diff --git a/src/cfn/convertStackToIidy.ts b/src/cfn/convertStackToIidy.ts
index 1a44a200..9868c4c4 100644
--- a/src/cfn/convertStackToIidy.ts
+++ b/src/cfn/convertStackToIidy.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import def from '../default';
 import {getKMSAliasForParameter} from '../params';
 import {SUCCESS} from '../statusCodes';
 import * as yaml from '../yaml';
+import {Visitor} from '../preprocess/visitor';
 import {getStackDescription} from './getStackDescription';
 import {parseTemplateBody} from "./parseTemplateBody";
 import {StackArgs} from "./types";
@@ -106,6 +107,23 @@ export type ConvertStackArguments = GenericCLIArguments & {
   moveParamsToSsm: boolean;
 };
 
+export function readTemplateObj(templateBody: string, sortkeys: boolean): Object {
+  const templateObj0 = parseTemplateBody(templateBody);
+  let templateObj;
+  if (sortkeys) {
+    templateObj = deepMapValues(templateObj0, sortCallback, 'root');
+  } else {
+    templateObj = templateObj0;
+  }
+
+  const visitor = new Visitor();
+  return visitor.visitNode(templateObj, 'Root', {
+    GlobalAccumulator: {},
+    $envValues: {},
+    Stack: []
+  });
+};
+
 export async function convertStackToIIDY(argv0: GenericCLIArguments): Promise<number> {
   const argv = argv0 as ConvertStackArguments;
   await configureAWS(argv);
@@ -119,14 +137,7 @@ export async function convertStackToIIDY(argv0: GenericCLIArguments): Promise<nu
     throw new Error(`Invalid cfn template found for ${StackName}`);
   }
 
-  const templateObj0 = parseTemplateBody(TemplateBody!);
-  let templateObj;
-  if (argv.sortkeys) {
-    templateObj = deepMapValues(templateObj0, sortCallback, 'root');
-  } else {
-    templateObj = templateObj0;
-  }
-
+  const templateObj = readTemplateObj(TemplateBody!, argv.sortkeys);
   const stack = await getStackDescription(StackName);
   if (!fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
     fs.mkdirSync(outputDir);
diff --git a/src/tests/test-cfn.ts b/src/tests/test-cfn.ts
index 00a04ef8..2c4373d0 100644
--- a/src/tests/test-cfn.ts
+++ b/src/tests/test-cfn.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import {expect} from 'chai';
 import {loadStackArgs} from "../cfn/loadStackArgs";
+import {readTemplateObj} from "../cfn/convertStackToIidy";
+import * as yaml from "../yaml";
 import * as aws from 'aws-sdk'
 
 describe('cfn', () => {
@@ -19,4 +21,23 @@ describe('cfn', () => {
       expect(args.ServiceRoleARN).to.equal('arn:aws:iam::001234567890:role/name');
     });
   });
+
+  describe('readTemplateObj', () => {
+    it('handles AWSTemplateFormatVersion strings properly', async function() {
+      const templateBody = 'AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09';
+      const templateObj = readTemplateObj(templateBody, true);
+      expect(yaml.dump(templateObj)).to.equal(
+          "AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'\n"
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('handles Version strings properly', async function() {
+      const templateBody = 'Version: 2010-09-09\n';
+      const templateObj = readTemplateObj(templateBody, false);
+      expect(yaml.dump(templateObj)).to.equal(
+          "Version: '2010-09-09'\n"
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
 });