From 8c4031ef15aff4fcc2dd80874ab976cf004accb9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: James Bardin <j.bardin@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 11:29:12 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] don't persist a nil state from Apply

Apply should not return a nil state to be persisted.
---
 internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go | 8 ++++++++
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go b/internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go
index 897c36e400..42e78d9405 100644
--- a/internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go
+++ b/internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go
@@ -168,6 +168,14 @@ func (b *Local) opApply(
 	}
 	diags = diags.Append(applyDiags)
 
+	// Even on error with an empty state, the state value should not be nil.
+	// Return early here to prevent corrupting any existing state.
+	if diags.HasErrors() && applyState == nil {
+		log.Printf("[ERROR] backend/local: apply returned nil state")
+		op.ReportResult(runningOp, diags)
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Store the final state
 	runningOp.State = applyState
 	err := statemgr.WriteAndPersist(opState, applyState)