diff --git a/terraform/state.go b/terraform/state.go
index 66097cf4c..2d58c2dac 100644
--- a/terraform/state.go
+++ b/terraform/state.go
@@ -1685,7 +1685,20 @@ func (s *InstanceState) Equal(other *InstanceState) bool {
 		// We only do the deep check if both are non-nil. If one is nil
 		// we treat it as equal since their lengths are both zero (check
 		// above).
-		if !reflect.DeepEqual(s.Meta, other.Meta) {
+		//
+		// Since this can contain numeric values that may change types during
+		// serialization, let's compare the serialized values.
+		sMeta, err := json.Marshal(s.Meta)
+		if err != nil {
+			// marshaling primitives shouldn't ever error out
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		otherMeta, err := json.Marshal(other.Meta)
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+
+		if !bytes.Equal(sMeta, otherMeta) {
 			return false
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/terraform/state_test.go b/terraform/state_test.go
index e56e04d44..5dc5ee333 100644
--- a/terraform/state_test.go
+++ b/terraform/state_test.go
@@ -467,6 +467,50 @@ func TestStateEqual(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+
+		// Meta with complex types that have been altered during serialization
+		{
+			"same meta with complex types that have been json-ified",
+			true,
+			&State{
+				Modules: []*ModuleState{
+					&ModuleState{
+						Path: rootModulePath,
+						Resources: map[string]*ResourceState{
+							"test_instance.foo": &ResourceState{
+								Primary: &InstanceState{
+									Meta: map[string]interface{}{
+										"timeouts": map[string]interface{}{
+											"create": int(42),
+											"read":   "27",
+										},
+									},
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			&State{
+				Modules: []*ModuleState{
+					&ModuleState{
+						Path: rootModulePath,
+						Resources: map[string]*ResourceState{
+							"test_instance.foo": &ResourceState{
+								Primary: &InstanceState{
+									Meta: map[string]interface{}{
+										"timeouts": map[string]interface{}{
+											"create": float64(42),
+											"read":   "27",
+										},
+									},
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i, tc := range cases {