diff --git a/states/sync.go b/states/sync.go
index 780f83bb81..a37744673e 100644
--- a/states/sync.go
+++ b/states/sync.go
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ func (s *SyncState) ResourceInstanceObject(addr addrs.AbsResourceInstance, gen G
 	if inst == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
-	return inst.GetGeneration(gen)
+	return inst.GetGeneration(gen).DeepCopy()
 }
 
 // SetResourceMeta updates the resource-level metadata for the resource at