diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service.go
index 656167485..9422a7387 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service.go
@@ -76,7 +76,13 @@ func resourceAwsEcsService() *schema.Resource {
 					Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
 						"elb_name": &schema.Schema{
 							Type:     schema.TypeString,
-							Required: true,
+							Optional: true,
+							ForceNew: true,
+						},
+
+						"target_group_arn": &schema.Schema{
+							Type:     schema.TypeString,
+							Optional: true,
 							ForceNew: true,
 						},
 
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service_test.go
index 1d1733996..62e50e980 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ecs_service_test.go
@@ -241,6 +241,22 @@ func TestAccAWSEcsService_withEcsClusterName(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccAWSEcsService_withAlb(t *testing.T) {
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAWSEcsServiceDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			resource.TestStep{
+				Config: testAccAWSEcsServiceWithAlb,
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckAWSEcsServiceExists("aws_ecs_service.with_alb"),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func testAccCheckAWSEcsServiceDestroy(s *terraform.State) error {
 	conn := testAccProvider.Meta().(*AWSClient).ecsconn
 
@@ -702,3 +718,128 @@ resource "aws_ecs_service" "jenkins" {
   desired_count = 1
 }
 `
+
+var testAccAWSEcsServiceWithAlb = `
+data "aws_availability_zones" "available" {}
+
+resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
+  cidr_block = "10.10.0.0/16"
+}
+
+resource "aws_subnet" "main" {
+  count = 2
+  cidr_block = "${cidrsubnet(aws_vpc.main.cidr_block, 8, count.index)}"
+  availability_zone = "${data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[count.index]}"
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_cluster" "main" {
+  name = "terraform_acc_test_ecs_15"
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "with_lb_changes" {
+  family = "tf_acc_test_ghost_lbd"
+  container_definitions = <<DEFINITION
+[
+  {
+    "cpu": 256,
+    "essential": true,
+    "image": "ghost:latest",
+    "memory": 512,
+    "name": "ghost",
+    "portMappings": [
+      {
+        "containerPort": 2368,
+        "hostPort": 8080
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+]
+DEFINITION
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role" "ecs_service" {
+    name = "tf_acc_test_15_role"
+    assume_role_policy = <<EOF
+{
+  "Version": "2008-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Sid": "",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Principal": {
+        "Service": "ecs.amazonaws.com"
+      },
+      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOF
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role_policy" "ecs_service" {
+    name = "tf_acc_test_15_policy"
+    role = "${aws_iam_role.ecs_service.name}"
+    policy = <<EOF
+{
+  "Version": "2012-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Action": [
+        "ec2:Describe*",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:DeregisterInstancesFromLoadBalancer",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:DeregisterTargets",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:Describe*",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:RegisterInstancesWithLoadBalancer",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:RegisterTargets"
+      ],
+      "Resource": "*"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOF
+}
+
+resource "aws_alb_target_group" "test" {
+  name = "tf-acc-test-ecs-ghost"
+  port = 80
+  protocol = "HTTP"
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_alb" "main" {
+  name            = "tf-acc-test-test-alb-ecs"
+  subnets         = ["${aws_subnet.main.*.id}"]
+}
+
+resource "aws_alb_listener" "front_end" {
+  load_balancer_arn = "${aws_alb.main.id}"
+  port = "80"
+  protocol = "HTTP"
+
+  default_action {
+    target_group_arn = "${aws_alb_target_group.test.id}"
+    type = "forward"
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_service" "with_alb" {
+  name = "tf-acc-test-ecs-ghost"
+  cluster = "${aws_ecs_cluster.main.id}"
+  task_definition = "${aws_ecs_task_definition.with_lb_changes.arn}"
+  desired_count = 1
+  iam_role = "${aws_iam_role.ecs_service.name}"
+
+  load_balancer {
+    target_group_arn = "${aws_alb_target_group.test.id}"
