diff --git a/cdk/src/constructs/agent-vpc.ts b/cdk/src/constructs/agent-vpc.ts
index d8d5546e..72ecf421 100644
--- a/cdk/src/constructs/agent-vpc.ts
+++ b/cdk/src/constructs/agent-vpc.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ const HTTPS_PORT = 443;
  * Properties for the AgentVpc construct.
  */
 export interface AgentVpcProps {
+  /**
+   * Availability zones to use. Zone names must be resolved for the target
+   * account because AZ name-to-ID mappings differ between accounts.
+   */
+  readonly availabilityZones?: string[];
+
   /**
    * Maximum number of availability zones to use.
    * @default 2
@@ -69,10 +75,13 @@ export class AgentVpc extends Construct {
     const maxAzs = props.maxAzs ?? 2;
     const natGateways = props.natGateways ?? 1;
     const removalPolicy = props.removalPolicy ?? RemovalPolicy.DESTROY;
+    const availabilityZoneSelection = props.availabilityZones
+      ? { availabilityZones: props.availabilityZones }
+      : { maxAzs };
 
     // --- VPC ---
     this.vpc = new ec2.Vpc(this, 'Vpc', {
-      maxAzs,
+      ...availabilityZoneSelection,
       natGateways,
       restrictDefaultSecurityGroup: true,
       subnetConfiguration: [
diff --git a/cdk/src/stacks/agent.ts b/cdk/src/stacks/agent.ts
index d1b9a816..6cc3f5fc 100644
--- a/cdk/src/stacks/agent.ts
+++ b/cdk/src/stacks/agent.ts
@@ -317,7 +317,18 @@ export class AgentStack extends Stack {
     });
 
     // Network isolation — VPC with restricted egress
-    const agentVpc = new AgentVpc(this, 'AgentVpc');
+    const agentcoreAvailabilityZonesContext = this.node.tryGetContext(
+      'agentcoreAvailabilityZones',
+    ) as string | undefined;
+    const agentcoreAvailabilityZones = agentcoreAvailabilityZonesContext
+      ?.split(',')
+      .map(zone => zone.trim())
+      .filter(Boolean);
+    const agentVpc = new AgentVpc(this, 'AgentVpc', {
+      availabilityZones: agentcoreAvailabilityZones?.length
+        ? agentcoreAvailabilityZones
+        : undefined,
+    });
 
     // DNS Firewall — domain-level egress filtering (observation mode for initial deployment)
     const additionalDomains = [...new Set(blueprints.flatMap(b => b.egressAllowlist))];
diff --git a/cdk/test/constructs/agent-vpc.test.ts b/cdk/test/constructs/agent-vpc.test.ts
index 49614d8d..7da3cf34 100644
--- a/cdk/test/constructs/agent-vpc.test.ts
+++ b/cdk/test/constructs/agent-vpc.test.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,25 @@ describe('AgentVpc', () => {
 });
 
 describe('AgentVpc with custom props', () => {
+  test('accepts account-local availability zone names', () => {
+    const app = new App();
+    const stack = new Stack(app, 'TestStack', {
+      env: { account: '123456789012', region: 'us-east-1' },
+    });
+    new AgentVpc(stack, 'AgentVpc', {
+      availabilityZones: ['us-east-1b', 'us-east-1d'],
+    });
+    const template = Template.fromStack(stack);
+
+    template.hasResourceProperties('AWS::EC2::Subnet', {
+      AvailabilityZone: 'us-east-1b',
+    });
+    template.hasResourceProperties('AWS::EC2::Subnet', {
+      AvailabilityZone: 'us-east-1d',
+    });
+    template.resourceCountIs('AWS::EC2::Subnet', 4);
+  });
+
   test('accepts custom maxAzs', () => {
     const app = new App();
     const stack = new Stack(app, 'TestStack', {
diff --git a/cdk/test/stacks/agent.test.ts b/cdk/test/stacks/agent.test.ts
index 2803d387..04e37eb7 100644
--- a/cdk/test/stacks/agent.test.ts
+++ b/cdk/test/stacks/agent.test.ts
@@ -1368,3 +1368,26 @@ describe('AgentStack registry gate', () => {
     expect(renderedPolicies).not.toContain('bedrock-agentcore:ListRegistryRecords');
   });
 });
+
+describe('AgentStack AgentCore availability zones', () => {
+  test('uses account-local zones supplied by workshop context', () => {
+    const app = new App({
+      context: {
+        agentcoreAvailabilityZones: 'us-east-1b,us-east-1d',
+        enableAgentRegistry: 'false',
+      },
+    });
+    const stack = new AgentStack(app, 'WorkshopAzStack', {
+      env: { account: '123456789012', region: 'us-east-1' },
+    });
+    const template = Template.fromStack(stack);
+    const subnets = Object.values(template.findResources('AWS::EC2::Subnet')) as Array<{
+      Properties: { AvailabilityZone?: string };
+    }>;
+
+    expect(subnets).toHaveLength(4);
+    expect(new Set(subnets.map(subnet => subnet.Properties.AvailabilityZone))).toEqual(
+      new Set(['us-east-1b', 'us-east-1d']),
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/manage-workshop-stack.sh b/manage-workshop-stack.sh
index ecf48642..02da85f8 100755
--- a/manage-workshop-stack.sh
+++ b/manage-workshop-stack.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ BLUEPRINT_REPO="${BLUEPRINT_REPO:-aws-samples/sample-abca-playground}"
 PARTICIPANT_USERNAME="${PARTICIPANT_USERNAME:-participant@workshop.local}"
 PARTICIPANT_SECRET_NAME="${PARTICIPANT_SECRET_NAME:-abca-workshop/participant-credentials}"
 ENABLE_AGENT_REGISTRY="${ENABLE_AGENT_REGISTRY:-false}"
+AGENTCORE_SUPPORTED_ZONE_IDS="${AGENTCORE_SUPPORTED_ZONE_IDS:-}"
+
+if [[ -z "$AGENTCORE_SUPPORTED_ZONE_IDS" && "$REGION" == "us-east-1" ]]; then
+    AGENTCORE_SUPPORTED_ZONE_IDS="use1-az1,use1-az2"
+fi
 
