diff --git a/GNUmakefile b/GNUmakefile
index 31101712b..6162a3bfb 100644
--- a/GNUmakefile
+++ b/GNUmakefile
@@ -52,10 +52,13 @@ test-compile:
 	fi
 	go test -c $(TEST) $(TESTARGS)
 
+precompile-docs:
+	go run scripts/docs-precompile.go
+
 validate-docs:
 	tfplugindocs validate
 
-gen-docs:
+gen-docs: precompile-docs
 	tfplugindocs generate
 
 .PHONY: build test testacc vet fmt fmtcheck errcheck test-compile validate-docs gen-docs
diff --git a/scripts/docs-precompile.go b/scripts/docs-precompile.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..121cc8e8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/docs-precompile.go
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+// This script is designed to precompile all our documentation template files
+// so they are ready to then be passed onto the official terraform
+// documentation generation tool:
+// https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-docs
+//
+// The reason why we need to precompile the templates is because they use the
+// {{ define "..." }} syntax to allow us to reuse Markdown content across
+// multiple files, and so we need this script to expose those separate files as
+// if they were defined within a single template file.
+//
+// The reason we need the official terraform documentation generator tool is
+// because it helps to pick up missing content that we've not defined by
+// reflecting over the schemas of our resources and data sources.
+//
+// THE COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION STEPS ARE:
+//
+// 1. acquire all the templates
+// 2. render the templates into Markdown
+// 3. write the file output to a temp directory and still use .tmpl extension
+// 4. append to each rendered .tmpl file the template code needed by tfplugindocs (e.g. {{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }})
+// 5. rename repo /templates/{data-sources/resources} directories to avoid being overwritten by next step
+// 6. move contents of temp directory (i.e. data-sources/resources) into repo /templates directory
+// 7. run tfplugindocs generate function to output final documentation to /docs directory
+// 8. replace /templates/{data-sources/resources} directories with their backed up equivalents
+//
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"html/template"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// PageData represents a type of service and enables a template to render
+// different content depending on the service type.
+type PageData struct {
+	ServiceType string
+}
+
+// Page represents a template page to be rendered.
+//
+// name: the {{ define "..." }} in each template.
+// path: the path to write rendered output to.
+// Data: context specific information (e.g. vcl vs wasm).
+//
+// Data is public as it's called via the template processing logic.
+type Page struct {
+	name string
+	path string
+	Data PageData
+}
+
+func main() {
+	baseDir := getBaseDir()
+	tmplDir := baseDir + "/templates/"
+	// docsDir := baseDir + "/docs/"
+
+	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "precompile")
+	fmt.Println(tempDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
+
+	var dataPages = []Page{
+		{
+			name: "ip_ranges",
+			path: tempDir + "/data-sources/ip_ranges.md.tmpl",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "waf_rules",
+			path: tempDir + "/data-sources/waf_rules.md.tmpl",
+		},
+	}
+
+	var resourcePages = []Page{
+		{
+			name: "service_v1",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/service_v1.md.tmpl",
+			Data: PageData{
+				"vcl",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "service_compute",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/service_compute.md.tmpl",
+			Data: PageData{
+				"wasm",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "service_dictionary_items_v1",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/service_dictionary_items_v1.md.tmpl",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "service_acl_entries_v1",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/service_acl_entries_v1.md.tmpl",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1.md.tmpl",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "service_waf_configuration",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/service_waf_configuration.md.tmpl",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "user_v1",
+			path: tempDir + "/resources/user_v1.md.tmpl",
+		},
+	}
+
+	pages := append(resourcePages, dataPages...)
+
+	renderPages(getTemplate(tmplDir), pages)
+
+	appendSyntaxToFiles(tempDir)
+
+	backupTemplatesDir(tmplDir)
+}
+
+// getBaseDir returns the terraform repo directory.
+//
+// TODO: simplify this logic with something like:
+// git rev-parse --show-toplevel
+func getBaseDir() string {
+	_, scriptPath, _, ok := runtime.Caller(0)
+	if !ok {
+		log.Fatal("Could not get current working directory")
+	}
+	for !strings.HasPrefix(filepath.Base(scriptPath), "terraform-provider-") && scriptPath != "/" {
+		scriptPath = filepath.Clean(scriptPath + "/..")
+	}
+	if scriptPath == "/" {
+		log.Fatal("Script was run outside of fastly provider directory")
+	}
+	return scriptPath
+}
+
+// getTemplate walks the templates directory filtering non-tmpl extension
+// files, and parsing all the templates found (ensuring they must parse).
+func getTemplate(tmplDir string) *template.Template {
+	var templateFiles []string
+	filepath.Walk(tmplDir, func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if filepath.Ext(path) == ".tmpl" {
+			templateFiles = append(templateFiles, path)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	return template.Must(template.ParseFiles(templateFiles...))
+}
+
+// renderPages iterates over the given pages and renders each element.
+func renderPages(t *template.Template, pages []Page) {
+	for _, p := range pages {
+		renderPage(t, p)
+	}
+}
+
+// renderPage creates a new file based on the page information given, and
+// renders the associated template for that page.
+func renderPage(t *template.Template, p Page) {
+	basePath := filepath.Dir(p.path)
+	err := makeDirectoryIfNotExists(basePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal()
+	}
+
+	f, err := os.Create(p.path)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+	err = t.ExecuteTemplate(f, p.name, p)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+}
+
+// makeDirectoryIfNotExists asserts whether a directory exists and makes it
+// if not. Returns nil if exists or successfully made.
+func makeDirectoryIfNotExists(path string) error {
+	fi, err := os.Stat(path)
+	switch {
+	case err == nil && fi.IsDir():
+		return nil
+	case err == nil && !fi.IsDir():
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s already exists as a regular file", path)
+	case os.IsNotExist(err):
+		return os.MkdirAll(path, 0750)
+	case err != nil:
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// appendSyntaxToFiles walks the temporary directory finding all the rendered
+// Markdown files we generated and proceeds to append the required template
+// syntax that the tfplugindocs tool needs.
+func appendSyntaxToFiles(tempDir string) {
+	filepath.Walk(tempDir, func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if filepath.Ext(path) == ".tmpl" {
+			// open file for appending and in write-only mode
+			f, err := os.OpenFile(path, os.O_APPEND|os.O_WRONLY, 0644)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if _, err := f.Write([]byte("{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}\n")); err != nil {
+				f.Close() // ignore error; Write error takes precedence
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+}
+
+// backupTemplatesDir renames the /templates directory.
+//
+// We do this so that we can create a new /templates directory and move the
+// contents of the temporary directory into the new location. Thus allowing
+// tfplugindocs to be run within the root of the terraform provider repo.
+func backupTemplatesDir(tmplDir string) {
+	err := os.Rename(tmplDir, tmplDir+"-backup")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/templates/data-sources/ip_ranges.md.tmpl b/templates/data-sources/ip_ranges.md.tmpl
index 88a53d6a9..bb143a300 100644
--- a/templates/data-sources/ip_ranges.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/data-sources/ip_ranges.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "ip_ranges"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: fastly_ip_ranges"
 ---
 
