diff --git a/command/init_test.go b/command/init_test.go
index ebfa397f1..ef192b7e5 100644
--- a/command/init_test.go
+++ b/command/init_test.go
@@ -645,6 +645,49 @@ func TestInit_findVendoredProviders(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// make sure we can locate providers defined in the legacy rc file
+func TestInit_rcProviders(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary working directory that is empty
+	td := tempDir(t)
+
+	configDirName := "init-legacy-rc"
+	copy.CopyDir(testFixturePath(configDirName), filepath.Join(td, configDirName))
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+	defer testChdir(t, td)()
+
+	pluginDir := filepath.Join(td, "custom")
+	pluginPath := filepath.Join(pluginDir, "terraform-provider-legacy")
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	m := Meta{
+		Ui: ui,
+		PluginOverrides: &PluginOverrides{
+			Providers: map[string]string{
+				"legacy": pluginPath,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta:              m,
+		providerInstaller: &mockProviderInstaller{},
+	}
+
+	// make our plugin paths
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(pluginDir, 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(pluginPath, []byte("test bin"), 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	args := []string{configDirName}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
 func TestInit_getUpgradePlugins(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create a temporary working directory that is empty
 	td := tempDir(t)
diff --git a/command/plugins.go b/command/plugins.go
index ca94f07b9..ce26b0f85 100644
--- a/command/plugins.go
+++ b/command/plugins.go
@@ -172,6 +172,12 @@ func (m *Meta) pluginDirs(includeAutoInstalled bool) []string {
 // the defined search paths.
 func (m *Meta) providerPluginSet() discovery.PluginMetaSet {
 	plugins := discovery.FindPlugins("provider", m.pluginDirs(true))
+
+	// Add providers defined in the legacy .terraformrc,
+	if m.PluginOverrides != nil {
+		plugins = plugins.OverridePaths(m.PluginOverrides.Providers)
+	}
+
 	plugins, _ = plugins.ValidateVersions()
 
 	for p := range plugins {
@@ -198,6 +204,12 @@ func (m *Meta) providerPluginAutoInstalledSet() discovery.PluginMetaSet {
 // in all locations *except* the auto-install directory.
 func (m *Meta) providerPluginManuallyInstalledSet() discovery.PluginMetaSet {
 	plugins := discovery.FindPlugins("provider", m.pluginDirs(false))
+
+	// Add providers defined in the legacy .terraformrc,
+	if m.PluginOverrides != nil {
+		plugins = plugins.OverridePaths(m.PluginOverrides.Providers)
+	}
+
 	plugins, _ = plugins.ValidateVersions()
 
 	for p := range plugins {
diff --git a/command/test-fixtures/init-legacy-rc/main.tf b/command/test-fixtures/init-legacy-rc/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b04a89e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/test-fixtures/init-legacy-rc/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+provider "legacy" {}
diff --git a/plugins.go b/plugins.go
index bf2397806..cf2d54253 100644
--- a/plugins.go
+++ b/plugins.go
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 )
 
 // globalPluginDirs returns directories that should be searched for
@@ -18,7 +20,9 @@ func globalPluginDirs() []string {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("[ERROR] Error finding global config directory: %s", err)
 	} else {
+		machineDir := fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
 		ret = append(ret, filepath.Join(dir, "plugins"))
+		ret = append(ret, filepath.Join(dir, "plugins", machineDir))
 	}
 
 	return ret