+    container_name = "ghost"
+    container_port = "2368"
+  }
+
+  depends_on = [
+    "aws_iam_role_policy.ecs_service",
+    "aws_alb_listener.front_end"
+  ]
+}
+`
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/structure.go b/builtin/providers/aws/structure.go
index 509287ff9..cb3e76a6f 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/structure.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/structure.go
@@ -125,9 +125,15 @@ func expandEcsLoadBalancers(configured []interface{}) []*ecs.LoadBalancer {
 		data := lRaw.(map[string]interface{})
 
 		l := &ecs.LoadBalancer{
-			ContainerName:    aws.String(data["container_name"].(string)),
-			ContainerPort:    aws.Int64(int64(data["container_port"].(int))),
-			LoadBalancerName: aws.String(data["elb_name"].(string)),
+			ContainerName: aws.String(data["container_name"].(string)),
+			ContainerPort: aws.Int64(int64(data["container_port"].(int))),
+		}
+
+		if v, ok := data["elb_name"]; ok && v.(string) != "" {
+			l.LoadBalancerName = aws.String(v.(string))
+		}
+		if v, ok := data["target_group_arn"]; ok && v.(string) != "" {
+			l.TargetGroupArn = aws.String(v.(string))
 		}
 
 		loadBalancers = append(loadBalancers, l)
@@ -553,10 +559,18 @@ func flattenEcsLoadBalancers(list []*ecs.LoadBalancer) []map[string]interface{}
 	result := make([]map[string]interface{}, 0, len(list))
 	for _, loadBalancer := range list {
 		l := map[string]interface{}{
-			"elb_name":       *loadBalancer.LoadBalancerName,
 			"container_name": *loadBalancer.ContainerName,
 			"container_port": *loadBalancer.ContainerPort,
 		}
+
+		if loadBalancer.LoadBalancerName != nil {
+			l["elb_name"] = *loadBalancer.LoadBalancerName
+		}
+
+		if loadBalancer.TargetGroupArn != nil {
+			l["target_group_arn"] = *loadBalancer.TargetGroupArn
+		}
+
 		result = append(result, l)
 	}
 	return result
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/README.md b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dc1d85996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# ECS with ALB example
+
+This example shows how to launch an ECS service fronted with Application Load Balancer.
+
+The example uses latest CoreOS Stable AMIs.
+
+To run, configure your AWS provider as described in https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/aws/index.html
+
+## Get up and running
+
+Planning phase
+
+```
+terraform plan \
+	-var admin_cidr_ingress='"{your_ip_address}/32"' \
+	-var key_name={your_key_name}
+```
+
+Apply phase
+
+```
+terraform apply \
+	-var admin_cidr_ingress='"{your_ip_address}/32"' \
+	-var key_name={your_key_name}
+```
+
+Once the stack is created, wait for a few minutes and test the stack by launching a browser with the ALB url.
+
+## Destroy :boom:
+
+```
+terraform destroy
+```
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/cloud-config.yml b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/cloud-config.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..926d02ba0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/cloud-config.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#cloud-config
+coreos:
+  units:
+   - name: update-engine.service
+     command: stop
+   - name: amazon-ecs-agent.service
+     command: start
+     runtime: true
+     content: |
+       [Unit]
+       Description=AWS ECS Agent
+       Documentation=https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/
+       Requires=docker.socket
+       After=docker.socket
+
+       [Service]
+       Environment=ECS_CLUSTER=${ecs_cluster_name}
+       Environment=ECS_LOGLEVEL=${ecs_log_level}
+       Environment=ECS_VERSION=${ecs_agent_version}
+       Restart=on-failure
+       RestartSec=30
+       RestartPreventExitStatus=5
+       SyslogIdentifier=ecs-agent
+       ExecStartPre=-/bin/mkdir -p /var/log/ecs /var/ecs-data /etc/ecs
+       ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/docker kill ecs-agent
+       ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/docker rm ecs-agent
+       ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/docker pull amazon/amazon-ecs-agent:$${ECS_VERSION}
+       ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker run --name ecs-agent \
+                                     --volume=/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
+                                     --volume=/var/log/ecs:/log \
+                                     --volume=/var/ecs-data:/data \
