil
 }
 
-// stringPointerArray creates a slice of string pointers from a slice of strings
-// Deprecated: consider using aws.StringSlice - but note the slightly different behaviour with a nil input
-func stringPointerArray(orig []string) []*string {
-	if orig == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return aws.StringSlice(orig)
-}
-
 func newEc2Filter(name string, values ...string) *ec2.Filter {
 	filter := &ec2.Filter{
 		Name: aws.String(name),
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws_loadbalancer.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws_loadbalancer.go
index c148be378c5..25583ca5697 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws_loadbalancer.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/aws/aws_loadbalancer.go
@@ -912,9 +912,17 @@ func (c *Cloud) ensureLoadBalancer(namespacedName types.NamespacedName, loadBala
 
 		// We are supposed to specify one subnet per AZ.
 		// TODO: What happens if we have more than one subnet per AZ?
-		createRequest.Subnets = stringPointerArray(subnetIDs)
+		if subnetIDs == nil {
+			createRequest.Subnets = nil
+		} else {
+			createRequest.Subnets = aws.StringSlice(subnetIDs)
+		}
 
-		createRequest.SecurityGroups = stringPointerArray(securityGroupIDs)
+		if securityGroupIDs == nil {
+			createRequest.SecurityGroups = nil
+		} else {
+			createRequest.SecurityGroups = aws.StringSlice(securityGroupIDs)
+		}
 
 		// Get additional tags set by the user
 		tags := getLoadBalancerAdditionalTags(annotations)
@@ -996,7 +1004,11 @@ func (c *Cloud) ensureLoadBalancer(namespacedName types.NamespacedName, loadBala
 				// This call just replaces the security groups, unlike e.g. subnets (!)
 				request := &elb.ApplySecurityGroupsToLoadBalancerInput{}
 				request.LoadBalancerName = aws.String(loadBalancerName)
-				request.SecurityGroups = stringPointerArray(securityGroupIDs)
+				if securityGroupIDs == nil {
+					request.SecurityGroups = nil
+				} else {
+					request.SecurityGroups = aws.StringSlice(securityGroupIDs)
+				}
 				glog.V(2).Info("Applying updated security groups to load balancer")
 				_, err := c.elb.ApplySecurityGroupsToLoadBalancer(request)
 				if err != nil {