diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f7aa8721..77859b95 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,9 +11,10 @@ require (
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-getter v1.4.0
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-version v1.2.1
 	github.com/hashicorp/logutils v1.0.0
-	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json v0.5.0
+	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json v0.7.0
 	github.com/mitchellh/cli v1.1.1
 	github.com/sergi/go-diff v1.1.0
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1
 	github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.2.1
 	github.com/zclconf/go-cty-debug v0.0.0-20191215020915-b22d67c1ba0b
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200302210943-78000ba7a073
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index adb1e49f..b576814b 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ github.com/google/go-cmp v0.3.1 h1:Xye71clBPdm5HgqGwUkwhbynsUJZhDbS20FvLhQ2izg=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.3.1/go.mod h1:8QqcDgzrUqlUb/G2PQTWiueGozuR1884gddMywk6iLU=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.2 h1:X2ev0eStA3AbceY54o37/0PQ/UWqKEiiO2dKL5OPaFM=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.2/go.mod h1:v8dTdLbMG2kIc/vJvl+f65V22dbkXbowE6jgT/gNBxE=
-github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.3 h1:x95R7cp+rSeeqAMI2knLtQ0DKlaBhv2NrtrOvafPHRo=
 github.com/google/martian v2.1.0+incompatible h1:/CP5g8u/VJHijgedC/Legn3BAbAaWPgecwXBIDzw5no=
 github.com/google/martian v2.1.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:9I4somxYTbIHy5NJKHRl3wXiIaQGbYVAs8BPL6v8lEs=
 github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20181206194817-3ea8567a2e57/go.mod h1:zfwlbNMJ+OItoe0UupaVj+oy1omPYYDuagoSzA8v9mc=
@@ -98,6 +97,8 @@ github.com/hashicorp/logutils v1.0.0 h1:dLEQVugN8vlakKOUE3ihGLTZJRB4j+M2cdTm/ORI
 github.com/hashicorp/logutils v1.0.0/go.mod h1:QIAnNjmIWmVIIkWDTG1z5v++HQmx9WQRO+LraFDTW64=
 github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json v0.5.0 h1:7TV3/F3y7QVSuN4r9BEXqnWqrAyeOtON8f0wvREtyzs=
 github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json v0.5.0/go.mod h1:eAbqb4w0pSlRmdvl8fOyHAi/+8jnkVYN28gJkSJrLhU=
+github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json v0.7.0 h1:DgkfLARKMQ/xmzVtSRX9Vz/fzPCL3vskHIgj6s+SQwQ=
+github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json v0.7.0/go.mod h1:3defM4kkMfttwiE7VakJDwCd4R+umhSQnvJwORXbprE=
 github.com/imdario/mergo v0.3.9 h1:UauaLniWCFHWd+Jp9oCEkTBj8VO/9DKg3PV3VCNMDIg=
 github.com/imdario/mergo v0.3.9/go.mod h1:2EnlNZ0deacrJVfApfmtdGgDfMuh/nq6Ok1EcJh5FfA=
 github.com/jbenet/go-context v0.0.0-20150711004518-d14ea06fba99 h1:BQSFePA1RWJOlocH6Fxy8MmwDt+yVQYULKfN0RoTN8A=
@@ -122,7 +123,6 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.4/go.mod h1:M+lRXTBqGeGNdLjl/ufCoiOlB5xdOkqRJdNx
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.4/go.mod h1:LwmH8dsx7+W8Uxz3IHJYH5QSwggIsqBzpuz5H//U1FU=
 github.com/mitchellh/cli v1.1.1 h1:J64v/xD7Clql+JVKSvkYojLOXu1ibnY9ZjGLwSt/89w=
 github.com/mitchellh/cli v1.1.1/go.mod h1:xcISNoH86gajksDmfB23e/pu+B+GeFRMYmoHXxx3xhI=
-github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.0.0 h1:vKb8ShqSby24Yrqr/yDYkuFz8d0WUjys40rvnGC8aR0=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.0.0/go.mod h1:SfyaCUpYCn1Vlf4IUYiD9fPX4A5wJrkLzIz1N1q0pr0=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.1.0 h1:lukF9ziXFxDFPkA1vsr5zpc1XuPDn/wFntq5mG+4E0Y=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.1.0/go.mod h1:SfyaCUpYCn1Vlf4IUYiD9fPX4A5wJrkLzIz1N1q0pr0=
