diff --git a/command/meta.go b/command/meta.go
index c84f7550ee..aca94b1a85 100644
--- a/command/meta.go
+++ b/command/meta.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -398,38 +399,26 @@ func (m *Meta) process(args []string, vars bool) ([]string, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		f, err := os.Open(wd)
+
+		fis, err := ioutil.ReadDir(wd)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		defer f.Close()
 
-		fi, err := f.Stat()
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		if !fi.IsDir() {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+		// make sure we add the files in order
+		sort.Slice(fis, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return fis[i].Name() < fis[j].Name()
+		})
 
-		err = nil
-		for err != io.EOF {
-			var fis []os.FileInfo
-			fis, err = f.Readdir(128)
-			if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
-				return nil, err
+		for _, fi := range fis {
+			name := fi.Name()
+			// Ignore directories, non-var-files, and ignored files
+			if fi.IsDir() || !isAutoVarFile(name) || config.IsIgnoredFile(name) {
+				continue
 			}
 
-			for _, fi := range fis {
-				name := fi.Name()
-				// Ignore directories, non-var-files, and ignored files
-				if fi.IsDir() || !isAutoVarFile(name) || config.IsIgnoredFile(name) {
-					continue
-				}
-
-				m.autoKey = "var-file-default"
-				preArgs = append(preArgs, "-"+m.autoKey, name)
-			}
+			m.autoKey = "var-file-default"
+			preArgs = append(preArgs, "-"+m.autoKey, name)
 		}
 
 		args = append(preArgs, args...)
diff --git a/command/meta_test.go b/command/meta_test.go
index 51f3b49290..63ab0fb28b 100644
--- a/command/meta_test.go
+++ b/command/meta_test.go
@@ -138,20 +138,12 @@ func TestMetaInputMode_defaultVars(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Create a temporary directory for our cwd
 	d := tempDir(t)
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(d, 0755); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-	if err := os.Chdir(d); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-	defer os.Chdir(cwd)
+	os.MkdirAll(d, 0755)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(d)
+	defer testChdir(t, d)()
 
 	// Create the default vars file
-	err = ioutil.WriteFile(
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(
 		filepath.Join(d, DefaultVarsFilename),
 		[]byte(""),
 		0644)
@@ -326,21 +318,13 @@ func TestMeta_process(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Create a temporary directory for our cwd
 	d := tempDir(t)
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(d, 0755); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-	if err := os.Chdir(d); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-	defer os.Chdir(cwd)
+	os.MkdirAll(d, 0755)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(d)
+	defer testChdir(t, d)()
 
 	// Create two vars files
 	defaultVarsfile := "terraform.tfvars"
-	err = ioutil.WriteFile(
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(
 		filepath.Join(d, defaultVarsfile),
 		[]byte(""),
 		0644)
@@ -388,18 +372,18 @@ func TestMeta_process(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", "-var-file-default", args[0])
 	}
 	if args[1] != defaultVarsfile {
-		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", defaultVarsfile, args[3])
+		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", defaultVarsfile, args[1])
 	}
 	if args[2] != "-var-file-default" {
-		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", "-var-file-default", args[0])
+		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", "-var-file-default", args[2])
 	}
 	if args[3] != fileFirstAlphabetical {
-		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", fileFirstAlphabetical, args[1])
+		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", fileFirstAlphabetical, args[3])
 	}
 	if args[4] != "-var-file-default" {
-		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", "-var-file-default", args[0])
+		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", "-var-file-default", args[4])
 	}
 	if args[5] != fileLastAlphabetical {
-		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", fileLastAlphabetical, args[3])
+		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", fileLastAlphabetical, args[5])
 	}
 }