diff --git a/pkg/apis/appmesh/v1beta2/types.go b/pkg/apis/appmesh/v1beta2/types.go
index a94cfa83..570f612f 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/appmesh/v1beta2/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/appmesh/v1beta2/types.go
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ type VirtualServiceReference struct {
 	// +optional
 	Namespace *string `json:"namespace,omitempty"`
 	// Name is the name of VirtualService CR
-	Name string `json:"name"`
+	Name string `json:"name,omitempty"`
+	// ARN of the AWS VirtualService CR
+	ARN string `json:"virtualServiceARN,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // VirtualRouterReference holds a reference to VirtualRouter.appmesh.k8s.aws
diff --git a/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2.go b/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2.go
index cf106eb4..4dd24ee5 100644
--- a/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2.go
+++ b/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2.go
@@ -104,12 +104,23 @@ func (ar *AppMeshv1beta2Router) reconcileVirtualNode(canary *flaggerv1.Canary, n
 
 	backends := make([]appmeshv1.Backend, 0)
 	for _, b := range canary.Spec.Service.Backends {
-		bk := appmeshv1.Backend{
-			VirtualService: appmeshv1.VirtualServiceBackend{
-				VirtualServiceRef: appmeshv1.VirtualServiceReference{
-					Name: b,
+		var bk appmeshv1.Backend
+		if b[:6] == "arn:aws" {
+			bk = appmeshv1.Backend{
+				VirtualService: appmeshv1.VirtualServiceBackend{
+					VirtualServiceRef: appmeshv1.VirtualServiceReference{
+						ARN: b,
+					},
 				},
-			},
+			}
+		} else {
+			bk = appmeshv1.Backend{
+				VirtualService: appmeshv1.VirtualServiceBackend{
+					VirtualServiceRef: appmeshv1.VirtualServiceReference{
+						Name: b,
+					},
+				},
+			}
 		}
 		backends = append(backends, bk)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2_test.go b/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2_test.go
index d01b216c..473a368d 100644
--- a/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2_test.go
+++ b/pkg/router/appmesh_v1beta2_test.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func TestAppmeshv1beta2Router_Reconcile(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cdClone := cd.DeepCopy()
 	backends := cdClone.Spec.Service.Backends
-	backends = append(backends, "test.example.com")
+	backends = append(backends, "test.example.com", "arn:aws:appmesh:eu-west-1:12345678910:mesh/my-mesh/virtualService/mytestservice")
 	cdClone.Spec.Service.Backends = backends
 	canary, err := mocks.flaggerClient.FlaggerV1beta1().Canaries("default").Update(context.TODO(), cdClone, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func TestAppmeshv1beta2Router_Reconcile(t *testing.T) {
 	// verify
 	vnPrimary, err = router.appmeshClient.AppmeshV1beta2().VirtualNodes("default").Get(context.TODO(), primaryName, metav1.GetOptions{})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Len(t, vnPrimary.Spec.Backends, 2)
+	require.Len(t, vnPrimary.Spec.Backends, 3)
 
 	// update URI
 	vrClone := vrApex.DeepCopy()