diff --git a/command/build.go b/command/build.go
index a7503eeea3e..b8bad8f2240 100644
--- a/command/build.go
+++ b/command/build.go
@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@ func (c *BuildCommand) RunContext(buildCtx context.Context, cla *BuildArgs) int
 		return ret
 	}
 
-	diags = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{})
+	diags = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{
+		UseDAG: cla.UseDAG,
+	})
 	ret = writeDiags(c.Ui, nil, diags)
 	if ret != 0 {
 		return ret
diff --git a/command/cli.go b/command/cli.go
index 4a6b32dd7ec..be486d612b4 100644
--- a/command/cli.go
+++ b/command/cli.go
@@ -75,6 +75,12 @@ type MetaArgs struct {
 	// WarnOnUndeclared does not have a common default, as the default varies per sub-command usage.
 	// Refer to individual command FlagSets for usage.
 	WarnOnUndeclaredVar bool
+	// UseDAG specifies whether or not to use a DAG for evaluating datasources/locals
+	//
+	// It is left off by default for compatibility purposes, but this allows
+	// users to try it out if they have a need for it, or if they want to
+	// test that option for bug-reporting.
+	UseDAG bool
 }
 
 func (ba *BuildArgs) AddFlagSets(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
@@ -90,6 +96,7 @@ func (ba *BuildArgs) AddFlagSets(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
 	flags.Var(flagOnError, "on-error", "")
 
 	flags.BoolVar(&ba.MetaArgs.WarnOnUndeclaredVar, "warn-on-undeclared-var", false, "Show warnings for variable files containing undeclared variables.")
+	flags.BoolVar(&ba.MetaArgs.UseDAG, "use-dag", false, "experimental: use a DAG for evaluating datasources/locals (HCL2 only). This is not yet ready for production use.")
 
 	flags.BoolVar(&ba.ReleaseOnly, "ignore-prerelease-plugins", false, "Disable the loading of prerelease plugin binaries (x.y.z-dev).")
 
@@ -156,6 +163,7 @@ type ConsoleArgs struct {
 
 func (fa *FixArgs) AddFlagSets(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
 	flags.BoolVar(&fa.Validate, "validate", true, "")
+	flags.BoolVar(&fa.MetaArgs.UseDAG, "use-dag", false, "experimental: use a DAG for evaluating datasources/locals (HCL2 only). This is not yet ready for production use.")
 
 	fa.MetaArgs.AddFlagSets(flags)
 }
@@ -171,6 +179,7 @@ func (va *ValidateArgs) AddFlagSets(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
 	flags.BoolVar(&va.NoWarnUndeclaredVar, "no-warn-undeclared-var", false, "Ignore warnings for variable files containing undeclared variables.")
 	flags.BoolVar(&va.EvaluateDatasources, "evaluate-datasources", false, "evaluate datasources for validation (HCL2 only, may incur costs)")
 	flags.BoolVar(&va.ReleaseOnly, "ignore-prerelease-plugins", false, "Disable the loading of prerelease plugin binaries (x.y.z-dev).")
+	flags.BoolVar(&va.MetaArgs.UseDAG, "use-dag", false, "experimental: use a DAG for evaluating datasources/locals (HCL2 only). This is not yet ready for production use.")
 
 	va.MetaArgs.AddFlagSets(flags)
 }
@@ -184,6 +193,7 @@ type ValidateArgs struct {
 }
 
 func (va *InspectArgs) AddFlagSets(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
+	flags.BoolVar(&va.MetaArgs.UseDAG, "use-dag", false, "experimental: use a DAG for evaluating datasources/locals (HCL2 only). This is not yet ready for production use.")
 	va.MetaArgs.AddFlagSets(flags)
 }
 
diff --git a/command/console.go b/command/console.go
index da24a06150e..9a93565c5f4 100644
--- a/command/console.go
+++ b/command/console.go
@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@ func (c *ConsoleCommand) RunContext(ctx context.Context, cla *ConsoleArgs) int {
 		return ret
 	}
 
-	_ = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{})
+	_ = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{
+		UseDAG: cla.UseDAG,
+	})
 
 	// Determine if stdin is a pipe. If so, we evaluate directly.
 	if c.StdinPiped() {
diff --git a/command/hcl2_upgrade.go b/command/hcl2_upgrade.go
index 08ffa767e99..506aea86669 100644
--- a/command/hcl2_upgrade.go
+++ b/command/hcl2_upgrade.go
@@ -181,7 +181,12 @@ func (c *HCL2UpgradeCommand) RunContext(_ context.Context, cla *HCL2UpgradeArgs)
 	}
 
 	core := hdl.(*packer.Core)
-	if err := core.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{}); err != nil {
+	if err := core.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{
+		// Note: this is always false here as the DAG is only usable for
+		// HCL2 configs, so since the command only works on JSON templates,
+		// we can safely leave it off .
+		UseDAG: false,
+	}); err != nil {
 		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Ignoring following initialization error: %v", err))
 	}
 	tpl := core.Template
diff --git a/command/inspect.go b/command/inspect.go
index 7e5ed316650..d34a668799e 100644
--- a/command/inspect.go
+++ b/command/inspect.go
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ func (c *InspectCommand) RunContext(ctx context.Context, cla *InspectArgs) int {
 	}
 
 	// here we ignore init diags to allow unknown variables to be used
-	_ = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{})
+	_ = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{
+		UseDAG: cla.UseDAG,
+	})
 
 	return packerStarter.InspectConfig(packer.InspectConfigOptions{
 		Ui: c.Ui,
diff --git a/command/validate.go b/command/validate.go
index 47d88a901ba..cfee9cd77d5 100644
--- a/command/validate.go
+++ b/command/validate.go
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ func (c *ValidateCommand) RunContext(ctx context.Context, cla *ValidateArgs) int
 
 	diags = packerStarter.Initialize(packer.InitializeOptions{
 		SkipDatasourcesExecution: !cla.EvaluateDatasources,
+		UseDAG:                   cla.UseDAG,
 	})
 	ret = writeDiags(c.Ui, nil, diags)
 	if ret != 0 {