diff --git a/src/formatting.rs b/src/formatting.rs
index 47d885ef2e3..06bffd4dad8 100644
--- a/src/formatting.rs
+++ b/src/formatting.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ fn format_project<T: FormatHandler>(
     let files = modules::ModResolver::new(
         context.parse_session.source_map(),
         directory_ownership.unwrap_or(parse::DirectoryOwnership::UnownedViaMod(false)),
-        input_is_stdin,
+        !(input_is_stdin || config.skip_children()),
     )
     .visit_crate(&krate)
     .map_err(|e| io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, e))?;
diff --git a/src/modules.rs b/src/modules.rs
index 3d009b2098b..f8496b9566a 100644
--- a/src/modules.rs
+++ b/src/modules.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ pub(crate) struct ModResolver<'a, 'b> {
     source_map: &'b source_map::SourceMap,
     directory: Directory,
     file_map: FileModMap<'a>,
-    is_input_stdin: bool,
+    recursive: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ impl<'a, 'b> ModResolver<'a, 'b> {
     pub(crate) fn new(
         source_map: &'b source_map::SourceMap,
         directory_ownership: DirectoryOwnership,
-        is_input_stdin: bool,
+        recursive: bool,
     ) -> Self {
         ModResolver {
             directory: Directory {
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ impl<'a, 'b> ModResolver<'a, 'b> {
             },
             file_map: BTreeMap::new(),
             source_map,
-            is_input_stdin,
+            recursive,
         }
     }
 
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ impl<'a, 'b> ModResolver<'a, 'b> {
         };
 
         // Skip visiting sub modules when the input is from stdin.
-        if !self.is_input_stdin {
+        if self.recursive {
             self.visit_mod(&krate.module)?;
         }