diff --git a/pkg/api/types.go b/pkg/api/types.go
index e654ccb29f6..673e35ab3fa 100644
--- a/pkg/api/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/types.go
@@ -211,6 +211,21 @@ const (
 // PodInfo contains one entry for every container with available info.
 type PodInfo map[string]docker.Container
 
+// RestartPolicyType represents a restart policy for a pod.
+type RestartPolicyType string
+
+// Valid restart policies defined for a PodState.RestartPolicy.
+const (
+	RestartAlways    RestartPolicyType = "RestartAlways"
+	RestartOnFailure RestartPolicyType = "RestartOnFailure"
+	RestartNever     RestartPolicyType = "RestartNever"
+)
+
+type RestartPolicy struct {
+	// Optional: Defaults to "RestartAlways".
+	Type RestartPolicyType `yaml:"type,omitempty" json:"type,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // PodState is the state of a pod, used as either input (desired state) or output (current state)
 type PodState struct {
 	Manifest ContainerManifest `json:"manifest,omitempty" yaml:"manifest,omitempty"`
@@ -225,7 +240,8 @@ type PodState struct {
 	// upon.
 	// TODO: Make real decisions about what our info should look like. Re-enable fuzz test
 	// when we have done this.
-	Info PodInfo `json:"info,omitempty" yaml:"info,omitempty"`
+	Info          PodInfo       `json:"info,omitempty" yaml:"info,omitempty"`
+	RestartPolicy RestartPolicy `json:"restartpolicy,omitempty" yaml:"restartpolicy,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // PodList is a list of Pods.
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go b/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
index 3b9b73bfe90..aa2615f0225 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -211,6 +211,21 @@ const (
 // PodInfo contains one entry for every container with available info.
 type PodInfo map[string]docker.Container
 
+// RestartPolicyType represents a restart policy for a pod.
+type RestartPolicyType string
+
+// Valid restart policies defined for a PodState.RestartPolicy.
+const (
+	RestartAlways    RestartPolicyType = "RestartAlways"
+	RestartOnFailure RestartPolicyType = "RestartOnFailure"
+	RestartNever     RestartPolicyType = "RestartNever"
+)
+
+type RestartPolicy struct {
+	// Optional: Defaults to "RestartAlways".
+	Type RestartPolicyType `yaml:"type,omitempty" json:"type,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // PodState is the state of a pod, used as either input (desired state) or output (current state)
 type PodState struct {
 	Manifest ContainerManifest `json:"manifest,omitempty" yaml:"manifest,omitempty"`
@@ -224,7 +239,8 @@ type PodState struct {
 	// of `docker inspect`. This output format is *not* final and should not be relied
 	// upon.
 	// TODO: Make real decisions about what our info should look like.
-	Info PodInfo `json:"info,omitempty" yaml:"info,omitempty"`
+	Info          PodInfo       `json:"info,omitempty" yaml:"info,omitempty"`
+	RestartPolicy RestartPolicy `json:"restartpolicy,omitempty" yaml:"restartpolicy,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // PodList is a list of Pods.
diff --git a/pkg/api/validation.go b/pkg/api/validation.go
index 2946444795b..2c0991f72d5 100644
--- a/pkg/api/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/api/validation.go
@@ -281,13 +281,26 @@ func ValidateManifest(manifest *ContainerManifest) []error {
 	return []error(allErrs)
 }
 
+func ValidatePodState(podState *PodState) []error {
+	allErrs := errorList(ValidateManifest(&podState.Manifest))
+	if podState.RestartPolicy.Type == "" {
+		podState.RestartPolicy.Type = RestartAlways
+	} else if podState.RestartPolicy.Type != RestartAlways &&
+		podState.RestartPolicy.Type != RestartOnFailure &&
+		podState.RestartPolicy.Type != RestartNever {
+		allErrs.Append(makeNotSupportedError("PodState.RestartPolicy.Type", podState.RestartPolicy.Type))
+	}
+
+	return []error(allErrs)
+}
+
 // Pod tests if required fields in the pod are set.
 func ValidatePod(pod *Pod) []error {
 	allErrs := errorList{}
 	if pod.ID == "" {
 		allErrs.Append(makeInvalidError("Pod.ID", pod.ID))
 	}
-	allErrs.Append(ValidateManifest(&pod.DesiredState.Manifest)...)
+	allErrs.Append(ValidatePodState(&pod.DesiredState)...)
 	return []error(allErrs)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/api/validation_test.go b/pkg/api/validation_test.go
index ec5f432d1d4..7b83e56a20d 100644
--- a/pkg/api/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/validation_test.go
@@ -262,6 +262,48 @@ func TestValidateManifest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestValidatePod(t *testing.T) {
+	errs := ValidatePod(&Pod{
+		JSONBase: JSONBase{ID: "foo"},
+		Labels: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+		DesiredState: PodState{
+			Manifest:      ContainerManifest{Version: "v1beta1", ID: "abc"},
+			RestartPolicy: RestartPolicy{Type: "RestartAlways"},
+		},
+	})
+	if len(errs) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected non-zero error list: %#v", errs)
+	}
+	errs = ValidatePod(&Pod{
+		JSONBase: JSONBase{ID: "foo"},
+		Labels: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+		DesiredState: PodState{
+			Manifest: ContainerManifest{Version: "v1beta1", ID: "abc"},
+		},
+	})
+	if len(errs) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected non-zero error list: %#v", errs)
+	}
+
+	errs = ValidatePod(&Pod{
+		JSONBase: JSONBase{ID: "foo"},
+		Labels: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+		DesiredState: PodState{
+			Manifest:      ContainerManifest{Version: "v1beta1", ID: "abc"},
+			RestartPolicy: RestartPolicy{Type: "WhatEver"},
+		},
+	})
+	if len(errs) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error list: %#v", errs)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestValidateService(t *testing.T) {
 	errs := ValidateService(&Service{
 		JSONBase: JSONBase{ID: "foo"},