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ github.com/posener/complete v1.1.1/go.mod h1:em0nMJCgc9GFtwrmVmEMR/ZL6WyhyjMBndr
 github.com/sergi/go-diff v1.1.0 h1:we8PVUC3FE2uYfodKH/nBHMSetSfHDR6scGdBi+erh0=
 github.com/sergi/go-diff v1.1.0/go.mod h1:STckp+ISIX8hZLjrqAeVduY0gWCT9IjLuqbuNXdaHfM=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
-github.com/stretchr/testify v1.2.2 h1:bSDNvY7ZPG5RlJ8otE/7V6gMiyenm9RtJ7IUVIAoJ1w=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.2.2/go.mod h1:a8OnRcib4nhh0OaRAV+Yts87kKdq0PP7pXfy6kDkUVs=
-github.com/stretchr/testify v1.4.0 h1:2E4SXV/wtOkTonXsotYi4li6zVWxYlZuYNCXe9XRJyk=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.4.0/go.mod h1:j7eGeouHqKxXV5pUuKE4zz7dFj8WfuZ+81PSLYec5m4=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1 h1:hDPOHmpOpP40lSULcqw7IrRb/u7w6RpDC9399XyoNd0=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.5 h1:pFrO0lVpTBXLpYw+pnLj6TbvHuyjXMfjGeCwSqCVwok=
 github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.5/go.mod h1:2bypXElzHzzJZwzH67Y6wb67pO62Rzfn7BSiF4ABRW8=
 github.com/vmihailenco/msgpack v3.3.3+incompatible/go.mod h1:fy3FlTQTDXWkZ7Bh6AcGMlsjHatGryHQYUTf1ShIgkk=
@@ -158,7 +158,6 @@ go.opencensus.io v0.22.0 h1:C9hSCOW830chIVkdja34wa6Ky+IzWllkUinR+BtRZd4=
 go.opencensus.io v0.22.0/go.mod h1:+kGneAE2xo2IficOXnaByMWTGM9T73dGwxeWcUqIpI8=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190219172222-a4c6cb3142f2/go.mod h1:6SG95UA2DQfeDnfUPMdvaQW0Q7yPrPDi9nlGo2tz2b4=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190308221718-c2843e01d9a2/go.mod h1:djNgcEr1/C05ACkg1iLfiJU5Ep61QUkGW8qpdssI0+w=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190605123033-f99c8df09eb5 h1:58fnuSXlxZmFdJyvtTFVmVhcMLU6v5fEb/ok4wyqtNU=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190605123033-f99c8df09eb5/go.mod h1:yigFU9vqHzYiE8UmvKecakEJjdnWj3jj499lnFckfCI=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200302210943-78000ba7a073 h1:xMPOj6Pz6UipU1wXLkrtqpHbR0AVFnyPEQq/wRWz9lM=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200302210943-78000ba7a073/go.mod h1:LzIPMQfyMNhhGPhUkYOs5KpL4U8rLKemX1yGLhDgUto=
@@ -181,7 +180,6 @@ golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190404232315-eb5bcb51f2a3/go.mod h1:t9HGtf8HONx5eT2rtn
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190501004415-9ce7a6920f09/go.mod h1:t9HGtf8HONx5eT2rtn7q6eTqICYqUVnKs3thJo3Qplg=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190503192946-f4e77d36d62c/go.mod h1:t9HGtf8HONx5eT2rtn7q6eTqICYqUVnKs3thJo3Qplg=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190603091049-60506f45cf65/go.mod h1:HSz+uSET+XFnRR8LxR5pz3Of3rY3CfYBVs4xY44aLks=
-golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190620200207-3b0461eec859 h1:R/3boaszxrf1GEUWTVDzSKVwLmSJpwZ1yqXm8j0v2QI=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190620200207-3b0461eec859/go.mod h1:z5CRVTTTmAJ677TzLLGU+0bjPO0LkuOLi4/5GtJWs/s=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20200301022130-244492dfa37a h1:GuSPYbZzB5/dcLNCwLQLsg3obCJtX9IJhpXkvY7kzk0=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20200301022130-244492dfa37a/go.mod h1:z5CRVTTTmAJ677TzLLGU+0bjPO0LkuOLi4/5GtJWs/s=
@@ -203,7 +201,6 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190412213103-97732733099d/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7w
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190502145724-3ef323f4f1fd/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190507160741-ecd444e8653b/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190606165138-5da285871e9c/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190624142023-c5567b49c5d0 h1:HyfiK1WMnHj5FXFXatD+Qs1A/xC2Run6RzeW1SyHxpc=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190624142023-c5567b49c5d0/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200302150141-5c8b2ff67527 h1:uYVVQ9WP/Ds2ROhcaGPeIdVq0RIXVLwsHlnvJ+cT1So=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200302150141-5c8b2ff67527/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