 export AWS_REGION="$REGION"
 export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="$REGION"
@@ -41,6 +46,43 @@ prepare_arm64_builder() {
     fi
 }
 
+bind_cdk_environment() {
+    CDK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT=$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)
+    CDK_DEFAULT_REGION="$REGION"
+    export CDK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT
+    export CDK_DEFAULT_REGION
+}
+
+resolve_agentcore_availability_zones() {
+    if [[ -z "$AGENTCORE_SUPPORTED_ZONE_IDS" ]]; then
+        return
+    fi
+
+    local zone_id zone_name
+    local -a zone_ids zone_names
+    IFS=',' read -r -a zone_ids <<<"$AGENTCORE_SUPPORTED_ZONE_IDS"
+
+    for zone_id in "${zone_ids[@]}"; do
+        zone_id="${zone_id//[[:space:]]/}"
+        zone_name=$(aws ec2 describe-availability-zones \
+            --region "$REGION" \
+            --filters \
+                "Name=zone-id,Values=${zone_id}" \
+                "Name=state,Values=available" \
+            --query 'AvailabilityZones[0].ZoneName' \
+            --output text)
+
+        if [[ -z "$zone_name" || "$zone_name" == "None" ]]; then
+            echo "AgentCore availability zone ${zone_id} is unavailable in ${REGION}" >&2
+            return 1
+        fi
+        zone_names+=("$zone_name")
+    done
+
+    local IFS=','
+    printf '%s\n' "${zone_names[*]}"
+}
+
 stack_output() {
     local output_key="$1"
     aws cloudformation describe-stacks \
@@ -171,14 +213,25 @@ ensure_participant_user() {
 deploy_stack() {
     install_toolchain
     prepare_arm64_builder
+    bind_cdk_environment
+
+    local agentcore_availability_zones
+    agentcore_availability_zones=$(resolve_agentcore_availability_zones)
 
     pushd cdk >/dev/null
-    npx cdk bootstrap \
-        "aws://$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)/${REGION}"
-    npx cdk deploy "$STACK_NAME" \
-        --require-approval never \
-        --context "blueprintRepo=${BLUEPRINT_REPO}" \
+    npx cdk bootstrap "aws://${CDK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT}/${CDK_DEFAULT_REGION}"
+
+    local -a deploy_args=(
+        "$STACK_NAME"
+        --require-approval never
+        --context "blueprintRepo=${BLUEPRINT_REPO}"
         --context "enableAgentRegistry=${ENABLE_AGENT_REGISTRY}"
+    )
+    if [[ -n "$agentcore_availability_zones" ]]; then
+        deploy_args+=(--context "agentcoreAvailabilityZones=${agentcore_availability_zones}")
+    fi
+
+    npx cdk deploy "${deploy_args[@]}"
     popd >/dev/null
 
     seed_github_token
@@ -237,6 +290,7 @@ delete_bootstrap_stack() {
 
 destroy_stack() {
     install_toolchain
+    bind_cdk_environment
 
     if aws cloudformation describe-stacks \
         --stack-name "$STACK_NAME" \