diff --git a/jobspec/parse_task.go b/jobspec/parse_task.go
index 71e6af26b..ff81b6ba6 100644
--- a/jobspec/parse_task.go
+++ b/jobspec/parse_task.go
@@ -551,6 +551,7 @@ func parseResources(result *api.Resources, list *ast.ObjectList) error {
 		"memory_max",
 		"network",
 		"device",
+		"cores",
 	}
 	if err := checkHCLKeys(listVal, valid); err != nil {
 		return multierror.Prefix(err, "resources ->")
diff --git a/jobspec/parse_test.go b/jobspec/parse_test.go
index 852a4f669..0f563045c 100644
--- a/jobspec/parse_test.go
+++ b/jobspec/parse_test.go
@@ -1699,6 +1699,30 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			false,
 		},
+		{
+			"resources-cores.hcl",
+			&api.Job{
+				ID:   stringToPtr("cores-test"),
+				Name: stringToPtr("cores-test"),
+				TaskGroups: []*api.TaskGroup{
+					{
+						Count: intToPtr(5),
+						Name:  stringToPtr("group"),
+						Tasks: []*api.Task{
+							{
+								Name:   "task",
+								Driver: "docker",
+								Resources: &api.Resources{
+									Cores:    intToPtr(4),
+									MemoryMB: intToPtr(128),
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
diff --git a/jobspec/test-fixtures/resources-cores.hcl b/jobspec/test-fixtures/resources-cores.hcl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3e11e93e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jobspec/test-fixtures/resources-cores.hcl
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+job "cores-test" {
+  group "group" {
+    count = 5
+
+    task "task" {
+      driver = "docker"
+
+      resources {
+        cores  = 4
+        memory = 128
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}