diff --git a/configs/configschema/empty_value.go b/configs/configschema/empty_value.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b72b9f86a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configs/configschema/empty_value.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package configschema
+
+import (
+	"github.com/zclconf/go-cty/cty"
+)
+
+// EmptyValue returns the "empty value" for the recieving block, which for
+// a block type is a non-null object where all of the attribute values are
+// the empty values of the block's attributes and nested block types.
+//
+// In other words, it returns the value that would be returned if an empty
+// block were decoded against the recieving schema, assuming that no required
+// attribute or block constraints were honored.
+func (b *Block) EmptyValue() cty.Value {
+	vals := make(map[string]cty.Value)
+	for name, attrS := range b.Attributes {
+		vals[name] = attrS.EmptyValue()
+	}
+	for name, blockS := range b.BlockTypes {
+		vals[name] = blockS.EmptyValue()
+	}
+	return cty.ObjectVal(vals)
+}
+
+// EmptyValue returns the "empty value" for the receiving attribute, which is
+// the value that would be returned if there were no definition of the attribute
+// at all, ignoring any required constraint.
+func (a *Attribute) EmptyValue() cty.Value {
+	return cty.NullVal(a.Type)
+}
+
+// EmptyValue returns the "empty value" for when there are zero nested blocks
+// present of the receiving type.
+func (b *NestedBlock) EmptyValue() cty.Value {
+	switch b.Nesting {
+	case NestingSingle:
+		return cty.NullVal(b.Block.ImpliedType())
+	case NestingList:
+		if ty := b.Block.ImpliedType(); ty.HasDynamicTypes() {
+			return cty.EmptyTupleVal
+		} else {
+			return cty.ListValEmpty(ty)
+		}
+	case NestingMap:
+		if ty := b.Block.ImpliedType(); ty.HasDynamicTypes() {
+			return cty.EmptyObjectVal
+		} else {
+			return cty.MapValEmpty(ty)
+		}
+	case NestingSet:
+		return cty.SetValEmpty(b.Block.ImpliedType())
+	default:
+		// Should never get here because the above is intended to be exhaustive,
+		// but we'll be robust and return a result nonetheless.
+		return cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/configs/configschema/empty_value_test.go b/configs/configschema/empty_value_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ff786fc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configs/configschema/empty_value_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+package configschema
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/apparentlymart/go-dump/dump"
+	"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
+	"github.com/zclconf/go-cty/cty"
+)
+
+func TestBlockEmptyValue(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		Schema *Block
+		Want   cty.Value
+	}{
+		{
+			&Block{},
+			cty.EmptyObjectVal,
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+					"str": {Type: cty.String, Required: true},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"str": cty.NullVal(cty.String),
+			}),
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				BlockTypes: map[string]*NestedBlock{
+					"single": {
+						Nesting: NestingSingle,
+						Block: Block{
+							Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+								"str": {Type: cty.String, Required: true},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"single": cty.NullVal(cty.Object(map[string]cty.Type{
+					"str": cty.String,
+				})),
+			}),
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				BlockTypes: map[string]*NestedBlock{
+					"list": {
+						Nesting: NestingList,
+						Block: Block{
+							Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+								"str": {Type: cty.String, Required: true},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"list": cty.ListValEmpty(cty.Object(map[string]cty.Type{
+					"str": cty.String,
+				})),
+			}),
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				BlockTypes: map[string]*NestedBlock{
+					"list_dynamic": {
+						Nesting: NestingList,
+						Block: Block{
+							Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+								"str": {Type: cty.DynamicPseudoType, Required: true},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"list_dynamic": cty.EmptyTupleVal,
+			}),
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				BlockTypes: map[string]*NestedBlock{
+					"map": {
+						Nesting: NestingMap,
+						Block: Block{
+							Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+								"str": {Type: cty.String, Required: true},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"map": cty.MapValEmpty(cty.Object(map[string]cty.Type{
+					"str": cty.String,
+				})),
+			}),
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				BlockTypes: map[string]*NestedBlock{
+					"map_dynamic": {
+						Nesting: NestingMap,
+						Block: Block{
+							Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+								"str": {Type: cty.DynamicPseudoType, Required: true},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"map_dynamic": cty.EmptyObjectVal,
+			}),
+		},
+		{
+			&Block{
+				BlockTypes: map[string]*NestedBlock{
+					"set": {
+						Nesting: NestingSet,
+						Block: Block{
+							Attributes: map[string]*Attribute{
+								"str": {Type: cty.String, Required: true},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"set": cty.SetValEmpty(cty.Object(map[string]cty.Type{
+					"str": cty.String,
+				})),
+			}),
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%#v", test.Schema), func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := test.Schema.EmptyValue()
+			if !test.Want.RawEquals(got) {
+				t.Errorf("wrong result\nschema: %s\ngot: %s\nwant: %s", spew.Sdump(test.Schema), dump.Value(got), dump.Value(test.Want))
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}