+                                     --volume=/sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro \
+                                     --volume=/run/docker/execdriver/native:/var/lib/docker/execdriver/native:ro \
+                                     --publish=127.0.0.1:51678:51678 \
+                                     --env=ECS_LOGFILE=/log/ecs-agent.log \
+                                     --env=ECS_LOGLEVEL=$${ECS_LOGLEVEL} \
+                                     --env=ECS_DATADIR=/data \
+                                     --env=ECS_CLUSTER=$${ECS_CLUSTER} \
+                                     --env=ECS_AVAILABLE_LOGGING_DRIVERS='["awslogs"]' \
+                                     --log-driver=awslogs \
+                                     --log-opt awslogs-region=${aws_region} \
+                                     --log-opt awslogs-group=${ecs_log_group_name} \
+                                     amazon/amazon-ecs-agent:$${ECS_VERSION}
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/instance-profile-policy.json b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/instance-profile-policy.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..686c31316
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/instance-profile-policy.json
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+{
+  "Version": "2012-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Sid": "ecsInstanceRole",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Action": [
+        "ecs:DeregisterContainerInstance",
+        "ecs:DiscoverPollEndpoint",
+        "ecs:Poll",
+        "ecs:RegisterContainerInstance",
+        "ecs:Submit*"
+      ],
+      "Resource": [
+        "*"
+      ]
+    },
+    {
+      "Sid": "allowLoggingToCloudWatch",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Action": [
+        "logs:CreateLogStream",
+        "logs:PutLogEvents"
+      ],
+      "Resource": [
+        "${app_log_group_arn}",
+        "${ecs_log_group_arn}"
+      ]
+    }
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/main.tf b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..66e10569b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,308 @@
+# Specify the provider and access details
+provider "aws" {
+  region = "${var.aws_region}"
+}
+
+## EC2
+
+### Network
+
+data "aws_availability_zones" "available" {}
+
+resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
+  cidr_block = "10.10.0.0/16"
+}
+
+resource "aws_subnet" "main" {
+  count = "${var.az_count}"
+  cidr_block = "${cidrsubnet(aws_vpc.main.cidr_block, 8, count.index)}"
+  availability_zone = "${data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[count.index]}"
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_internet_gateway" "gw" {
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_route_table" "r" {
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+  route {
+      cidr_block = "0.0.0.0/0"
+      gateway_id = "${aws_internet_gateway.gw.id}"
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_route_table_association" "a" {
+  count = "${var.az_count}"
+  subnet_id = "${element(aws_subnet.main.*.id, count.index)}"
+  route_table_id = "${aws_route_table.r.id}"
+}
+
+### Compute
+
+resource "aws_autoscaling_group" "app" {
+  name = "tf-test-asg"
+  vpc_zone_identifier = ["${aws_subnet.main.*.id}"]
+  min_size = "${var.asg_min}"
+  max_size = "${var.asg_max}"
+  desired_capacity = "${var.asg_desired}"
+  launch_configuration = "${aws_launch_configuration.app.name}"
+}
+
+data "template_file" "cloud_config" {
+  template = "${file("${path.module}/cloud-config.yml")}"
+  vars {
+    aws_region = "${var.aws_region}"
+    ecs_cluster_name = "${aws_ecs_cluster.main.name}"
+    ecs_log_level = "info"
+    ecs_agent_version = "latest"
+    ecs_log_group_name = "${aws_cloudwatch_log_group.ecs.name}"
+  }
+}
+
+data "aws_ami" "stable_coreos" {
+  most_recent = true
+  filter {
+    name = "description"
+    values = ["CoreOS stable *"]
+  }
+  filter {
+    name = "architecture"
+    values = ["x86_64"]
+  }
+  filter {
+    name = "virtualization-type"
+    values = ["hvm"]
+  }
+  owners = ["595879546273"] # CoreOS
+}
+
+resource "aws_launch_configuration" "app" {
+  security_groups = [
+    "${aws_security_group.instance_sg.id}"
+  ]
+  key_name = "${var.key_name}"
+  image_id = "${data.aws_ami.stable_coreos.id}"
