diff --git a/command/meta.go b/command/meta.go
index 768a999e5..34f094758 100644
--- a/command/meta.go
+++ b/command/meta.go
@@ -186,6 +186,26 @@ func (m *Meta) loadState() (*terraform.State, error) {
 	// Set the state if enabled
 	var state *terraform.State
 	if localCache != nil {
+		// Refresh the state
+		log.Printf("[INFO] Refreshing local state...")
+		changes, err := remote.RefreshState(localCache.Remote)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to refresh state: %v", err)
+		}
+		switch changes {
+		case remote.StateChangeNoop:
+		case remote.StateChangeInit:
+		case remote.StateChangeLocalNewer:
+		case remote.StateChangeUpdateLocal:
+			// Reload the state since we've udpated
+			localCache, _, err = remote.ReadLocalState()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error loading state: %s", err)
+			}
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s", changes)
+		}
+
 		state = localCache
 		m.useRemoteState = true
 	}
diff --git a/command/meta_test.go b/command/meta_test.go
index 924b79379..c23923ab1 100644
--- a/command/meta_test.go
+++ b/command/meta_test.go
@@ -267,6 +267,11 @@ func TestMeta_loadState_remote(t *testing.T) {
 
 	s := terraform.NewState()
 	s.Serial = 1000
+	conf, srv := testRemoteState(t, s, 200)
+	s.Remote = conf
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	s.Serial = 500
 	if err := remote.PersistState(s); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/remote/remote.go b/remote/remote.go
index ee3320b2b..4edb86fb3 100644
--- a/remote/remote.go
+++ b/remote/remote.go
@@ -228,6 +228,10 @@ func ReadLocalState() (*terraform.State, []byte, error) {
 // the configuration for the remote endpoint, and update
 // the local state if necessary.
 func RefreshState(conf *terraform.RemoteState) (StateChangeResult, error) {
+	if conf == nil {
+		return StateChangeNoop, fmt.Errorf("Missing remote server configuration")
+	}
+
 	// Read the state from the server
 	client := &remoteStateClient{conf: conf}
 	payload, err := client.GetState()