diff --git a/command/show_test.go b/command/show_test.go
index 3c2cca3b6..b66a17168 100644
--- a/command/show_test.go
+++ b/command/show_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
@@ -153,6 +154,8 @@ func TestShow_json_output(t *testing.T) {
 			defer os.RemoveAll(td)
 			defer testChdir(t, td)()
 
+			expectError := strings.Contains(entry.Name(), "error")
+
 			p := showFixtureProvider()
 			ui := new(cli.MockUi)
 			m := Meta{
@@ -171,6 +174,10 @@ func TestShow_json_output(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			}
 			if code := ic.Run([]string{}); code != 0 {
+				if expectError {
+					// this should error, but not panic.
+					return
+				}
 				t.Fatalf("init failed\n%s", ui.ErrorWriter)
 			}
 
diff --git a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/main.tf b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ef0bad2bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module "my_module" {
+  source = "./modules"
+}
diff --git a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/modules/main.tf b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/modules/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..990155ecb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/modules/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module "more" {
+  source = "./more-modules"
+}
diff --git a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/modules/more-modules/main.tf b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/modules/more-modules/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..488a27193
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-module-error/modules/more-modules/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+variable "misspelled" {
+  default     = "ehllo"
+  descriptoni = "I am a misspelled attribute"
+}
diff --git a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/modules/more-modules/main.tf b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/modules/more-modules/main.tf
index 488a27193..7e1ffafe1 100644
--- a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/modules/more-modules/main.tf
+++ b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/modules/more-modules/main.tf
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-variable "misspelled" {
-  default     = "ehllo"
-  descriptoni = "I am a misspelled attribute"
+variable "ok" {
+  default     = "something"
+  description = "description"
 }
diff --git a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/output.json b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/output.json
index 75f15466e..2dcc54773 100644
--- a/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/output.json
+++ b/command/testdata/show-json/nested-modules/output.json
@@ -1,23 +1,31 @@
 {
-    "format_version": "0.1",
-    "terraform_version": "0.12.1-dev",
-    "planned_values": {
-        "root_module": {}
-    },
-    "configuration": {
-        "root_module": {
+  "format_version": "0.1",
+  "terraform_version": "0.12.1-dev",
+  "planned_values": {
+    "root_module": {}
+  },
+  "configuration": {
+    "root_module": {
+      "module_calls": {
+        "my_module": {
+          "source": "./modules",
+          "module": {
             "module_calls": {
-                "my_module": {
-                    "source": "./modules",
-                    "module": {
-                        "module_calls": {
-                            "more": {
-                                "module": {}
-                            }
-                        }
+              "more": {
+                "module": {
+                  "variables": {
+                    "ok": {
+                      "default": "something",
+                      "description": "description"
                     }
-                }
+                  }
+                },
+                "source": "./more-modules"
+              }
             }
+          }
         }
+      }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  }
+}