diff --git a/command/import.go b/command/import.go
index b566ee9fc..2f6c30d90 100644
--- a/command/import.go
+++ b/command/import.go
@@ -178,7 +178,11 @@ func (c *ImportCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 		// We assume the same module as the resource address here, which
 		// may get resolved to an inherited provider when we construct the
 		// import graph inside ctx.Import, called below.
-		providerAddr = resourceRelAddr.DefaultProviderConfig().Absolute(addr.Module)
+		if rc != nil && rc.ProviderConfigRef != nil {
+			providerAddr = rc.ProviderConfigAddr().Absolute(addr.Module)
+		} else {
+			providerAddr = resourceRelAddr.DefaultProviderConfig().Absolute(addr.Module)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Check for user-supplied plugin path
@@ -336,9 +340,10 @@ Options:
 
   -no-color               If specified, output won't contain any color.
 
-  -provider=provider      Specific provider to use for import. This is used for
-                          specifying aliases, such as "aws.eu". Defaults to the
-                          normal provider prefix of the resource being imported.
+  -provider=provider      Deprecated: Override the provider configuration to use
+                          when importing the object. By default, Terraform uses the
+                          provider specified in the configuration for the target
+                          resource, and that is the best behavior in most cases.
 
   -state=PATH             Path to the source state file. Defaults to the configured
                           backend, or "terraform.tfstate"
diff --git a/command/import_test.go b/command/import_test.go
index 9da634b75..504c1d3e9 100644
--- a/command/import_test.go
+++ b/command/import_test.go
@@ -536,6 +536,99 @@ func TestImport_customProvider(t *testing.T) {
 	testStateOutput(t, statePath, testImportCustomProviderStr)
 }
 
+// This tests behavior when the provider name does not match the implied
+// provider name
+func TestImport_providerNameMismatch(t *testing.T) {
+	defer testChdir(t, testFixturePath("import-provider-mismatch"))()
+
+	statePath := testTempFile(t)
+
+	p := testProvider()
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &ImportCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			testingOverrides: &testingOverrides{
+				ProviderResolver: providers.ResolverFixed(
+					map[string]providers.Factory{
+						"test-beta": providers.FactoryFixed(p),
+					},
+				),
+			},
+			Ui: ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	configured := false
+	p.ConfigureNewFn = func(req providers.ConfigureRequest) providers.ConfigureResponse {
+		configured = true
+
+		cfg := req.Config
+		if !cfg.Type().HasAttribute("foo") {
+			return providers.ConfigureResponse{
+				Diagnostics: tfdiags.Diagnostics{}.Append(fmt.Errorf("configuration has no foo argument")),
+			}
+		}
+		if got, want := cfg.GetAttr("foo"), cty.StringVal("baz"); !want.RawEquals(got) {
+			return providers.ConfigureResponse{
+				Diagnostics: tfdiags.Diagnostics{}.Append(fmt.Errorf("foo argument is %#v, but want %#v", got, want)),
+			}
+		}
+
+		return providers.ConfigureResponse{}
+	}
+
+	p.ImportResourceStateFn = nil
+	p.ImportResourceStateResponse = providers.ImportResourceStateResponse{
+		ImportedResources: []providers.ImportedResource{
+			{
+				TypeName: "test_instance",
+				State: cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+					"id": cty.StringVal("yay"),
+				}),
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	p.GetSchemaReturn = &terraform.ProviderSchema{
+		Provider: &configschema.Block{
+			Attributes: map[string]*configschema.Attribute{
+				"foo": {Type: cty.String, Optional: true},
+			},
+		},
+		ResourceTypes: map[string]*configschema.Block{
+			"test_instance": {
+				Attributes: map[string]*configschema.Attribute{
+					"id": {Type: cty.String, Optional: true, Computed: true},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-provider", "test-beta",
+		"-state", statePath,
+		"test_instance.foo",
+		"bar",
+	}
+
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %d\n\n%s", code, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	// Verify that the test-beta provider was configured
+	if !configured {
+		t.Fatal("Configure should be called")
+	}
+
+	if !p.ImportResourceStateCalled {
+		t.Fatal("ImportResourceState (provider 'test-beta') should be called")
+	}
+
+	if !p.ReadResourceCalled {
+		t.Fatal("ReadResource (provider 'test-beta' should be called")
+	}
+
+	testStateOutput(t, statePath, testImportProviderMismatchStr)
+}
 func TestImport_allowMissingResourceConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	defer testChdir(t, testFixturePath("import-missing-resource-config"))()
 
@@ -845,3 +938,9 @@ test_instance.foo:
   ID = yay
   provider = provider.test.alias
 `
+
+const testImportProviderMismatchStr = `
+test_instance.foo:
+  ID = yay
+  provider = provider.test-beta
+`
diff --git a/command/testdata/import-provider-mismatch/main.tf b/command/testdata/import-provider-mismatch/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..420e765c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/testdata/import-provider-mismatch/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+provider "test-beta" {
+  foo = "baz"
+}
+
+resource "test_instance" "foo" {
+  provider = "test-beta"
+}
diff --git a/terraform/graph_builder_import.go b/terraform/graph_builder_import.go
index 7b0e39f45..49879e4eb 100644
--- a/terraform/graph_builder_import.go
+++ b/terraform/graph_builder_import.go
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ func (b *ImportGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 		// Create all our resources from the configuration and state
 		&ConfigTransformer{Config: config},
 
+		// Attach the configuration to any resources
+		&AttachResourceConfigTransformer{Config: b.Config},
+
 		// Add the import steps
 		&ImportStateTransformer{Targets: b.ImportTargets},
 
diff --git a/website/docs/commands/import.html.md b/website/docs/commands/import.html.md
index fa2bdc933..f43dcbcc5 100644
--- a/website/docs/commands/import.html.md
+++ b/website/docs/commands/import.html.md
@@ -52,10 +52,9 @@ The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are:
   [walks the graph](/docs/internals/graph.html#walking-the-graph). Defaults
   to 10.
 
-* `-provider=provider` - Specified provider to use for import. The value should be a provider
-  alias in the form `TYPE.ALIAS`, such as "aws.eu". This defaults to the normal
-  provider based on the prefix of the resource being imported. You usually
-  don't need to specify this.
+* `-provider=provider` - **Deprecated** Override the provider configuration to
+use when importing the object. By default, Terraform uses the provider specified
+in the configuration for the target resource, and that is the best behavior in most cases.
 
 * `-state=path` - Path to the source state file to read from. Defaults to the
   configured backend, or "terraform.tfstate".