diff --git a/internal/command/init.go b/internal/command/init.go
index ba0d6db934..2e6d13d9da 100644
--- a/internal/command/init.go
+++ b/internal/command/init.go
@@ -244,14 +244,28 @@ func (c *InitCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 		return 1
 	}
 
-	// If the core version is OK, show any underlying config errors uncovered when initializing
-	// the backend.
-	diags = diags.Append(backDiags)
-	if backDiags.HasErrors() {
-		c.showDiagnostics(diags)
-		return 1
+	// If we pass the core version check, we want to show any errors from initializing the backend next,
+	// which will include syntax errors from loading the configuration. However, there's a special case
+	// where we are unable to load the backend from configuration or state _and_ the configuration has
+	// errors. In that case, we want to show a slightly friendlier error message for newcomers.
+	showBackendDiags := back != nil || rootModEarly.Backend != nil || rootModEarly.CloudConfig != nil
+	if showBackendDiags {
+		diags = diags.Append(backDiags)
+		if backDiags.HasErrors() {
+			c.showDiagnostics(diags)
+			return 1
+		}
+	} else {
+		diags = diags.Append(earlyConfDiags)
+		if earlyConfDiags.HasErrors() {
+			c.Ui.Error(strings.TrimSpace(errInitConfigError))
+			c.showDiagnostics(diags)
+			return 1
+		}
 	}
 
+	// If everything is ok with the core version check and backend initialization,
+	// show other errors from loading the full configuration tree.
 	diags = diags.Append(confDiags)
 	if confDiags.HasErrors() {
 		c.Ui.Error(strings.TrimSpace(errInitConfigError))
diff --git a/internal/command/init_test.go b/internal/command/init_test.go
index 2609677bdf..e81db3e205 100644
--- a/internal/command/init_test.go
+++ b/internal/command/init_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/zclconf/go-cty/cty"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
+
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/addrs"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/configs"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/configs/configschema"
@@ -2620,6 +2621,96 @@ func TestInit_invalidBuiltInProviders(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestInit_invalidSyntaxNoBackend(t *testing.T) {
+	td := t.TempDir()
+	testCopyDir(t, testFixturePath("init-syntax-invalid-no-backend"), td)
+	defer testChdir(t, td)()
+
+	ui := cli.NewMockUi()
+	view, _ := testView(t)
+	m := Meta{
+		Ui:   ui,
+		View: view,
+	}
+
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: m,
+	}
+
+	if code := c.Run(nil); code == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("succeeded, but was expecting error\nstdout:\n%s\nstderr:\n%s", ui.OutputWriter, ui.ErrorWriter)
+	}
+
+	errStr := ui.ErrorWriter.String()
+	if subStr := "There are some problems with the configuration, described below"; !strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should include preamble\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+	if subStr := "Error: Unsupported block type"; !strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should mention the syntax problem\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInit_invalidSyntaxWithBackend(t *testing.T) {
+	td := t.TempDir()
+	testCopyDir(t, testFixturePath("init-syntax-invalid-with-backend"), td)
+	defer testChdir(t, td)()
+
+	ui := cli.NewMockUi()
+	view, _ := testView(t)
+	m := Meta{
+		Ui:   ui,
+		View: view,
+	}
+
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: m,
+	}
+
+	if code := c.Run(nil); code == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("succeeded, but was expecting error\nstdout:\n%s\nstderr:\n%s", ui.OutputWriter, ui.ErrorWriter)
+	}
+
+	errStr := ui.ErrorWriter.String()
+	if subStr := "There are some problems with the configuration, described below"; !strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should include preamble\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+	if subStr := "Error: Unsupported block type"; !strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should mention the syntax problem\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInit_invalidSyntaxInvalidBackend(t *testing.T) {
+	td := t.TempDir()
+	testCopyDir(t, testFixturePath("init-syntax-invalid-backend-invalid"), td)
+	defer testChdir(t, td)()
+
+	ui := cli.NewMockUi()
+	view, _ := testView(t)
+	m := Meta{
+		Ui:   ui,
+		View: view,
+	}
+
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: m,
+	}
+
+	if code := c.Run(nil); code == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("succeeded, but was expecting error\nstdout:\n%s\nstderr:\n%s", ui.OutputWriter, ui.ErrorWriter)
+	}
+
+	errStr := ui.ErrorWriter.String()
+	if subStr := "There are some problems with the configuration, described below"; strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should not include preamble\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+	if subStr := "Error: Unsupported block type"; strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should not mention syntax errors\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+	if subStr := "Error: Unsupported backend type"; !strings.Contains(errStr, subStr) {
+		t.Errorf("Error output should mention the invalid backend\nwant substr: %s\ngot:\n%s", subStr, errStr)
+	}
+}
+
 // newMockProviderSource is a helper to succinctly construct a mock provider
 // source that contains a set of packages matching the given provider versions
 // that are available for installation (from temporary local files).
diff --git a/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-backend-invalid/main.tf b/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-backend-invalid/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4fb3f33692
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-backend-invalid/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+terraform {
+  backend "nonexistent" {}
+}
+
+bad_block {
+}
+
diff --git a/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-no-backend/main.tf b/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-no-backend/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5f1451d26c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-no-backend/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+bad_block {
+}
+
diff --git a/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-with-backend/main.tf b/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-with-backend/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2ea4406cc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/command/testdata/init-syntax-invalid-with-backend/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+terraform {
+  backend "local" {}
+}
+
+bad_block {
+}
+