diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/journal/DynamoDBHelper.scala b/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/journal/DynamoDBHelper.scala
index 5dd3bb7..eff2872 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/journal/DynamoDBHelper.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/journal/DynamoDBHelper.scala
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ package org.apache.pekko.persistence.dynamodb.journal
 
 import com.amazonaws.AmazonWebServiceRequest
 import com.amazonaws.handlers.AsyncHandler
-import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClient
+import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.AmazonDynamoDBAsync
 import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.model._
 import org.apache.pekko
 import pekko.actor.{ ActorRef, Scheduler }
@@ -25,9 +25,8 @@ import pekko.persistence.dynamodb.{ DynamoDBConfig, Item }
 import pekko.util.ccompat.JavaConverters._
 
 import java.util.{ concurrent => juc }
-
-import scala.concurrent.{ ExecutionContext, Future, Promise }
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import scala.concurrent.{ ExecutionContext, Future, Promise }
 
 case class LatencyReport(nanos: Long, retries: Int)
 private class RetryStateHolder(var retries: Int = 10, var backoff: FiniteDuration = 1.millis)
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ trait DynamoDBHelper {
 
   implicit val ec: ExecutionContext
   val scheduler: Scheduler
-  val dynamoDB: AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClient
+  val dynamoDB: AmazonDynamoDBAsync
   val log: LoggingAdapter
   val settings: DynamoDBConfig
   import settings._
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/package.scala b/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/package.scala
index 76f04c6..9ca736a 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/package.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/apache/pekko/persistence/dynamodb/package.scala
@@ -13,16 +13,18 @@
 
 package org.apache.pekko.persistence
 
-import java.nio.ByteBuffer
-import java.util.concurrent.Executors
+import com.amazonaws.auth.{ AWSStaticCredentialsProvider, BasicAWSCredentials }
+import com.amazonaws.client.builder.AwsClientBuilder.EndpointConfiguration
+import com.amazonaws.regions.Regions
+import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.model.{ AttributeValue, AttributeValueUpdate }
+import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.{ AmazonDynamoDBAsync, AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClientBuilder }
 import org.apache.pekko.actor.{ ActorSystem, Scheduler }
 import org.apache.pekko.dispatch.ExecutionContexts
 import org.apache.pekko.event.{ Logging, LoggingAdapter }
 import org.apache.pekko.persistence.dynamodb.journal.DynamoDBHelper
-import com.amazonaws.auth.BasicAWSCredentials
-import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClient
-import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.model.{ AttributeValue, AttributeValueUpdate }
 
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors
 import java.util.{ Map => JMap }
 import scala.collection.generic.CanBuildFrom
 import scala.concurrent.{ ExecutionContext, Future, Promise }
@@ -69,16 +71,23 @@ package object dynamodb {
         val conns = settings.client.config.getMaxConnections
         val executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(conns)
         val creds = new BasicAWSCredentials(settings.AwsKey, settings.AwsSecret)
-        new AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClient(creds, settings.client.config, executor)
+        AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClientBuilder.standard()
+          .withCredentials(new AWSStaticCredentialsProvider(creds))
+          .withClientConfiguration(settings.client.config)
+          .withExecutorFactory(() => executor)
+          .withEndpointConfiguration(new EndpointConfiguration(settings.Endpoint, Regions.DEFAULT_REGION.name()))
+          .build()
       } else {
-        new AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClient(settings.client.config)
+        AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClientBuilder.standard()
+          .withClientConfiguration(settings.client.config)
+          .withEndpointConfiguration(new EndpointConfiguration(settings.Endpoint, Regions.DEFAULT_REGION.name()))
+          .build()
       }
-    client.setEndpoint(settings.Endpoint)
     val dispatcher = system.dispatchers.lookup(settings.ClientDispatcher)
 
     class DynamoDBClient(
         override val ec: ExecutionContext,
-        override val dynamoDB: AmazonDynamoDBAsyncClient,
+        override val dynamoDB: AmazonDynamoDBAsync,
         override val settings: DynamoDBConfig,
         override val scheduler: Scheduler,
         override val log: LoggingAdapter)