diff --git a/command/fmt.go b/command/fmt.go
index e4e9aad2f..49e06c08e 100644
--- a/command/fmt.go
+++ b/command/fmt.go
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ func (c *FmtCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 	args = c.Meta.process(args, false)
 
 	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("fmt", flag.ContinueOnError)
-	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&c.opts.List, "list", false, "list")
-	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&c.opts.Write, "write", false, "write")
+	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&c.opts.List, "list", true, "list")
+	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&c.opts.Write, "write", true, "write")
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&c.opts.Diff, "diff", false, "diff")
 	cmdFlags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Error(c.Help()) }
 
diff --git a/command/fmt_test.go b/command/fmt_test.go
index 3d284e466..d38d54644 100644
--- a/command/fmt_test.go
+++ b/command/fmt_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package command
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ func TestFmt_workingDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("wrong exit code. errors: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
 	}
 
-	expected := fmtFixture.golden
-	if actual := ui.OutputWriter.Bytes(); !bytes.Equal(actual, expected) {
+	expected := fmt.Sprintf("%s\n", fmtFixture.filename)
+	if actual := ui.OutputWriter.String(); actual != expected {
 		t.Fatalf("got: %q\nexpected: %q", actual, expected)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/website/source/docs/commands/fmt.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/commands/fmt.html.markdown
index 383f58d1d..7e5d7647b 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/commands/fmt.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/commands/fmt.html.markdown
@@ -19,6 +19,6 @@ Usage: `terraform fmt [options] [DIR]`
 
 The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are:
 
-* `-list=false` - List files whose formatting differs
-* `-write=false` - Write result to source file instead of STDOUT
+* `-list=true` - List files whose formatting differs
+* `-write=true` - Write result to source file instead of STDOUT
 * `-diff=false` - Display diffs instead of rewriting files