diff --git a/command/validate/validate.go b/command/validate/validate.go
index 1b3923239c..96a84d6148 100644
--- a/command/validate/validate.go
+++ b/command/validate/validate.go
@@ -18,12 +18,17 @@ func New(ui cli.Ui) *cmd {
 type cmd struct {
 	UI    cli.Ui
 	flags *flag.FlagSet
-	quiet bool
-	help  string
+	// configFormat forces all config files to be interpreted as this
+	// format independent of their extension.
+	configFormat string
+	quiet        bool
+	help         string
 }
 
 func (c *cmd) init() {
 	c.flags = flag.NewFlagSet("", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	c.flags.StringVar(&c.configFormat, "config-format", "",
+		"Config files are in this format irrespective of their extension. Must be 'hcl' or 'json'")
 	c.flags.BoolVar(&c.quiet, "quiet", false,
 		"When given, a successful run will produce no output.")
 	c.help = flags.Usage(help, c.flags)
@@ -40,7 +45,13 @@ func (c *cmd) Run(args []string) int {
 		c.UI.Error("Must specify at least one config file or directory")
 		return 1
 	}
-	b, err := config.NewBuilder(config.Flags{ConfigFiles: configFiles})
+	
+	if c.configFormat != "" && c.configFormat != "json" && c.configFormat != "hcl" {
+		c.UI.Error("-config-format must be either 'hcl' or 'json")
+		return 1	
+	}
+	
+	b, err := config.NewBuilder(config.Flags{ConfigFiles: configFiles, ConfigFormat: &c.configFormat})
 	if err != nil {
 		c.UI.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Config validation failed: %v", err.Error()))
 		return 1
diff --git a/command/validate/validate_test.go b/command/validate/validate_test.go
index 517e02b620..c3f3dacc61 100644
--- a/command/validate/validate_test.go
+++ b/command/validate/validate_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	require "github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/testutil"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
 )
@@ -26,9 +27,8 @@ func TestValidateCommand_FailOnEmptyFile(t *testing.T) {
 	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
 	args := []string{tmpFile.Name()}
 
-	if code := cmd.Run(args); code == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: %d", code)
-	}
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.NotEqual(t, 0, code)
 }
 
 func TestValidateCommand_SucceedOnMinimalConfigFile(t *testing.T) {
@@ -38,16 +38,62 @@ func TestValidateCommand_SucceedOnMinimalConfigFile(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fp := filepath.Join(td, "config.json")
 	err := ioutil.WriteFile(fp, []byte(`{"bind_addr":"10.0.0.1", "data_dir":"`+td+`"}`), 0644)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
 
 	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
 	args := []string{fp}
 
-	if code := cmd.Run(args); code != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: %d", code)
-	}
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, code)
+}
+
+func TestValidateCommand_SucceedWithMinimalJSONConfigFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	td := testutil.TempDir(t, "consul")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+
+	fp := filepath.Join(td, "json.conf")
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(fp, []byte(`{"bind_addr":"10.0.0.1", "data_dir":"`+td+`"}`), 0644)
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
+
+	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
+	args := []string{"--config-format", "json", fp}
+
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, code)
+}
+
+func TestValidateCommand_SucceedWithMinimalHCLConfigFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	td := testutil.TempDir(t, "consul")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+
+	fp := filepath.Join(td, "hcl.conf")
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(fp, []byte("bind_addr = \"10.0.0.1\"\ndata_dir = \""+td+"\""), 0644)
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
+
+
+	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
+	args := []string{"--config-format", "hcl", fp}
+
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, code)
+}
+
+func TestValidateCommand_SucceedWithJSONAsHCL(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	td := testutil.TempDir(t, "consul")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+
+	fp := filepath.Join(td, "json.conf")
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(fp, []byte(`{"bind_addr":"10.0.0.1", "data_dir":"`+td+`"}`), 0644)
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
+
+	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
+	args := []string{"--config-format", "hcl", fp}
+
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, code)
 }
 
 func TestValidateCommand_SucceedOnMinimalConfigDir(t *testing.T) {
@@ -56,16 +102,29 @@ func TestValidateCommand_SucceedOnMinimalConfigDir(t *testing.T) {
 	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
 
 	err := ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(td, "config.json"), []byte(`{"bind_addr":"10.0.0.1", "data_dir":"`+td+`"}`), 0644)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
 
 	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
 	args := []string{td}
 
-	if code := cmd.Run(args); code != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: %d", code)
-	}
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, code)
+}
+
+func TestValidateCommand_FailForInvalidJSONConfigFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	td := testutil.TempDir(t, "consul")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+
+	fp := filepath.Join(td, "hcl.conf")
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(fp, []byte(`bind_addr = "10.0.0.1"\ndata_dir = "`+td+`"`), 0644)
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
+
+	cmd := New(cli.NewMockUi())
+	args := []string{"--config-format", "json", fp}
+
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.NotEqual(t, 0, code)
 }
 
 func TestValidateCommand_Quiet(t *testing.T) {
@@ -75,18 +134,13 @@ func TestValidateCommand_Quiet(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fp := filepath.Join(td, "config.json")
 	err := ioutil.WriteFile(fp, []byte(`{"bind_addr":"10.0.0.1", "data_dir":"`+td+`"}`), 0644)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
+	require.Nilf(t, err, "err: %s", err)
 
 	ui := cli.NewMockUi()
 	cmd := New(ui)
 	args := []string{"-quiet", td}
 
-	if code := cmd.Run(args); code != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: %d, %s", code, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
-	}
-	if ui.OutputWriter.String() != "" {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", ui.OutputWriter.String())
-	}
+	code := cmd.Run(args)
+	require.Equalf(t, 0, code, "return code - expected: 0, bad: %d, %s", code, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	require.Equal(t, "", ui.OutputWriter.String())
 }