diff --git a/config/loader_hcl.go b/config/loader_hcl.go
index a40ad5ba7..9abb1960f 100644
--- a/config/loader_hcl.go
+++ b/config/loader_hcl.go
@@ -327,6 +327,10 @@ func loadAtlasHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) (*AtlasConfig, error) {
 // represents exactly one module definition in the HCL configuration.
 // We leave it up to another pass to merge them together.
 func loadModulesHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Module, error) {
+	if err := assertAllBlocksHaveNames("module", list); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	list = list.Children()
 	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
@@ -391,12 +395,12 @@ func loadModulesHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Module, error) {
 // LoadOutputsHcl recurses into the given HCL object and turns
 // it into a mapping of outputs.
 func loadOutputsHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Output, error) {
-	list = list.Children()
-	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
-			"'output' must be followed by exactly one string: a name")
+	if err := assertAllBlocksHaveNames("output", list); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	list = list.Children()
+
 	// Go through each object and turn it into an actual result.
 	result := make([]*Output, 0, len(list.Items))
 	for _, item := range list.Items {
@@ -450,12 +454,12 @@ func loadOutputsHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Output, error) {
 // LoadVariablesHcl recurses into the given HCL object and turns
 // it into a list of variables.
 func loadVariablesHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Variable, error) {
-	list = list.Children()
-	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
-			"'variable' must be followed by exactly one strings: a name")
+	if err := assertAllBlocksHaveNames("variable", list); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	list = list.Children()
+
 	// hclVariable is the structure each variable is decoded into
 	type hclVariable struct {
 		DeclaredType string `hcl:"type"`
@@ -531,6 +535,10 @@ func loadVariablesHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Variable, error) {
 // LoadProvidersHcl recurses into the given HCL object and turns
 // it into a mapping of provider configs.
 func loadProvidersHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*ProviderConfig, error) {
+	if err := assertAllBlocksHaveNames("provider", list); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	list = list.Children()
 	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
@@ -592,6 +600,10 @@ func loadProvidersHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*ProviderConfig, error) {
 // represents exactly one data definition in the HCL configuration.
 // We leave it up to another pass to merge them together.
 func loadDataResourcesHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Resource, error) {
+	if err := assertAllBlocksHaveNames("data", list); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	list = list.Children()
 	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
@@ -901,6 +913,10 @@ func loadManagedResourcesHcl(list *ast.ObjectList) ([]*Resource, error) {
 }
 
 func loadProvisionersHcl(list *ast.ObjectList, connInfo map[string]interface{}) ([]*Provisioner, error) {
+	if err := assertAllBlocksHaveNames("provisioner", list); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	list = list.Children()
 	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil
@@ -1023,6 +1039,29 @@ func hclObjectMap(os *hclobj.Object) map[string]ast.ListNode {
 }
 */
 
+// assertAllBlocksHaveNames returns an error if any of the items in
+// the given object list are blocks without keys (like "module {}")
+// or simple assignments (like "module = 1"). It returns nil if
+// neither of these things are true.
+//
+// The given name is used in any generated error messages, and should
+// be the name of the block we're dealing with. The given list should
+// be the result of calling .Filter on an object list with that same
+// name.
+func assertAllBlocksHaveNames(name string, list *ast.ObjectList) error {
+	if elem := list.Elem(); len(elem.Items) != 0 {
+		switch et := elem.Items[0].Val.(type) {
+		case *ast.ObjectType:
+			pos := et.Lbrace
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %q must be followed by a name", pos, name)
+		default:
+			pos := elem.Items[0].Val.Pos()
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %q must be a configuration block", pos, name)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func checkHCLKeys(node ast.Node, valid []string) error {
 	var list *ast.ObjectList
 	switch n := node.(type) {
diff --git a/config/loader_test.go b/config/loader_test.go
index a2a2929f2..a3aeb7321 100644
--- a/config/loader_test.go
+++ b/config/loader_test.go
@@ -314,6 +314,18 @@ func TestLoadFileBasic_modules(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestLoadFile_unnamedModule(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := LoadFile(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "module-unnamed.tf"))
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: expected error")
+	}
+
+	errorStr := err.Error()
+	if !strings.Contains(errorStr, `"module" must be followed`) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: expected error has wrong text: %s", errorStr)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestLoadFile_outputDependsOn(t *testing.T) {
 	c, err := LoadFile(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "output-depends-on.tf"))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -696,7 +708,7 @@ func TestLoadFile_variableNoName(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	errorStr := err.Error()
-	if !strings.Contains(errorStr, "'variable' must be followed") {
+	if !strings.Contains(errorStr, `"variable" must be followed`) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: expected error has wrong text: %s", errorStr)
 	}
 }
@@ -740,7 +752,7 @@ func TestLoadFile_unnamedOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	errorStr := err.Error()
-	if !strings.Contains(errorStr, "'output' must be followed") {
+	if !strings.Contains(errorStr, `"output" must be followed`) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: expected error has wrong text: %s", errorStr)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/config/test-fixtures/module-unnamed.tf b/config/test-fixtures/module-unnamed.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e285519bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/test-fixtures/module-unnamed.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+module "okay" {
+  source = "./okay"
+}
+
+module {
+  source = "./not-okay"
+}
diff --git a/config/test-fixtures/output-unnamed.tf b/config/test-fixtures/output-unnamed.tf
index 7e7529153..7ef8ebe1b 100644
--- a/config/test-fixtures/output-unnamed.tf
+++ b/config/test-fixtures/output-unnamed.tf
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+output "okay" {
+  value = "bar"
+}
+
 output {
   value = "foo"
 }
diff --git a/config/test-fixtures/variable-no-name.tf b/config/test-fixtures/variable-no-name.tf
index f3856886f..7f09d1e64 100644
--- a/config/test-fixtures/variable-no-name.tf
+++ b/config/test-fixtures/variable-no-name.tf
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+variable "okay" {
+}
+
 variable {
   name    = "test"
   default = "test_value"