diff --git a/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go b/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go
index ffb4b477d..6cb2f56ec 100644
--- a/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go
+++ b/terraform/graph_builder_apply.go
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ func (b *ApplyGraphBuilder) Steps() []GraphTransformer {
 		// directly.  A destroy is identical to a normal apply, except for the
 		// fact that we also have configuration to evaluate. While the rest of
 		// the unused nodes can be programmatically pruned (via
-		// pruneUnusedNodesTransformer), root module outputs only have an
+		// pruneUnusedNodesTransformer), root module outputs always have an
 		// implied dependency on remote state. This means that if they exist in
 		// the configuration, the only signal to remove them is via the destroy
 		// command itself.
diff --git a/terraform/transform_destroy_edge.go b/terraform/transform_destroy_edge.go
index 5516d8413..1d28c1118 100644
--- a/terraform/transform_destroy_edge.go
+++ b/terraform/transform_destroy_edge.go
@@ -207,10 +207,10 @@ func (t *pruneUnusedNodesTransformer) Transform(g *Graph) error {
 		modules = append(modules, mod)
 	}
 
-	// Sort them by path length, longest first, so that start with the deepest
-	// modules.  The order of modules at the same tree level doesn't matter, we
-	// just need to ensure that child modules are processed before parent
-	// modules.
+	// Sort them by path length, longest first, so that we start with the
+	// deepest modules. The order of modules at the same tree level doesn't
+	// matter, we just need to ensure that child modules are processed before
+	// parent modules.
 	sort.Slice(modules, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return len(modules[i].addr) > len(modules[j].addr)
 	})
diff --git a/terraform/transform_output.go b/terraform/transform_output.go
index b926b2fd1..d1b130c63 100644
--- a/terraform/transform_output.go
+++ b/terraform/transform_output.go
@@ -88,13 +88,14 @@ func (t *destroyRootOutputTransformer) Transform(g *Graph) error {
 
 		deps := g.UpEdges(v)
 
-		// the destroy node must depend on the eval node
-		deps.Add(v)
-
 		for _, d := range deps {
 			log.Printf("[TRACE] %s depends on %s", node.Name(), dag.VertexName(d))
 			g.Connect(dag.BasicEdge(node, d))
 		}
+
+		// We no longer need the expand node, since we intend to remove this
+		// output from the state.
+		g.Remove(v)
 	}
 	return nil
 }