diff --git a/terraform/context_apply_test.go b/terraform/context_apply_test.go
index 6c2a493c58e1..2109ce7026ca 100644
--- a/terraform/context_apply_test.go
+++ b/terraform/context_apply_test.go
@@ -4180,6 +4180,46 @@ module.child:
 	`)
 }
 
+func TestContext2Apply_targetedModuleRecursive(t *testing.T) {
+	m := testModule(t, "apply-targeted-module-recursive")
+	p := testProvider("aws")
+	p.ApplyFn = testApplyFn
+	p.DiffFn = testDiffFn
+	ctx := testContext2(t, &ContextOpts{
+		Module: m,
+		Providers: map[string]ResourceProviderFactory{
+			"aws": testProviderFuncFixed(p),
+		},
+		Targets: []string{"module.child"},
+	})
+
+	if _, err := ctx.Plan(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	state, err := ctx.Apply()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	mod := state.ModuleByPath([]string{"root", "child", "subchild"})
+	if mod == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("no subchild module found in the state!\n\n%#v", state)
+	}
+	if len(mod.Resources) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 resources, got: %#v", mod.Resources)
+	}
+
+	checkStateString(t, state, `
+<no state>
+module.child.subchild:
+  aws_instance.foo:
+    ID = foo
+    num = 2
+    type = aws_instance
+	`)
+}
+
 func TestContext2Apply_targetedModuleResource(t *testing.T) {
 	m := testModule(t, "apply-targeted-module-resource")
 	p := testProvider("aws")
diff --git a/terraform/resource_address.go b/terraform/resource_address.go
index da22b23219e7..0bae5ec1923e 100644
--- a/terraform/resource_address.go
+++ b/terraform/resource_address.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func (r *ResourceAddress) String() string {
 		panic(fmt.Errorf("unsupported resource mode %s", r.Mode))
 	}
 
-	if r.Type != "" {
+	if r.Type != "" && r.Type != "module" {
 		result = append(result, r.Type)
 	}
 
@@ -109,17 +109,38 @@ func ParseResourceAddress(s string) (*ResourceAddress, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("must target specific data instance")
 	}
 
+	var resourceType string
+	if matches["type"] == "" && matches["module_name"] != "" {
+		resourceType = "module"
+	} else {
+		resourceType = matches["type"]
+	}
+
 	return &ResourceAddress{
 		Path:            path,
 		Index:           resourceIndex,
 		InstanceType:    instanceType,
 		InstanceTypeSet: matches["instance_type"] != "",
 		Name:            matches["name"],
-		Type:            matches["type"],
+		Type:            resourceType,
 		Mode:            mode,
 	}, nil
 }
 
+func (addr *ResourceAddress) ContainedInHierarchy(node *ResourceAddress) bool {
+	path := addr.Path
+	nodePath := node.Path
+	if len(nodePath) < len(path) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for i, component := range path {
+		if val := nodePath[i]; val != component {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 func (addr *ResourceAddress) Equals(raw interface{}) bool {
 	other, ok := raw.(*ResourceAddress)
 	if !ok {
@@ -196,7 +217,7 @@ func tokenizeResourceAddress(s string) (map[string]string, error) {
 	// string "aws_instance.web.tainted[1]"
 	re := regexp.MustCompile(`\A` +
 		// "module.foo.module.bar" (optional)
-		`(?P<path>(?:module\.[^.]+\.?)*)` +
+		`(?P<path>(?:module\.(?P<module_name>[^.]+)\.?)*)` +
 		// possibly "data.", if targeting is a data resource
 		`(?P<data_prefix>(?:data\.)?)` +
 		// "aws_instance.web" (optional when module path specified)
diff --git a/terraform/resource_address_test.go b/terraform/resource_address_test.go
index 144d7a9ec05e..1f434913ebe2 100644
--- a/terraform/resource_address_test.go
+++ b/terraform/resource_address_test.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func TestParseResourceAddress(t *testing.T) {
 			"module.a",
 			&ResourceAddress{
 				Path:         []string{"a"},
-				Type:         "",
+				Type:         "module",
 				Name:         "",
 				InstanceType: TypePrimary,
 				Index:        -1,
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ func TestParseResourceAddress(t *testing.T) {
 			"module.a.module.b",
 			&ResourceAddress{
 				Path:         []string{"a", "b"},
-				Type:         "",
+				Type:         "module",
 				Name:         "",
 				InstanceType: TypePrimary,
 				Index:        -1,
diff --git a/terraform/state_filter.go b/terraform/state_filter.go
index 89cf0d898947..82d1874a6d89 100644
--- a/terraform/state_filter.go
+++ b/terraform/state_filter.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (f *StateFilter) filterSingle(a *ResourceAddress) []*StateFilterResult {
 
 			// Only add the module to the results if we haven't specified a type.
 			// We also ignore the root module.
-			if a.Type == "" && len(m.Path) > 1 {
+			if (a.Type == "" || a.Type == "module") && len(m.Path) > 1 {
 				results = append(results, &StateFilterResult{
 					Path:    m.Path[1:],
 					Address: (&ResourceAddress{Path: m.Path[1:]}).String(),
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func (f *StateFilter) relevant(addr *ResourceAddress, raw interface{}) bool {
 
 		return true
 	case *ResourceState:
-		if addr.Type == "" {
+		if addr.Type == "" || addr.Type == "module" {
 			// If we have no resource type, then we're interested in all!
 			return true
 		}
diff --git a/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/child/main.tf b/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/child/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..852bce8b9f39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/child/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module "subchild" {
+    source = "./subchild"
+}
diff --git a/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/child/subchild/main.tf b/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/child/subchild/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..98f5ee87e9f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/child/subchild/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+resource "aws_instance" "foo" {
+    num = "2"
+}
diff --git a/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/main.tf b/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0f6991c536ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/terraform/test-fixtures/apply-targeted-module-recursive/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module "child" {
+    source = "./child"
+}
diff --git a/terraform/transform_resource.go b/terraform/transform_resource.go
index b877a6051836..f002f13fa5ce 100644
--- a/terraform/transform_resource.go
+++ b/terraform/transform_resource.go
@@ -84,7 +84,9 @@ func (t *ResourceCountTransformer) nodeIsTargeted(node dag.Vertex) bool {
 
 	addr := addressable.ResourceAddress()
 	for _, targetAddr := range t.Targets {
-		if targetAddr.Equals(addr) {
+		if targetAddr.Type == "module" && targetAddr.ContainedInHierarchy(addr) {
+			return true
+		} else if targetAddr.Equals(addr) {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/terraform/transform_targets.go b/terraform/transform_targets.go
index 4e99baddad9c..663b7349f33c 100644
--- a/terraform/transform_targets.go
+++ b/terraform/transform_targets.go
@@ -109,7 +109,9 @@ func (t *TargetsTransformer) nodeIsTarget(
 	}
 	addr := r.ResourceAddress()
 	for _, targetAddr := range addrs {
-		if targetAddr.Equals(addr) {
+		if targetAddr.Type == "module" && targetAddr.ContainedInHierarchy(addr) {
+			return true
+		} else if targetAddr.Equals(addr) {
 			return true
 		}
 	}