diff --git a/terraform/context_apply_test.go b/terraform/context_apply_test.go
index aef5848d67..25e37f4b0c 100644
--- a/terraform/context_apply_test.go
+++ b/terraform/context_apply_test.go
@@ -5121,8 +5121,10 @@ func TestContext2Apply_targetedModuleDep(t *testing.T) {
 		Targets: []string{"aws_instance.foo"},
 	})
 
-	if _, err := ctx.Plan(); err != nil {
+	if p, err := ctx.Plan(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	} else {
+		t.Logf("Diff: %s", p)
 	}
 
 	state, err := ctx.Apply()
diff --git a/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go b/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go
index 0bef6750d9..43e709f7fb 100644
--- a/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go
+++ b/terraform/graph_builder_plan.go
@@ -81,15 +81,19 @@ func (b *PlanGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 			Module:   b.Module,
 		},
 
-		// Target
-		&TargetsTransformer{Targets: b.Targets},
-
 		// Attach the configuration to any resources
 		&AttachResourceConfigTransformer{Module: b.Module},
 
 		// Attach the state
 		&AttachStateTransformer{State: b.State},
 
+		// Connect so that the references are ready for targeting. We'll
+		// have to connect again later for providers and so on.
+		&ReferenceTransformer{},
+
+		// Target
+		&TargetsTransformer{Targets: b.Targets},
+
 		// Create all the providers
 		&MissingProviderTransformer{Providers: b.Providers, Factory: providerFactory},
 		&ProviderTransformer{},
@@ -103,7 +107,8 @@ func (b *PlanGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 		// Add module variables
 		&ModuleVariableTransformer{Module: b.Module},
 
-		// Connect references so ordering is correct
+		// Connect references again to connect the providers, module variables,
+		// etc. This is idempotent.
 		&ReferenceTransformer{},
 
 		// Single root