diff --git a/helper/schema/schema.go b/helper/schema/schema.go
index 1a56ad5a3..18e0f50e7 100644
--- a/helper/schema/schema.go
+++ b/helper/schema/schema.go
@@ -285,6 +285,11 @@ func (s *Schema) finalizeDiff(
 		d.New = normalizeBoolString(d.New)
 	}
 
+	if s.ForceNew {
+		// Force new, set it to true in the diff
+		d.RequiresNew = true
+	}
+
 	if d.NewRemoved {
 		return d
 	}
@@ -302,11 +307,6 @@ func (s *Schema) finalizeDiff(
 		}
 	}
 
-	if s.ForceNew {
-		// Force new, set it to true in the diff
-		d.RequiresNew = true
-	}
-
 	if s.Sensitive {
 		// Set the Sensitive flag so output is hidden in the UI
 		d.Sensitive = true
diff --git a/helper/schema/schema_test.go b/helper/schema/schema_test.go
index 9511f363b..1e2451a69 100644
--- a/helper/schema/schema_test.go
+++ b/helper/schema/schema_test.go
@@ -2021,9 +2021,10 @@ func TestSchemaMap_Diff(t *testing.T) {
 						RequiresNew: true,
 					},
 					"instances.3": &terraform.ResourceAttrDiff{
-						Old:        "foo",
-						New:        "",
-						NewRemoved: true,
+						Old:         "foo",
+						New:         "",
+						NewRemoved:  true,
+						RequiresNew: true,
 					},
 				},
 			},
@@ -2333,9 +2334,10 @@ func TestSchemaMap_Diff(t *testing.T) {
 						New: "2",
 					},
 					"instances.2": &terraform.ResourceAttrDiff{
-						Old:        "22",
-						New:        "",
-						NewRemoved: true,
+						Old:         "22",
+						New:         "",
+						NewRemoved:  true,
+						RequiresNew: true,
 					},
 					"instances.3": &terraform.ResourceAttrDiff{
 						Old:         "333",
@@ -2422,6 +2424,37 @@ func TestSchemaMap_Diff(t *testing.T) {
 
 			Err: false,
 		},
+
+		"removed optional items should trigger ForceNew": {
+			Schema: map[string]*Schema{
+				"description": &Schema{
+					Type:     TypeString,
+					ForceNew: true,
+					Optional: true,
+				},
+			},
+
+			State: &terraform.InstanceState{
+				Attributes: map[string]string{
+					"description": "foo",
+				},
+			},
+
+			Config: map[string]interface{}{},
+
+			Diff: &terraform.InstanceDiff{
+				Attributes: map[string]*terraform.ResourceAttrDiff{
+					"description": &terraform.ResourceAttrDiff{
+						Old:         "foo",
+						New:         "",
+						RequiresNew: true,
+						NewRemoved:  true,
+					},
+				},
+			},
+
+			Err: false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for tn, tc := range cases {