diff --git a/internal/stacks/stackruntime/apply_test.go b/internal/stacks/stackruntime/apply_test.go
index 4233c6f8a0..4e3cb384cc 100644
--- a/internal/stacks/stackruntime/apply_test.go
+++ b/internal/stacks/stackruntime/apply_test.go
@@ -159,6 +159,54 @@ func TestApply(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		"updating inputs and outputs (noop)": {
+			path: "component-input-output",
+			cycles: []TestCycle{
+				{
+					planInputs: map[string]cty.Value{
+						"value": cty.StringVal("foo"),
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					planInputs: map[string]cty.Value{
+						"value": cty.StringVal("foo"),
+					},
+					wantPlannedChanges: []stackplan.PlannedChange{
+						&stackplan.PlannedChangeApplyable{
+							Applyable: true,
+						},
+						&stackplan.PlannedChangeHeader{
+							TerraformVersion: version.SemVer,
+						},
+						&stackplan.PlannedChangeOutputValue{
+							Addr:   mustStackOutputValue("value"),
+							Action: plans.NoOp,
+							Before: cty.StringVal("foo"),
+							After:  cty.StringVal("foo"),
+						},
+						&stackplan.PlannedChangePlannedTimestamp{
+							PlannedTimestamp: fakePlanTimestamp,
+						},
+						&stackplan.PlannedChangeRootInputValue{
+							Addr:   mustStackInputVariable("value"),
+							Action: plans.NoOp,
+							Before: cty.StringVal("foo"),
+							After:  cty.StringVal("foo"),
+						},
+					},
+					wantAppliedChanges: []stackstate.AppliedChange{
+						&stackstate.AppliedChangeOutputValue{
+							Addr:  mustStackOutputValue("value"),
+							Value: cty.StringVal("foo"),
+						},
+						&stackstate.AppliedChangeInputVariable{
+							Addr:  mustStackInputVariable("value"),
+							Value: cty.StringVal("foo"),
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		"deleting inputs and outputs": {
 			path: "component-input-output",
 			state: stackstate.NewStateBuilder().
diff --git a/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/input_variable.go b/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/input_variable.go
index 47ed2919ae..8865a4e128 100644
--- a/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/input_variable.go
+++ b/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/input_variable.go
@@ -245,13 +245,6 @@ func (v *InputVariable) PlanChanges(ctx context.Context) ([]stackplan.PlannedCha
 
 	before, beforeEphemeral := v.main.PlanPrevState().RootInputVariable(v.Addr().Item)
 
-	action := plans.Create
-	if beforeEphemeral || before != cty.NilVal {
-		action = plans.Update
-	} else {
-		before = cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType)
-	}
-
 	decl := v.Declaration(ctx)
 	after := v.Value(ctx, PlanPhase)
 	requiredOnApply := false
@@ -261,6 +254,35 @@ func (v *InputVariable) PlanChanges(ctx context.Context) ([]stackplan.PlannedCha
 		requiredOnApply = !after.IsNull()
 		after = cty.NilVal
 	}
+
+	var action plans.Action
+	if beforeEphemeral {
+		// We can't tell the difference between an Update and NoOp change for
+		// an ephemeral input so we just always mark it as updated.
+		action = plans.Update
+	} else if before != cty.NilVal {
+		if decl.Ephemeral {
+			// if the new value is ephemeral, and the old value wasn't, then
+			// we'll set the operation to an update even if the actual hasn't
+			// changed
+			action = plans.Update
+		} else if result := before.Equals(after); result.IsKnown() && result.True() {
+			// The values are definitely equal, so NoOp change.
+			action = plans.NoOp
+		} else {
+			// If we don't know for sure that the values are equal, then we'll
+			// call this an update.
+			action = plans.Update
+		}
+	} else {
+		action = plans.Create
+
+		// We think this is a brand new input variable so we'll also mark the
+		// before as being a null value (as opposed to NilVal which means it
+		// existed before but was ephemeral).
+		before = cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType)
+	}
+
 	return []stackplan.PlannedChange{
 		&stackplan.PlannedChangeRootInputValue{
 			Addr:            v.Addr().Item,
diff --git a/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/stack.go b/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/stack.go
index e1fe92dd0a..5de88ecf40 100644
--- a/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/stack.go
+++ b/internal/stacks/stackruntime/internal/stackeval/stack.go
@@ -773,8 +773,13 @@ func (s *Stack) PlanChanges(ctx context.Context) ([]stackplan.PlannedChange, tfd
 		action := plans.Create
 
 		if actualBefore, exists := beforeVal[addr]; exists {
-			action = plans.Update
 			before = actualBefore
+
+			if result := before.Equals(after); result.IsKnown() && result.True() {
+				action = plans.NoOp
+			} else {
+				action = plans.Update
+			}
 		}
 
 		changes = append(changes, &stackplan.PlannedChangeOutputValue{