diff --git a/backend/legacy/backend.go b/backend/legacy/backend.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..21ed7b1fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/legacy/backend.go
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+package legacy
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/state"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/state/remote"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
+)
+
+// Backend is an implementation of backend.Backend for legacy remote state
+// clients.
+type Backend struct {
+	// Type is the type of remote state client to support
+	Type string
+
+	// client is set after Configure is called and client is initialized.
+	client remote.Client
+}
+
+func (b *Backend) Input(
+	ui terraform.UIInput, c *terraform.ResourceConfig) (*terraform.ResourceConfig, error) {
+	// Return the config as-is, legacy doesn't support input
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+func (b *Backend) Validate(*terraform.ResourceConfig) ([]string, []error) {
+	// No validation was supported for old clients
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (b *Backend) Configure(c *terraform.ResourceConfig) error {
+	// Legacy remote state was only map[string]string config
+	var conf map[string]string
+	if err := mapstructure.Decode(c.Raw, &conf); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"Failed to decode %q configuration: %s\n\n"+
+				"This backend expects all configuration keys and values to be\n"+
+				"strings. Please verify your configuration and try again.",
+			b.Type, err)
+	}
+
+	client, err := remote.NewClient(b.Type, conf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"Failed to configure remote backend %q: %s",
+			b.Type, err)
+	}
+
+	// Set our client
+	b.client = client
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (b *Backend) State() (state.State, error) {
+	if b.client == nil {
+		panic("State called with nil remote state client")
+	}
+
+	return &remote.State{Client: b.client}, nil
+}
diff --git a/backend/legacy/backend_test.go b/backend/legacy/backend_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eceb48510
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/legacy/backend_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package legacy
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/backend"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/config"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/state"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+)
+
+func TestBackend_impl(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ backend.Backend = new(Backend)
+}
+
+func TestBackend(t *testing.T) {
+	td, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tf")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+
+	b := &Backend{Type: "local"}
+	conf := terraform.NewResourceConfig(config.TestRawConfig(t, map[string]interface{}{
+		"path": filepath.Join(td, "data"),
+	}))
+
+	// Config
+	if err := b.Configure(conf); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Grab state
+	s, err := b.State()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if s == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("state is nil")
+	}
+
+	// Test it
+	s.WriteState(state.TestStateInitial())
+	s.PersistState()
+	state.TestState(t, s)
+}
diff --git a/backend/legacy/legacy.go b/backend/legacy/legacy.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be3163bd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/legacy/legacy.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// Package legacy contains a backend implementation that can be used
+// with the legacy remote state clients.
+package legacy
+
+import (
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/backend"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/state/remote"
+)
+
+// Init updates the backend/init package map of initializers to support
+// all the remote state types.
+//
+// If a type is already in the map, it will not be added. This will allow
+// us to slowly convert the legacy types to first-class backends.
+func Init(m map[string]func() backend.Backend) {
+	for k, _ := range remote.BuiltinClients {
+		if _, ok := m[k]; !ok {
+			// Copy the "k" value since the variable "k" is reused for
+			// each key (address doesn't change).
+			typ := k
+
+			// Build the factory function to return a backend of typ
+			m[k] = func() backend.Backend {
+				return &Backend{Type: typ}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/legacy/legacy_test.go b/backend/legacy/legacy_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77d81bf1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/legacy/legacy_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package legacy
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/backend"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/state/remote"
+)
+
+func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
+	m := make(map[string]func() backend.Backend)
+	Init(m)
+
+	for k, _ := range remote.BuiltinClients {
+		b, ok := m[k]
+		if !ok {
+			t.Fatalf("missing: %s", k)
+		}
+
+		if typ := b().(*Backend).Type; typ != k {
+			t.Fatalf("bad type: %s", typ)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInit_ignoreExisting(t *testing.T) {
+	m := make(map[string]func() backend.Backend)
+	m["local"] = nil
+	Init(m)
+
+	if v, ok := m["local"]; !ok || v != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", m)
+	}
+}