diff --git a/pkg/controller/external_nofork.go b/pkg/controller/external_nofork.go
index 7e8cfab7..11d1831f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/external_nofork.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/external_nofork.go
@@ -474,8 +474,8 @@ func (n *noForkExternal) Observe(ctx context.Context, mg xpresource.Managed) (ma
 	if diag != nil && diag.HasError() {
 		return managed.ExternalObservation{}, errors.Errorf("failed to observe the resource: %v", diag)
 	}
-	diffState := n.opTracker.GetTfState()
 	n.opTracker.SetTfState(newState) // TODO: missing RawConfig & RawPlan here...
+	diffState := n.opTracker.GetTfState()
 	resourceExists := newState != nil && newState.ID != ""
 
 	var stateValueMap map[string]any