diff --git a/backend/local/backend.go b/backend/local/backend.go
index 3f6f61847..6b119c297 100644
--- a/backend/local/backend.go
+++ b/backend/local/backend.go
@@ -180,28 +180,9 @@ func (b *Local) DeleteState(name string) error {
 func (b *Local) State(name string) (state.State, error) {
 	statePath, stateOutPath, backupPath := b.StatePaths(name)
 
-	// If we have a backend handling state, defer to that.
+	// If we have a backend handling state, delegate to that.
 	if b.Backend != nil {
-		s, err := b.Backend.State(name)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-
-		// make sure we always have a backup state, unless it disabled
-		if backupPath == "" {
-			return s, nil
-		}
-
-		// see if the delegated backend returned a BackupState of its own
-		if s, ok := s.(*state.BackupState); ok {
-			return s, nil
-		}
-
-		s = &state.BackupState{
-			Real: s,
-			Path: backupPath,
-		}
-		return s, nil
+		return b.Backend.State(name)
 	}
 
 	if s, ok := b.states[name]; ok {
diff --git a/backend/local/backend_test.go b/backend/local/backend_test.go
index 2b70df2fc..c22b92cd6 100644
--- a/backend/local/backend_test.go
+++ b/backend/local/backend_test.go
@@ -229,43 +229,6 @@ func TestLocal_multiStateBackend(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// verify that a remote state backend is always wrapped in a BackupState
-func TestLocal_remoteStateBackup(t *testing.T) {
-	// assign a separate backend to mock a remote state backend
-	b := &Local{
-		Backend: &testDelegateBackend{},
-	}
-
-	s, err := b.State("default")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	bs, ok := s.(*state.BackupState)
-	if !ok {
-		t.Fatal("remote state is not backed up")
-	}
-
-	if bs.Path != DefaultStateFilename+DefaultBackupExtension {
-		t.Fatal("bad backup location:", bs.Path)
-	}
-
-	// do the same with a named state, which should use the local env directories
-	s, err = b.State("test")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	bs, ok = s.(*state.BackupState)
-	if !ok {
-		t.Fatal("remote state is not backed up")
-	}
-
-	if bs.Path != filepath.Join(DefaultWorkspaceDir, "test", DefaultStateFilename+DefaultBackupExtension) {
-		t.Fatal("bad backup location:", bs.Path)
-	}
-}
-
 // change into a tmp dir and return a deferable func to change back and cleanup
 func testTmpDir(t *testing.T) func() {
 	tmp, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tf")