diff --git a/backend/local/backend_local.go b/backend/local/backend_local.go
index 6276fa5cf3..6287d43fa4 100644
--- a/backend/local/backend_local.go
+++ b/backend/local/backend_local.go
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ func (b *Local) context(op *backend.Operation) (*terraform.Context, *configload.
 		}
 		log.Printf("[TRACE] backend/local: building context from plan file")
 		tfCtx, configSnap, ctxDiags = b.contextFromPlanFile(op.PlanFile, opts, stateMeta)
+		if ctxDiags.HasErrors() {
+			return nil, nil, nil, ctxDiags
+		}
+
 		// Write sources into the cache of the main loader so that they are
 		// available if we need to generate diagnostic message snippets.
 		op.ConfigLoader.ImportSourcesFromSnapshot(configSnap)