diff --git a/internal/terraform/rootmodule/errors.go b/internal/terraform/rootmodule/errors.go
index a017710ee..d064fef9e 100644
--- a/internal/terraform/rootmodule/errors.go
+++ b/internal/terraform/rootmodule/errors.go
@@ -14,3 +14,11 @@ func (e *RootModuleNotFoundErr) Error() string {
 	}
 	return "root module not found"
 }
+
+func IsRootModuleNotFound(err error) bool {
+	if err == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	_, ok := err.(*RootModuleNotFoundErr)
+	return ok
+}
diff --git a/internal/terraform/rootmodule/root_module_manager.go b/internal/terraform/rootmodule/root_module_manager.go
index 73f405f7f..31c8158a1 100644
--- a/internal/terraform/rootmodule/root_module_manager.go
+++ b/internal/terraform/rootmodule/root_module_manager.go
@@ -159,15 +159,42 @@ func (rmm *rootModuleManager) ParserForDir(path string) (lang.Parser, error) {
 	return rm.Parser(), nil
 }
 
-func (rmm *rootModuleManager) TerraformExecutorForDir(path string) (*exec.Executor, error) {
+func (rmm *rootModuleManager) TerraformExecutorForDir(ctx context.Context, path string) (*exec.Executor, error) {
 	rm, err := rmm.RootModuleByPath(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if err != nil && IsRootModuleNotFound(err) {
+		return rmm.terraformExecutorForDir(ctx, path)
 	}
 
 	return rm.TerraformExecutor(), nil
 }
 
+func (rmm *rootModuleManager) terraformExecutorForDir(ctx context.Context, dir string) (*exec.Executor, error) {
+	tfPath := rmm.tfExecPath
+	if tfPath == "" {
+		var err error
+		d := &discovery.Discovery{}
+		tfPath, err = d.LookPath()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	tf := exec.NewExecutor(ctx, tfPath)
+
+	tf.SetWorkdir(dir)
+	tf.SetLogger(rmm.logger)
+
+	if rmm.tfExecLogPath != "" {
+		tf.SetExecLogPath(rmm.tfExecLogPath)
+	}
+
+	if rmm.tfExecTimeout != 0 {
+		tf.SetTimeout(rmm.tfExecTimeout)
+	}
+
+	return tf, nil
+}
+
 // rootModuleDirFromPath strips known lock file paths and filenames
 // to get the directory path of the relevant rootModule
 func rootModuleDirFromFilePath(filePath string) string {
diff --git a/internal/terraform/rootmodule/types.go b/internal/terraform/rootmodule/types.go
index f99099051..69558b8e9 100644
--- a/internal/terraform/rootmodule/types.go
+++ b/internal/terraform/rootmodule/types.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ type ParserFinder interface {
 }
 
 type TerraformExecFinder interface {
-	TerraformExecutorForDir(path string) (*exec.Executor, error)
+	TerraformExecutorForDir(ctx context.Context, path string) (*exec.Executor, error)
 }
 
 type RootModuleCandidateFinder interface {
diff --git a/langserver/handlers/formatting.go b/langserver/handlers/formatting.go
index 9b0faa4e6..7bf838e29 100644
--- a/langserver/handlers/formatting.go
+++ b/langserver/handlers/formatting.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func (h *logHandler) TextDocumentFormatting(ctx context.Context, params lsp.Docu
 		return edits, err
 	}
 
-	tf, err := tff.TerraformExecutorForDir(fh.Dir())
+	tf, err := tff.TerraformExecutorForDir(ctx, fh.Dir())
 	if err != nil {
 		// TODO: detect no root module found error
 		// -> find OS-wide executor instead