@@ -258,6 +255,8 @@ gopkg.in/warnings.v0 v0.1.2/go.mod h1:jksf8JmL6Qr/oQM2OXTHunEvvTAsrWBLb6OOjuVWRN
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.2/go.mod h1:hI93XBmqTisBFMUTm0b8Fm+jr3Dg1NNxqwp+5A1VGuI=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.4 h1:/eiJrUcujPVeJ3xlSWaiNi3uSVmDGBK1pDHUHAnao1I=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.4/go.mod h1:hI93XBmqTisBFMUTm0b8Fm+jr3Dg1NNxqwp+5A1VGuI=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c h1:dUUwHk2QECo/6vqA44rthZ8ie2QXMNeKRTHCNY2nXvo=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.0-20190102054323-c2f93a96b099/go.mod h1:rf3lG4BRIbNafJWhAfAdb/ePZxsR/4RtNHQocxwk9r4=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.0-20190106161140-3f1c8253044a/go.mod h1:rf3lG4BRIbNafJWhAfAdb/ePZxsR/4RtNHQocxwk9r4=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.0-20190418001031-e561f6794a2a/go.mod h1:rf3lG4BRIbNafJWhAfAdb/ePZxsR/4RtNHQocxwk9r4=
diff --git a/tfexec/errors.go b/tfexec/errors.go
index 6515033f..241e6517 100644
--- a/tfexec/errors.go
+++ b/tfexec/errors.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ var (
 
 	tfVersionMismatchErrRegexp        = regexp.MustCompile(`Error: The currently running version of Terraform doesn't meet the|Error: Unsupported Terraform Core version`)
 	tfVersionMismatchConstraintRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`required_version = "(.+)"|Required version: (.+)\b`)
+	configInvalidErrRegexp            = regexp.MustCompile(`There are some problems with the configuration, described below.`)
 )
 
 func (tf *Terraform) parseError(err error, stderr string) error {
@@ -87,6 +88,8 @@ func (tf *Terraform) parseError(err error, stderr string) error {
 		if len(submatches) == 2 {
 			return &ErrWorkspaceExists{submatches[1]}
 		}
+	case configInvalidErrRegexp.MatchString(stderr):
+		return &ErrConfigInvalid{stderr: stderr}
 	}
 	errString := strings.TrimSpace(stderr)
 	if errString == "" {
@@ -96,6 +99,14 @@ func (tf *Terraform) parseError(err error, stderr string) error {
 	return errors.New(stderr)
 }
 
+type ErrConfigInvalid struct {
+	stderr string
+}
+
+func (e *ErrConfigInvalid) Error() string {
+	return "configuration is invalid"
+}
+
 type ErrNoSuitableBinary struct {
 	err error
 }
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/invalid/main.tf b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/invalid/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2da3086e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/invalid/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+bad_block {
+}
+
+terraform {
+    bad_attribute = "string"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/validate_test.go b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/validate_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..307429cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/validate_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+package e2etest
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-exec/tfexec"
+	tfjson "github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json"
+)
+
+var (
+	validateMinVersion = version.Must(version.NewVersion("0.12.0"))
+)
+
+func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
+	runTest(t, "basic", func(t *testing.T, tfv *version.Version, tf *tfexec.Terraform) {
+		if tfv.LessThan(validateMinVersion) {
