diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-condition.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-condition.ts
index a2edf6a43af30..783ca2ba8d620 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-condition.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-condition.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Construct } from '../core/construct';
 import { ResolveContext } from '../core/tokens';
-import { Referenceable } from './stack-element';
+import { Referenceable } from './cfn-element';
 
 export interface CfnConditionProps {
   expression?: IConditionExpression;
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/stack-element.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-element.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/stack-element.ts
rename to packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-element.ts
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-output.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-output.ts
index 56c96edf7b5ca..9848879a70aba 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-output.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-output.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Construct } from '../core/construct';
-import { CfnElement } from './stack-element';
+import { CfnElement } from './cfn-element';
 
 export interface CfnOutputProps {
   /**
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-parameter.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-parameter.ts
index 6d837d4073ba7..8b19e995fc0e3 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-parameter.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-parameter.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Construct } from '../core/construct';
 import { Token } from '../core/tokens';
-import { Ref, Referenceable } from './stack-element';
+import { Ref, Referenceable } from './cfn-element';
 
 export interface CfnParameterProps {
   /**
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-resource.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-resource.ts
index e1079b149e1e7..7177d88c25f72 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-resource.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/cfn-resource.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ import { capitalizePropertyNames, ignoreEmpty, PostResolveToken } from '../core/
 import { CfnCondition } from './cfn-condition';
 import { CfnReference } from './cfn-tokens';
 import { CreationPolicy, DeletionPolicy, UpdatePolicy } from './resource-policy';
-import { Referenceable } from './stack-element';
+// import required to be here, otherwise causes a cycle when running the generated JavaScript
+// tslint:disable-next-line:ordered-imports
+import { Referenceable } from './cfn-element';
 
 export interface CfnResourceProps {
   /**
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/include.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/include.ts
index 79734af608696..e493121209801 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/include.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/include.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Construct } from '../core/construct';
-import { CfnElement } from './stack-element';
+import { CfnElement } from './cfn-element';
 
 export interface IncludeProps {
   /**
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/logical-id.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/logical-id.ts
index a13db16d27461..decb63c909fd8 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/logical-id.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/logical-id.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { makeUniqueId } from '../util/uniqueid';
-import { CfnElement } from './stack-element';
+import { CfnElement } from './cfn-element';
 
 const PATH_SEP = '/';
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/mapping.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/mapping.ts
index 5446b6977f49b..9f426a69e35f8 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/mapping.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/mapping.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Construct } from '../core/construct';
+import { Referenceable } from './cfn-element';
 import { Fn } from './fn';
-import { Referenceable } from './stack-element';
 
 export interface MappingProps {
   mapping?: { [k1: string]: { [k2: string]: any } };
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/rule.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/rule.ts
index 4d95adeea2b01..733d7af23f93a 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/rule.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/rule.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { Construct } from '../core/construct';
 import { capitalizePropertyNames } from '../core/util';
 import { IConditionExpression } from './cfn-condition';
-import { Referenceable } from './stack-element';
+import { Referenceable } from './cfn-element';
 
 /**
  * A rule can include a RuleCondition property and must include an Assertions property.
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/stack.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/stack.ts
index e97b34905c070..651e56a9faf2e 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/stack.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/cloudformation/stack.ts
@@ -602,9 +602,9 @@ function cfnElements(node: IConstruct, into: CfnElement[] = []): CfnElement[] {
 
 // These imports have to be at the end to prevent circular imports
 import { ArnComponents, arnFromComponents, parseArn } from './arn';
+import { CfnElement } from './cfn-element';
 import { CfnResource } from './cfn-resource';
 import { Aws, ScopedAws } from './pseudo';
-import { CfnElement } from './stack-element';
 
 /**
  * Find all resources in a set of constructs
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/index.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/index.ts
index 4689886c8f00f..f0b2d6eeb4722 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/index.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export * from './cloudformation/cfn-resource';
 export * from './cloudformation/resource-policy';
 export * from './cloudformation/rule';
 export * from './cloudformation/stack';
-export * from './cloudformation/stack-element';
+export * from './cloudformation/cfn-element';
 export * from './cloudformation/dynamic-reference';
 export * from './cloudformation/tag';
 export * from './cloudformation/removal-policy';