diff --git a/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/decoder.rs b/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/decoder.rs
index 5a67c91adcb..caf29df2276 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/decoder.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/decoder.rs
@@ -1104,42 +1104,11 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> CrateMetadataRef<'a> {
             let children = self.root.tables.children.get(self, id).unwrap_or_else(Lazy::empty);
 
             for child_index in children.decode((self, sess)) {
-                // Get the item.
-                let child_kind = match self.maybe_kind(child_index) {
-                    Some(child_kind) => child_kind,
-                    None => continue,
-                };
-
-                // Hand off the item to the callback.
-                match child_kind {
-                    // FIXME(eddyb) Don't encode these in children.
-                    EntryKind::ForeignMod => {
-                        let child_children = self
-                            .root
-                            .tables
-                            .children
-                            .get(self, child_index)
-                            .unwrap_or_else(Lazy::empty);
-                        for child_index in child_children.decode((self, sess)) {
-                            let kind = self.def_kind(child_index);
-                            callback(Export {
-                                res: Res::Def(kind, self.local_def_id(child_index)),
-                                ident: self.item_ident(child_index, sess),
-                                vis: self.get_visibility(child_index),
-                                span: self
-                                    .root
-                                    .tables
-                                    .span
-                                    .get(self, child_index)
-                                    .unwrap()
-                                    .decode((self, sess)),
-                            });
-                        }
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    EntryKind::Impl(_) => continue,
-
-                    _ => {}
+                // FIXME: Merge with the logic below.
+                if let None | Some(EntryKind::ForeignMod | EntryKind::Impl(_)) =
+                    self.maybe_kind(child_index)
+                {
+                    continue;
                 }
 
                 let def_key = self.def_key(child_index);
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/encoder.rs b/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/encoder.rs
index eeb907d0114..531ed4c3d6d 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/encoder.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_metadata/src/rmeta/encoder.rs
@@ -1100,9 +1100,21 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> EncodeContext<'a, 'tcx> {
             // Encode this here because we don't do it in encode_def_ids.
             record!(self.tables.expn_that_defined[def_id] <- tcx.expn_that_defined(local_def_id));
         } else {
-            record!(self.tables.children[def_id] <- md.item_ids.iter().map(|item_id| {
-                item_id.def_id.local_def_index
-            }));
+            let direct_children = md.item_ids.iter().map(|item_id| item_id.def_id.local_def_index);
+            // Foreign items are planted into their parent modules from name resolution point of view.
+            let tcx = self.tcx;
+            let foreign_item_children = md
+                .item_ids
+                .iter()
+                .filter_map(|item_id| match tcx.hir().item(*item_id).kind {
+                    hir::ItemKind::ForeignMod { items, .. } => {
+                        Some(items.iter().map(|fi_ref| fi_ref.id.def_id.local_def_index))
+                    }
+                    _ => None,
+                })
+                .flatten();
+
+            record!(self.tables.children[def_id] <- direct_children.chain(foreign_item_children));
         }
     }
 
@@ -1503,11 +1515,6 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> EncodeContext<'a, 'tcx> {
         record!(self.tables.kind[def_id] <- entry_kind);
         // FIXME(eddyb) there should be a nicer way to do this.
         match item.kind {
-            hir::ItemKind::ForeignMod { items, .. } => record!(self.tables.children[def_id] <-
-                items
-                    .iter()
-                    .map(|foreign_item| foreign_item.id.def_id.local_def_index)
-            ),
             hir::ItemKind::Enum(..) => record!(self.tables.children[def_id] <-
                 self.tcx.adt_def(def_id).variants.iter().map(|v| {
                     assert!(v.def_id.is_local());