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ resource "aws_security_group" "from_fastly" {
 * `ipv6_cidr_blocks` - The lexically ordered list of ipv6 CIDR blocks.
 
 [1]: https://docs.fastly.com/guides/securing-communications/accessing-fastlys-ip-ranges
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/data-sources/waf_rules.md.tmpl b/templates/data-sources/waf_rules.md.tmpl
index 94444eed2..f3403f0cb 100644
--- a/templates/data-sources/waf_rules.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/data-sources/waf_rules.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "waf_rules"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: fastly_waf_rules"
 ---
 
@@ -143,4 +143,4 @@ The `rules` block supports:
 
 [1]: https://developer.fastly.com/reference/api/waf/rules/
 
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/service_acl_entries_v1.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/service_acl_entries_v1.md.tmpl
index 00f080547..81a578637 100644
--- a/templates/resources/service_acl_entries_v1.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/service_acl_entries_v1.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "service_acl_entries_v1"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: service_acl_entries_v1"
 ---
 
@@ -234,4 +234,4 @@ The following is an example of the Terraform state command to remove the resourc
 $ terraform state rm fastly_service_acl_entries_v1.entries
 ``` 
 
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/service_compute.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/service_compute.md.tmpl
index 61ef93dfa..12cf1b339 100644
--- a/templates/resources/service_compute.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/service_compute.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "service_compute"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: service_compute"
 ---
 
@@ -112,4 +112,4 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 {{ template "export_intro" .}}
 {{ template "footer" .}}
 
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/service_dictionary_items_v1.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/service_dictionary_items_v1.md.tmpl
index d3d04e5d6..110b0c60f 100644
--- a/templates/resources/service_dictionary_items_v1.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/service_dictionary_items_v1.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "service_dictionary_items_v1"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: service_dictionary_items_v1"
 ---
 
@@ -247,4 +247,4 @@ The following is an example of the Terraform state command to remove the resourc
 ```
 $ terraform state rm fastly_service_dictionary_items_v1.items
 ``` 
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1.md.tmpl
index 32c6caa76..ad1736f3f 100644
--- a/templates/resources/service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1"
 ---
 
@@ -202,4 +202,4 @@ The following is an example of the Terraform state command to remove the resourc
 ```
 $ terraform state rm fastly_service_dynamic_snippet_content_v1.content
 ```
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/service_v1.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/service_v1.md.tmpl
index fd9feefe1..819ffaba9 100644
--- a/templates/resources/service_v1.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/service_v1.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "service_v1"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: service_v1"
 ---
 
@@ -308,4 +308,4 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 {{ template "footer" .}}
 
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/service_waf_configuration.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/service_waf_configuration.md.tmpl
index 887ed77fc..7a17d782d 100644
--- a/templates/resources/service_waf_configuration.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/service_waf_configuration.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "service_waf_configuration"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: service_waf_configuration"
 ---
 
@@ -623,4 +623,4 @@ The following is an example of the Terraform state command to remove the resourc
 ```
 $ terraform state rm fastly_service_waf_configuration.waf
 ```
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/templates/resources/user_v1.md.tmpl b/templates/resources/user_v1.md.tmpl
index e2ff0e28f..b7d11eae2 100644
--- a/templates/resources/user_v1.md.tmpl
+++ b/templates/resources/user_v1.md.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
----
+{{define "user_v1"}}---
 page_title: "Fastly: user_v1"
 ---
 
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ A Fastly User can be imported using their user ID, e.g.
 ```
 $ terraform import fastly_user_v1.demo xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 ```
-{{ .SchemaMarkdown | trimspace }}
+{{end}}