diff --git a/hcldec/decode.go b/hcldec/decode.go
index bca2787..6cf93fe 100644
--- a/hcldec/decode.go
+++ b/hcldec/decode.go
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ func decode(body hcl.Body, blockLabels []blockLabel, ctx *hcl.EvalContext, spec
 	return val, leftovers, diags
 }
 
+func impliedType(spec Spec) cty.Type {
+	return spec.impliedType()
+}
+
 func sourceRange(body hcl.Body, blockLabels []blockLabel, spec Spec) hcl.Range {
 	schema := ImpliedSchema(spec)
 	content, _, _ := body.PartialContent(schema)
diff --git a/hcldec/public.go b/hcldec/public.go
index a5f693a..3e58f7b 100644
--- a/hcldec/public.go
+++ b/hcldec/public.go
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ func PartialDecode(body hcl.Body, spec Spec, ctx *hcl.EvalContext) (cty.Value, h
 	return decode(body, nil, ctx, spec, true)
 }
 
+// ImpliedType returns the value type that should result from decoding the
+// given spec.
+func ImpliedType(spec Spec) cty.Type {
+	return impliedType(spec)
+}
+
 // SourceRange interprets the given body using the given specification and
 // then returns the source range of the value that would be used to
 // fulfill the spec.
diff --git a/hcldec/public_test.go b/hcldec/public_test.go
index 73f21b5..23406dc 100644
--- a/hcldec/public_test.go
+++ b/hcldec/public_test.go
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ b {
 				},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.NullVal(cty.String),
 			1, // missing name label
 		},
 		{
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ b {
 				Nested:   ObjectSpec{},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.NullVal(cty.EmptyObject),
 			0,
 		},
 		{
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ b {
 				Nested:   ObjectSpec{},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.NullVal(cty.EmptyObject),
 			1, // blocks of type "a" are not supported
 		},
 		{
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ b {
 				Required: true,
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.NullVal(cty.EmptyObject),
 			1, // a block of type "b" is required
 		},
 		{
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ b {}
 				Nested:   ObjectSpec{},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.ListValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.ListValEmpty(cty.EmptyObject),
 			0,
 		},
 		{
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ b "foo" "bar" {}
 				Nested:     ObjectSpec{},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.MapValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.MapValEmpty(cty.EmptyObject),
 			1, // too many labels
 		},
 		{
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ b "bar" {}
 				Nested:     ObjectSpec{},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.MapValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.MapValEmpty(cty.EmptyObject),
 			1, // not enough labels
 		},
 		{
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ b "foo" {}
 				},
 			},
 			nil,
-			cty.MapValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType),
+			cty.MapValEmpty(cty.String),
 			1, // missing name
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/hcldec/spec.go b/hcldec/spec.go
index 41c4ae0..f0e6842 100644
--- a/hcldec/spec.go
+++ b/hcldec/spec.go
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ type Spec interface {
 	// types that work on block bodies.
 	decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, ctx *hcl.EvalContext) (cty.Value, hcl.Diagnostics)
 
+	// Return the cty.Type that should be returned when decoding a body with
+	// this spec.
+	impliedType() cty.Type
+
 	// Call the given callback once for each of the nested specs that would
 	// get decoded with the same body and block as the receiver. This should
 	// not descend into the nested specs used when decoding blocks.
@@ -75,6 +79,18 @@ func (s ObjectSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, c
 	return cty.ObjectVal(vals), diags
 }
 
+func (s ObjectSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	if len(s) == 0 {
+		return cty.EmptyObject
+	}
+
+	attrTypes := make(map[string]cty.Type)
+	for k, childSpec := range s {
+		attrTypes[k] = childSpec.impliedType()
+	}
+	return cty.Object(attrTypes)
+}
+
 func (s ObjectSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// This is not great, but the best we can do. In practice, it's rather
 	// strange to ask for the source range of an entire top-level body, since
@@ -105,6 +121,18 @@ func (s TupleSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, ct
 	return cty.TupleVal(vals), diags
 }
 
+func (s TupleSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	if len(s) == 0 {
+		return cty.EmptyTuple
+	}
+
+	attrTypes := make([]cty.Type, len(s))
+	for i, childSpec := range s {
+		attrTypes[i] = childSpec.impliedType()
+	}
+	return cty.Tuple(attrTypes)
+}
+
 func (s TupleSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// This is not great, but the best we can do. In practice, it's rather
 	// strange to ask for the source range of an entire top-level body, since
@@ -186,6 +214,10 @@ func (s *AttrSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, ct
 	return val, diags
 }
 
+func (s *AttrSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return s.Type
+}
+
 // A LiteralSpec is a Spec that produces the given literal value, ignoring
 // the given body.
 type LiteralSpec struct {
@@ -200,6 +232,10 @@ func (s *LiteralSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel,
 	return s.Value, nil
 }
 
