diff --git a/command/fmt.go b/command/fmt.go
index 6c6b31f04..b95b57a19 100644
--- a/command/fmt.go
+++ b/command/fmt.go
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func (c *FmtCommand) processFile(path string, r io.Reader, w io.Writer, isStdout
 		return diags
 	}
 
-	result := hclwrite.Format(src)
+	result := c.formatSourceCode(src)
 
 	if !bytes.Equal(src, result) {
 		// Something was changed
@@ -266,6 +266,12 @@ func (c *FmtCommand) processDir(path string, stdout io.Writer) tfdiags.Diagnosti
 	return diags
 }
 
+// formatSourceCode is the formatting logic itself, applied to each file that
+// is selected (directly or indirectly) on the command line.
+func (c *FmtCommand) formatSourceCode(src []byte) []byte {
+	return hclwrite.Format(src)
+}
+
 func (c *FmtCommand) Help() string {
 	helpText := `
 Usage: terraform fmt [options] [DIR]