+  instance_type = "${var.instance_type}"
+  iam_instance_profile = "${aws_iam_instance_profile.app.name}"
+  user_data = "${data.template_file.cloud_config.rendered}"
+  associate_public_ip_address = true
+  lifecycle {
+    create_before_destroy = true
+  }
+}
+
+### Security
+
+resource "aws_security_group" "lb_sg" {
+  description = "controls access to the application ELB"
+
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+  name = "tf-ecs-lbsg"
+
+  ingress {
+    protocol = "tcp"
+    from_port = 80
+    to_port = 80
+    cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
+  }
+
+  egress {
+    from_port = 0
+    to_port = 0
+    protocol = "-1"
+    cidr_blocks = [
+      "0.0.0.0/0"
+    ]
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_security_group" "instance_sg" {
+  description = "controls direct access to application instances"
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+  name = "tf-ecs-instsg"
+
+  ingress {
+    protocol = "tcp"
+    from_port = 22
+    to_port = 22
+    cidr_blocks = [
+      "${var.admin_cidr_ingress}"
+    ]
+  }
+  ingress {
+    protocol = "tcp"
+    from_port = 8080
+    to_port = 8080
+    security_groups = [
+      "${aws_security_group.lb_sg.id}"
+    ]
+  }
+  egress {
+    from_port = 0
+    to_port = 0
+    protocol = "-1"
+    cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
+  }
+}
+
+
+## ECS
+
+resource "aws_ecs_cluster" "main" {
+  name = "terraform_example_ecs_cluster"
+}
+
+data "template_file" "task_definition" {
+  template = "${file("${path.module}/task-definition.json")}"
+  vars {
+    image_url = "ghost:latest"
+    container_name = "ghost"
+    log_group_region = "${var.aws_region}"
+    log_group_name = "${aws_cloudwatch_log_group.app.name}"
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "ghost" {
+  family = "tf_example_ghost_td"
+  container_definitions = "${data.template_file.task_definition.rendered}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_service" "test" {
+  name = "tf-example-ecs-ghost"
+  cluster = "${aws_ecs_cluster.main.id}"
+  task_definition = "${aws_ecs_task_definition.ghost.arn}"
+  desired_count = 1
+  iam_role = "${aws_iam_role.ecs_service.name}"
+
+  load_balancer {
+    target_group_arn = "${aws_alb_target_group.test.id}"
+    container_name = "ghost"
+    container_port = "2368"
+  }
+
+  depends_on = [
+    "aws_iam_role_policy.ecs_service",
+    "aws_alb_listener.front_end"
+  ]
+}
+
+
+## IAM
+
+resource "aws_iam_role" "ecs_service" {
+  name = "tf_example_ecs_role"
+  assume_role_policy = <<EOF
+{
+  "Version": "2008-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Sid": "",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Principal": {
+        "Service": "ecs.amazonaws.com"
+      },
+      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOF
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role_policy" "ecs_service" {
+  name = "tf_example_ecs_policy"
+  role = "${aws_iam_role.ecs_service.name}"
+  policy = <<EOF
+{
+  "Version": "2012-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Action": [
+        "ec2:Describe*",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:DeregisterInstancesFromLoadBalancer",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:DeregisterTargets",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:Describe*",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:RegisterInstancesWithLoadBalancer",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:RegisterTargets"
+      ],
+      "Resource": "*"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOF
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_instance_profile" "app" {
+  name = "tf-ecs-instprofile"
+  roles = ["${aws_iam_role.app_instance.name}"]
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role" "app_instance" {
+  name = "tf-ecs-example-instance-role"
+  assume_role_policy = <<EOF
+{
+  "Version": "2012-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Sid": "",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Principal": {
+        "Service": "ec2.amazonaws.com"
+      },
+      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOF
+}
+
+data "template_file" "instance_profile" {
+  template = "${file("${path.module}/instance-profile-policy.json")}"
+  vars {
+    app_log_group_arn = "${aws_cloudwatch_log_group.app.arn}"
+    ecs_log_group_arn = "${aws_cloudwatch_log_group.ecs.arn}"