+			t.Skip("terraform validate -json was added in Terraform 0.12, so test is not valid")
+		}
+
+		err := tf.Init(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		validation, err := tf.Validate(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if !validation.Valid {
+			t.Fatalf("expected valid, got %#v", validation)
+		}
+	})
+
+	runTest(t, "invalid", func(t *testing.T, tfv *version.Version, tf *tfexec.Terraform) {
+		if tfv.LessThan(validateMinVersion) {
+			t.Skip("terraform validate -json was added in Terraform 0.12, so test is not valid")
+		}
+
+		err := tf.Init(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Logf("error initializing: %s", err)
+
+			// allow for invalid config errors only here
+			// 0.13 will return this, 0.12 will not
+			// unsure why 0.12 terraform init does not have a non-zero exit code for syntax problems
+			var confErr *tfexec.ErrConfigInvalid
+			if !errors.As(err, &confErr) {
+				t.Fatalf("expected err ErrConfigInvalid, got %T: %s", err, err)
+			}
+		}
+
+		actual, err := tf.Validate(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// reset byte locations in actual as CRLF issues render them off between operating systems
+		cleanActual := []tfjson.Diagnostic{}
+		for _, diag := range actual.Diagnostics {
+			diag.Range.Start.Byte = 0
+			diag.Range.End.Byte = 0
+			cleanActual = append(cleanActual, diag)
+		}
+
+		assert.Equal(t, []tfjson.Diagnostic{
+			{
+				Severity: "error",
+				Summary:  "Unsupported block type",
+				Detail:   "Blocks of type \"bad_block\" are not expected here.",
+				Range: &tfjson.Range{
+					Filename: "main.tf",
+					Start: tfjson.Pos{
+						Line:   1,
+						Column: 1,
+					},
+					End: tfjson.Pos{
+						Line:   1,
+						Column: 10,
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Severity: "error",
+				Summary:  "Unsupported argument",
+				Detail:   "An argument named \"bad_attribute\" is not expected here.",
+				Range: &tfjson.Range{
+					Filename: "main.tf",
+					Start: tfjson.Pos{
+						Line:   5,
+						Column: 5,
+					},
+					End: tfjson.Pos{
+						Line:   5,
+						Column: 18,
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		}, cleanActual)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/validate.go b/tfexec/validate.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cac9d6b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/validate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package tfexec
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+
+	tfjson "github.com/hashicorp/terraform-json"
+)
+
+// Validate represents the validate subcommand to the Terraform CLI. The -json
+// flag support was added in 0.12.0, so this will not work on earlier versions.
+func (tf *Terraform) Validate(ctx context.Context) (*tfjson.ValidateOutput, error) {
+	err := tf.compatible(ctx, tf0_12_0, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("terraform validate -json was added in 0.12.0: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	cmd := tf.buildTerraformCmd(ctx, nil, "validate", "-no-color", "-json")
+
+	var outbuf = bytes.Buffer{}
+	cmd.Stdout = &outbuf
+
+	err = tf.runTerraformCmd(cmd)
+	// TODO: this command should not exit 1 if you pass -json as its hard to differentiate other errors
+	if err != nil && cmd.ProcessState.ExitCode() != 1 {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var out tfjson.ValidateOutput
+	jsonErr := json.Unmarshal(outbuf.Bytes(), &out)
+	if jsonErr != nil {
+		// the original call was possibly bad, if it has an error, actually just return that
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		return nil, jsonErr
+	}
+
+	return &out, nil
+}