diff --git a/config/loader_test.go b/config/loader_test.go
index f49ce48c1..a23eba528 100644
--- a/config/loader_test.go
+++ b/config/loader_test.go
@@ -359,6 +359,31 @@ backend (s3)
 	}
 }
 
+func TestLoadFile_terraformBackendJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	c, err := LoadFile(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "terraform-backend.tf.json"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if c == nil {
+		t.Fatal("config should not be nil")
+	}
+
+	if c.Dir != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", c.Dir)
+	}
+
+	{
+		actual := terraformStr(c.Terraform)
+		expected := strings.TrimSpace(`
+backend (s3)
+  foo`)
+		if actual != expected {
+			t.Fatalf("bad:\n%s", actual)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestLoadFile_terraformBackendMulti(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := LoadFile(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "terraform-backend-multi.tf"))
 	if err == nil {
diff --git a/config/test-fixtures/terraform-backend.tf.json b/config/test-fixtures/terraform-backend.tf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..39c110b8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/test-fixtures/terraform-backend.tf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+    "terraform": [{
+        "backend": [{
+            "s3": {
+                "foo": "bar"
+            }
+        }]
+    }]
+}