diff --git a/command/state_meta.go b/command/state_meta.go
index c1af8b82e..7b6e13694 100644
--- a/command/state_meta.go
+++ b/command/state_meta.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package command
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/state"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
@@ -10,9 +12,34 @@ import (
 // StateMeta is the meta struct that should be embedded in state subcommands.
 type StateMeta struct{}
 
-// State returns the state for this meta.
-func (m *StateMeta) State(cm *Meta) (state.State, error) {
-	return cm.State()
+// State returns the state for this meta. This is different then Meta.State
+// in the way that backups are done. This configures backups to be timestamped
+// rather than just the original state path plus a backup path.
+func (c *StateMeta) State(m *Meta) (state.State, error) {
+	// Disable backups since we wrap it manually below
+	m.backupPath = "-"
+
+	// Get the state (shouldn't be wrapped in a backup)
+	s, err := m.State()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Determine the backup path. stateOutPath is set to the resulting
+	// file where state is written (cached in the case of remote state)
+	backupPath := fmt.Sprintf(
+		"%s.%d.%s",
+		m.stateOutPath,
+		time.Now().UTC().Unix(),
+		DefaultBackupExtension)
+
+	// Wrap it for backups
+	s = &state.BackupState{
+		Real: s,
+		Path: backupPath,
+	}
+
+	return s, nil
 }
 
 // filterInstance filters a single instance out of filter results.