diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/file.rb b/lib/puppet/type/file.rb
index b4325d1c24e..64be5446f06 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/file.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/file.rb
@@ -396,6 +396,10 @@ def self.title_patterns
     end
     # if the resource is a link, make sure the target is created first
     req << self[:target] if self[:target]
+    # if the resource has a source set, make sure it is created first
+    self[:source]&.each do |src|
+      req << src.delete_prefix('file://') if src.start_with?('file://')
+    end
     req
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/unit/type/file_spec.rb b/spec/unit/type/file_spec.rb
index 6724dca9fb0..c8275965544 100644
--- a/spec/unit/type/file_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/type/file_spec.rb
@@ -1291,6 +1291,53 @@
       end
     end
 
+    describe "source" do
+      it "should require file resource when specified with the source property" do
+        file = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path("/foo"), :ensure => :file, :source => File.expand_path("/bar"))
+        source = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path("/bar"), :ensure => :file)
+        catalog.add_resource file
+        catalog.add_resource source
+        reqs = file.autorequire
+        expect(reqs.size).to eq(1)
+        expect(reqs[0].source).to eq(source)
+        expect(reqs[0].target).to eq(file)
+      end
+
+      it "should require file resource when specified with the source property as file: URI" do
+        file = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path("/foo"), :ensure => :file, :source => "file://#{File.expand_path("/bar")}")
+        source = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path("/bar"), :ensure => :file)
+        catalog.add_resource file
+        catalog.add_resource source
+        reqs = file.autorequire
+        expect(reqs.size).to eq(1)
+        expect(reqs[0].source).to eq(source)
+        expect(reqs[0].target).to eq(file)
+      end
+
+      it "should require file resource when specified with the source property as an array" do
+        file = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path("/foo"), :ensure => :file, :source => [File.expand_path("/bar")])
+        source = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path("/bar"), :ensure => :file)
+        catalog.add_resource file
+        catalog.add_resource source
+        reqs = file.autorequire
+        expect(reqs.size).to eq(1)
+        expect(reqs[0].source).to eq(source)
+        expect(reqs[0].target).to eq(file)
+      end
+
+      it "should not require source if source is not local" do
+        file = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path('/foo'), :ensure => :file, :source => 'puppet:///modules/nfs/conf')
+        catalog.add_resource file
+        expect(file.autorequire.size).to eq(0)
+      end
+
+      it "should not require source if source is not managed" do
+        file = described_class.new(:path => File.expand_path('/foo'), :ensure => :file, :source => File.expand_path('/bar'))
+        catalog.add_resource file
+        expect(file.autorequire.size).to eq(0)
+      end
+    end
+
     describe "directories" do
       it "should autorequire its parent directory" do
         dir = described_class.new(:path => File.dirname(path))