diff --git a/command/agent/job_endpoint.go b/command/agent/job_endpoint.go
index 9f5b4b1ed..b1432fa3c 100644
--- a/command/agent/job_endpoint.go
+++ b/command/agent/job_endpoint.go
@@ -924,6 +924,13 @@ func ApiTaskToStructsTask(apiTask *api.Task, structsTask *structs.Task) {
 			File: apiTask.DispatchPayload.File,
 		}
 	}
+
+	if apiTask.Lifecycle != nil {
+		structsTask.Lifecycle = &structs.TaskLifecycleConfig{
+			RunLevel:   apiTask.Lifecycle.RunLevel,
+			BlockUntil: apiTask.Lifecycle.BlockUntil,
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 func ApiResourcesToStructs(in *api.Resources) *structs.Resources {
diff --git a/jobspec/parse_test.go b/jobspec/parse_test.go
index 580790218..56fcd8126 100644
--- a/jobspec/parse_test.go
+++ b/jobspec/parse_test.go
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 								Driver: "docker",
 								User:   "",
 								Lifecycle: &api.TaskLifecycle{
-									Runlevel:   "prestart",
+									RunLevel:   "prestart",
 									BlockUntil: "completed",
 								},
 								Config: map[string]interface{}{
diff --git a/nomad/structs/structs.go b/nomad/structs/structs.go
index 49d81fb34..8b0980af0 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/structs.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/structs.go
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/gorhill/cronexpr"
 	hcodec "github.com/hashicorp/go-msgpack/codec"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
+	multierror "github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror"
+	version "github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/acl"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/command/agent/pprof"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper"
@@ -4385,6 +4385,46 @@ func (d *DispatchPayloadConfig) Validate() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+const (
+	TaskLifecycleRunLevelPrestart    = "prestart"
+	TaskLifecycleBlockUntilStarted   = "started"
+	TaskLifecycleBlockUntilCompleted = "completed"
+)
+
+type TaskLifecycleConfig struct {
+	RunLevel   string
+	BlockUntil string
+}
+
+func (d *TaskLifecycleConfig) Copy() *TaskLifecycleConfig {
+	if d == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	nd := new(TaskLifecycleConfig)
+	*nd = *d
+	return nd
+}
+
+func (d *TaskLifecycleConfig) Validate() error {
+	if d == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	switch d.RunLevel {
+	case TaskLifecycleRunLevelPrestart:
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid run_level: %v", d.RunLevel)
+	}
+
+	switch d.BlockUntil {
+	case TaskLifecycleBlockUntilStarted, TaskLifecycleBlockUntilCompleted:
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid block_until: %v", d.BlockUntil)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 var (
 	// These default restart policies needs to be in sync with
 	// Canonicalize in api/tasks.go
@@ -5407,6 +5447,8 @@ type Task struct {
 	// DispatchPayload configures how the task retrieves its input from a dispatch
 	DispatchPayload *DispatchPayloadConfig
 
+	Lifecycle *TaskLifecycleConfig
+
 	// Meta is used to associate arbitrary metadata with this
 	// task. This is opaque to Nomad.
 	Meta map[string]string
@@ -5486,6 +5528,7 @@ func (t *Task) Copy() *Task {
 	nt.LogConfig = nt.LogConfig.Copy()
 	nt.Meta = helper.CopyMapStringString(nt.Meta)
 	nt.DispatchPayload = nt.DispatchPayload.Copy()
+	nt.Lifecycle = nt.Lifecycle.Copy()
 
 	if t.Artifacts != nil {
 		artifacts := make([]*TaskArtifact, 0, len(t.Artifacts))
@@ -5665,6 +5708,14 @@ func (t *Task) Validate(ephemeralDisk *EphemeralDisk, jobType string, tgServices
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Validate the Lifecycle block if there
+	if t.Lifecycle != nil {
+		if err := t.Lifecycle.Validate(); err != nil {
+			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Lifecycle validation failed: %v", err))
+		}
+
+	}
+
 	// Validation for TaskKind field which is used for Consul Connect integration
 	if t.Kind.IsConnectProxy() {
 		// This task is a Connect proxy so it should not have service stanzas