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role_policy" "instance" {
+    name = "TfEcsExampleInstanceRole"
+    role = "${aws_iam_role.app_instance.name}"
+    policy = "${data.template_file.instance_profile.rendered}"
+}
+
+## ALB
+
+resource "aws_alb_target_group" "test" {
+  name = "tf-example-ecs-ghost"
+  port = 80
+  protocol = "HTTP"
+  vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.main.id}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_alb" "main" {
+  name            = "tf-example-alb-ecs"
+  subnets         = ["${aws_subnet.main.*.id}"]
+  security_groups = ["${aws_security_group.lb_sg.id}"]
+}
+
+resource "aws_alb_listener" "front_end" {
+  load_balancer_arn = "${aws_alb.main.id}"
+  port = "80"
+  protocol = "HTTP"
+
+  default_action {
+    target_group_arn = "${aws_alb_target_group.test.id}"
+    type = "forward"
+  }
+}
+
+## CloudWatch Logs
+
+resource "aws_cloudwatch_log_group" "ecs" {
+  name = "tf-ecs-group/ecs-agent"
+}
+
+resource "aws_cloudwatch_log_group" "app" {
+  name = "tf-ecs-group/app-ghost"
+}
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/outputs.tf b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/outputs.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b47996b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/outputs.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+output "instance_security_group" {
+  value = "${aws_security_group.instance_sg.id}"
+}
+
+output "launch_configuration" {
+  value = "${aws_launch_configuration.app.id}"
+}
+
+output "asg_name" {
+  value = "${aws_autoscaling_group.app.id}"
+}
+
+output "elb_hostname" {
+  value = "${aws_alb.main.dns_name}"
+}
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/task-definition.json b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/task-definition.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..184e45415
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/task-definition.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[
+  {
+    "cpu": 256,
+    "essential": true,
+    "image": "${image_url}",
+    "memory": 512,
+    "name": "${container_name}",
+    "portMappings": [
+      {
+        "containerPort": 2368,
+        "hostPort": 8080
+      }
+    ],
+    "logConfiguration": {
+        "logDriver": "awslogs",
+        "options": {
+            "awslogs-group": "${log_group_name}",
+            "awslogs-region": "${log_group_region}"
+        }
+    }
+  }
+]
diff --git a/examples/aws-ecs-alb/variables.tf b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/variables.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a9f69975f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/aws-ecs-alb/variables.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+variable "aws_region" {
+  description = "The AWS region to create things in."
+  default = "us-west-2"
+}
+
+variable "az_count" {
+  description = "Number of AZs to cover in a given AWS region"
+  default = "2"
+}
+
+variable "key_name" {
+  description = "Name of AWS key pair"
+}
+
+variable "instance_type" {
+  default = "t2.small"
+  description = "AWS instance type"
+}
+
+variable "asg_min" {
+  description = "Min numbers of servers in ASG"
+  default = "1"
+}
+
+variable "asg_max" {
+  description = "Max numbers of servers in ASG"
+  default = "2"
+}
+
+variable "asg_desired" {
+  description = "Desired numbers of servers in ASG"
+  default = "1"
+}
+
+variable "admin_cidr_ingress" {
+  description = "CIDR to allow tcp/22 ingress to EC2 instance"
+}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/ecs_service.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/ecs_service.html.markdown
index 4fd8d6646..08c52f2d9 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/ecs_service.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/ecs_service.html.markdown
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 Load balancers support the following:
 
-* `elb_name` - (Required) The name of the load balancer.
+* `elb_name` - (Required for ELB Classic) The name of the ELB (Classic) to associate with the service.
+* `target_group_arn` - (Required for ALB) The ARN of the ALB target group to associate with the service.
 * `container_name` - (Required) The name of the container to associate with the load balancer (as it appears in a container definition).
 * `container_port` - (Required) The port on the container to associate with the load balancer.