diff --git a/plugin/discovery/meta.go b/plugin/discovery/meta.go
index d93296cfc6..0c3a1ff4af 100644
--- a/plugin/discovery/meta.go
+++ b/plugin/discovery/meta.go
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 
 	"github.com/blang/semver"
+	plugin "github.com/hashicorp/go-plugin"
+	tfplugin "github.com/hashicorp/terraform/plugin"
 )
 
 // PluginMeta is metadata about a plugin, useful for launching the plugin
@@ -48,3 +51,19 @@ func (m PluginMeta) SHA256() ([]byte, error) {
 
 	return h.Sum(nil), nil
 }
+
+// ClientConfig returns a configuration object that can be used to instantiate
+// a client for the referenced plugin.
+func (m PluginMeta) ClientConfig() *plugin.ClientConfig {
+	return &plugin.ClientConfig{
+		Cmd:             exec.Command(m.Path),
+		HandshakeConfig: tfplugin.Handshake,
+		Managed:         true,
+		Plugins:         tfplugin.PluginMap,
+	}
+}
+
+// Client returns a plugin client for the referenced plugin.
+func (m PluginMeta) Client() *plugin.Client {
+	return plugin.NewClient(m.ClientConfig())
+}