diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 439f9d227..cd11c027d 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -160,10 +160,11 @@ type Variable struct {
 // output marked Sensitive will be output in a masked form following
 // application, but will still be available in state.
 type Output struct {
-	Name      string
-	Sensitive bool
-	DependsOn []string
-	RawConfig *RawConfig
+	Name        string
+	DependsOn   []string
+	Description string
+	Sensitive   bool
+	RawConfig   *RawConfig
 }
 
 // VariableType is the type of value a variable is holding, and returned
@@ -663,6 +664,17 @@ func (c *Config) Validate() error {
 						o.Name))
 					continue
 				}
+				if k == "description" {
+					if desc, ok := o.RawConfig.config[k].(string); ok {
+						o.Description = desc
+						continue
+					}
+
+					errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf(
+						"%s: value for 'description' must be string",
+						o.Name))
+					continue
+				}
 				invalidKeys = append(invalidKeys, k)
 			}
 			if len(invalidKeys) > 0 {
diff --git a/config/config_test.go b/config/config_test.go
index e89172ff8..f6303e8e7 100644
--- a/config/config_test.go
+++ b/config/config_test.go
@@ -394,6 +394,19 @@ func TestConfigValidate_outputBadField(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestConfigValidate_outputDescription(t *testing.T) {
+	c := testConfig(t, "validate-output-description")
+	if err := c.Validate(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if len(c.Outputs) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d outputs; want 1", len(c.Outputs))
+	}
+	if got, want := "Number 5", c.Outputs[0].Description; got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("got description %q; want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestConfigValidate_outputDuplicate(t *testing.T) {
 	c := testConfig(t, "validate-output-dup")
 	if err := c.Validate(); err == nil {
diff --git a/config/test-fixtures/validate-output-description/main.tf b/config/test-fixtures/validate-output-description/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f1db8f27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/test-fixtures/validate-output-description/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+output "foo" {
+  value       = "5"
+  description = "Number 5"
+}