diff --git a/docs/reference/template-strings.md b/docs/reference/template-strings.md
index 06a06e7018..2d26052692 100644
--- a/docs/reference/template-strings.md
+++ b/docs/reference/template-strings.md
@@ -144,6 +144,22 @@ project:
 #       clusterHostname: my-cluster.example.com
 #
 providers: {}
+
+# A map of all variables defined in the project configuration.
+#
+# Type: object
+#
+# Example:
+#   team-name: bananaramallama
+#   some-service-endpoint: 'https://someservice.com/api/v2'
+#
+variables: {}
+
+# Alias for the variables field.
+#
+# Type: object
+#
+var: {}
 ```
 
 ## Module configuration context
@@ -226,6 +242,22 @@ project:
 #
 providers: {}
 
+# A map of all variables defined in the project configuration.
+#
+# Type: object
+#
+# Example:
+#   team-name: bananaramallama
+#   some-service-endpoint: 'https://someservice.com/api/v2'
+#
+variables: {}
+
+# Alias for the variables field.
+#
+# Type: object
+#
+var: {}
+
 # Retrieve information about modules that are defined in the project.
 #
 # Type: object
@@ -266,20 +298,4 @@ runtime:
   #       some-key: some value
   #
   tasks: {}
-
-# A map of all variables defined in the project configuration.
-#
-# Type: object
-#
-# Example:
-#   team-name: bananaramallama
-#   some-service-endpoint: 'https://someservice.com/api/v2'
-#
-variables: {}
-
-# Alias for the variables field.
-#
-# Type: object
-#
-var: {}
 ```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/garden-service/src/config/config-context.ts b/garden-service/src/config/config-context.ts
index 46bf428e49..c698173aa7 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/config/config-context.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/config/config-context.ts
@@ -315,7 +315,17 @@ export class ProviderConfigContext extends ProjectConfigContext {
   )
   public providers: Map<string, ProviderContext>
 
-  constructor(garden: Garden, resolvedProviders: Provider[]) {
+  @schema(
+    joiIdentifierMap(joiPrimitive())
+      .description("A map of all variables defined in the project configuration.")
+      .example({ "team-name": "bananaramallama", "some-service-endpoint": "https://someservice.com/api/v2" })
+  )
+  public variables: PrimitiveMap
+
+  @schema(joiIdentifierMap(joiPrimitive()).description("Alias for the variables field."))
+  public var: PrimitiveMap
+
+  constructor(garden: Garden, resolvedProviders: Provider[], variables: PrimitiveMap) {
     super(garden.artifactsPath)
     const _this = this
 
@@ -325,6 +335,8 @@ export class ProviderConfigContext extends ProjectConfigContext {
     this.providers = new Map(
       resolvedProviders.map((p) => <[string, ProviderContext]>[p.name, new ProviderContext(_this, p)])
     )
+
+    this.var = this.variables = variables
   }
 }
 
@@ -494,16 +506,6 @@ export class ModuleConfigContext extends ProviderConfigContext {
   )
   public runtime: RuntimeConfigContext
 
-  @schema(
-    joiIdentifierMap(joiPrimitive())
-      .description("A map of all variables defined in the project configuration.")
-      .example({ "team-name": "bananaramallama", "some-service-endpoint": "https://someservice.com/api/v2" })
-  )
-  public variables: PrimitiveMap
-
-  @schema(joiIdentifierMap(joiPrimitive()).description("Alias for the variables field."))
-  public var: PrimitiveMap
-
   constructor(
     garden: Garden,
     resolvedProviders: Provider[],
@@ -513,7 +515,7 @@ export class ModuleConfigContext extends ProviderConfigContext {
     // Otherwise we pass `${runtime.*} template strings through for later resolution.
     runtimeContext?: RuntimeContext
   ) {
-    super(garden, resolvedProviders)
+    super(garden, resolvedProviders, variables)
 
     const _this = this
 
@@ -540,7 +542,5 @@ export class ModuleConfigContext extends ProviderConfigContext {
     )
 
     this.runtime = new RuntimeConfigContext(this, runtimeContext)
-
-    this.var = this.variables = variables
   }
 }
diff --git a/garden-service/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts b/garden-service/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts
index 0e9d90d01b..a4dcd9fd9a 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ export class ResolveProviderTask extends BaseTask {
   async process(dependencyResults: TaskResults) {
     const resolvedProviders: Provider[] = Object.values(dependencyResults).map((result) => result && result.output)
 
-    const context = new ProviderConfigContext(this.garden, resolvedProviders)
+    const context = new ProviderConfigContext(this.garden, resolvedProviders, this.garden.variables)
 
-    this.log.silly(`Resolving template strings for plugin ${this.config.name}`)
+    this.log.silly(`Resolving template strings for provider ${this.config.name}`)
     let resolvedConfig = await resolveTemplateStrings(this.config, context)
 
     const providerName = resolvedConfig.name
diff --git a/garden-service/test/unit/src/garden.ts b/garden-service/test/unit/src/garden.ts
index af41346151..5fc1f74324 100644
--- a/garden-service/test/unit/src/garden.ts
+++ b/garden-service/test/unit/src/garden.ts
@@ -1722,6 +1722,31 @@ describe("Garden", () => {
       expect(providerB.config.foo).to.equal("bar")
     })
 
+    it("should allow providers to reference variables", async () => {
+      const testA = createGardenPlugin({
+        name: "test-a",
+      })
+
+      const projectConfig: ProjectConfig = {
+        apiVersion: "garden.io/v0",
+        kind: "Project",
+        name: "test",
+        path: projectRootA,
+        defaultEnvironment: "default",
+        dotIgnoreFiles: defaultDotIgnoreFiles,
+        environments: [{ name: "default", variables: { "my-variable": "bar" } }],
+        providers: [{ name: "test-a", foo: "${var.my-variable}" }],
+        variables: {},
+      }
+
+      const plugins = [testA]
+      const garden = await TestGarden.factory(projectRootA, { config: projectConfig, plugins })
+
+      const providerB = await garden.resolveProvider("test-a")
+
+      expect(providerB.config.foo).to.equal("bar")
+    })
+
     it("should match a dependency to a plugin base", async () => {
       const baseA = createGardenPlugin({
         name: "base-a",