+func (s *LiteralSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return s.Value.Type()
+}
+
 func (s *LiteralSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// No sensible range to return for a literal, so the caller had better
 	// ensure it doesn't cause any diagnostics.
@@ -227,6 +263,11 @@ func (s *ExprSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, ct
 	return s.Expr.Value(ctx)
 }
 
+func (s *ExprSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	// We can't know the type of our expression until we evaluate it
+	return cty.DynamicPseudoType
+}
+
 func (s *ExprSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	return s.Expr.Range()
 }
@@ -312,7 +353,7 @@ func (s *BlockSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, c
 				Subject: &content.MissingItemRange,
 			})
 		}
-		return cty.NullVal(cty.DynamicPseudoType), diags
+		return cty.NullVal(s.Nested.impliedType()), diags
 	}
 
 	if s.Nested == nil {
@@ -323,6 +364,10 @@ func (s *BlockSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel, c
 	return val, diags
 }
 
+func (s *BlockSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return s.Nested.impliedType()
+}
+
 func (s *BlockSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	var childBlock *hcl.Block
 	for _, candidate := range content.Blocks {
@@ -418,9 +463,7 @@ func (s *BlockListSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabe
 	var ret cty.Value
 
 	if len(elems) == 0 {
-		// FIXME: We don't currently have enough info to construct a type for
-		// an empty list, so we'll just stub it out.
-		ret = cty.ListValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType)
+		ret = cty.ListValEmpty(s.Nested.impliedType())
 	} else {
 		ret = cty.ListVal(elems)
 	}
@@ -428,6 +471,10 @@ func (s *BlockListSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabe
 	return ret, diags
 }
 
+func (s *BlockListSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return cty.List(s.Nested.impliedType())
+}
+
 func (s *BlockListSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// We return the source range of the _first_ block of the given type,
 	// since they are not guaranteed to form a contiguous range.
@@ -526,9 +573,7 @@ func (s *BlockSetSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel
 	var ret cty.Value
 
 	if len(elems) == 0 {
-		// FIXME: We don't currently have enough info to construct a type for
-		// an empty list, so we'll just stub it out.
-		ret = cty.SetValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType)
+		ret = cty.SetValEmpty(s.Nested.impliedType())
 	} else {
 		ret = cty.SetVal(elems)
 	}
@@ -536,6 +581,10 @@ func (s *BlockSetSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel
 	return ret, diags
 }
 
+func (s *BlockSetSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return cty.Set(s.Nested.impliedType())
+}
+
 func (s *BlockSetSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// We return the source range of the _first_ block of the given type,
 	// since they are not guaranteed to form a contiguous range.
@@ -643,13 +692,12 @@ func (s *BlockMapSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel
 		targetMap[key] = val
 	}
 
+	if len(elems) == 0 {
+		return cty.MapValEmpty(s.Nested.impliedType()), diags
+	}
+
 	var ctyMap func(map[string]interface{}, int) cty.Value
 	ctyMap = func(raw map[string]interface{}, depth int) cty.Value {
-		if len(raw) == 0 {
-			// FIXME: We don't currently have enough info to construct a type for
-			// an empty map, so we'll just stub it out.
-			return cty.MapValEmpty(cty.DynamicPseudoType)
-		}
 		vals := make(map[string]cty.Value, len(raw))
 		if depth == 1 {
 			for k, v := range raw {
@@ -666,6 +714,14 @@ func (s *BlockMapSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel
 	return ctyMap(elems, len(s.LabelNames)), diags
 }
 
+func (s *BlockMapSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	ret := s.Nested.impliedType()
+	for _ = range s.LabelNames {
+		ret = cty.Map(ret)
+	}
+	return ret
+}
+
 func (s *BlockMapSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// We return the source range of the _first_ block of the given type,
 	// since they are not guaranteed to form a contiguous range.
@@ -715,6 +771,10 @@ func (s *BlockLabelSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLab
 	return cty.StringVal(blockLabels[s.Index].Value), nil
 }
 
+func (s *BlockLabelSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return cty.String // labels are always strings
+}
+
 func (s *BlockLabelSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	if s.Index >= len(blockLabels) {
 		panic("BlockListSpec used in non-block context")
@@ -763,6 +823,9 @@ func findLabelSpecs(spec Spec) []string {
 
 // DefaultSpec is a spec that wraps two specs, evaluating the primary first
 // and then evaluating the default if the primary returns a null value.
+//
+// The two specifications must have the same implied result type for correct
+// operation. If not, the result is undefined.
 type DefaultSpec struct {
 	Primary Spec
 	Default Spec
@@ -783,6 +846,10 @@ func (s *DefaultSpec) decode(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel,
 	return val, diags
 }
 
+func (s *DefaultSpec) impliedType() cty.Type {
+	return s.Primary.impliedType()
+}
+
 func (s *DefaultSpec) sourceRange(content *hcl.BodyContent, blockLabels []blockLabel) hcl.Range {
 	// We can't tell from here which of the two specs will ultimately be used
 	// in our result, so we'll just assume the first. This is usually the right