diff --git a/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go b/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go
index 2f1a988be..1f826e1d9 100644
--- a/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go
+++ b/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ func (b *ApplyGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 		// Add module variables
 		&ModuleVariableTransformer{Module: b.Module},
 
+		// Remove modules no longer present in the config
+		&RemovedModuleTransformer{Module: b.Module, State: b.State},
+
 		// Connect references so ordering is correct
 		&ReferenceTransformer{},
 
@@ -133,9 +136,6 @@ func (b *ApplyGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 		&CloseProviderTransformer{},
 		&CloseProvisionerTransformer{},
 
-		// Remove modules no longer present in the config
-		&RemovedModuleTransformer{Module: b.Module, State: b.State},
-
 		// Single root
 		&RootTransformer{},
 	}
diff --git a/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go b/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go
index 564fecb1f..f8dd0fc93 100644
--- a/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go
+++ b/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go
@@ -115,6 +115,9 @@ func (b *PlanGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 			Module: b.Module,
 		},
 
+		// Remove modules no longer present in the config
+		&RemovedModuleTransformer{Module: b.Module, State: b.State},
+
 		// Connect so that the references are ready for targeting. We'll
 		// have to connect again later for providers and so on.
 		&ReferenceTransformer{},