diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 016ffba17..ebc7d183b 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2018-09-18  JJ Allaire  <jj@rstudio.com>
+
+	* src/attributes.cpp: Add support [[Rcpp::init]] attribute
+	* vignettes/Rcpp-attributes.Rmd: Documentation for [[Rcpp::init]] attribute
+
 2018-09-17  Dirk Eddelbuettel  <edd@debian.org>
 
 	* inst/include/Rcpp/r/headers.h: Define STRICT_R_HEADERS, but until
diff --git a/inst/NEWS.Rd b/inst/NEWS.Rd
index 6efcd28e8..225132f61 100644
--- a/inst/NEWS.Rd
+++ b/inst/NEWS.Rd
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
       now; until then we protect it via \code{RCPP_NO_STRICT_HEADERS}
       which can then be used to avoid the definition; downstream
       maintainers are encouraged to update their packages as needed
+    }
+     \item Changes in Rcpp Attributes:
+    \itemize{
+      \item Added \code{[[Rcpp::init]]} attribute for registering C++ functions to
+      run during package initialization.
     }
     \item Changes in Rcpp Modules:
     \itemize{
diff --git a/src/attributes.cpp b/src/attributes.cpp
index ce4eeefba..94a23424e 100644
--- a/src/attributes.cpp
+++ b/src/attributes.cpp
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ namespace attributes {
     const char * const kExportAttribute = "export";
     const char * const kExportName = "name";
     const char * const kExportRng = "rng";
+    const char * const kInitAttribute = "init";
     const char * const kDependsAttribute = "depends";
     const char * const kPluginsAttribute = "plugins";
     const char * const kInterfacesAttribute = "interfaces";
@@ -673,6 +674,9 @@ namespace attributes {
                                       const std::string& name) const;
 
     private:
+        // for generating calls to init functions
+        std::vector<Attribute> initFunctions_;
+
         // for generating C++ interfaces
         std::vector<Attribute> cppExports_;
 
@@ -1323,8 +1327,8 @@ namespace attributes {
         // and it doesn't appear at the end of the file
         Function function;
 
-        // special handling for export
-        if (name == kExportAttribute) {
+        // special handling for export and init
+        if (name == kExportAttribute || name == kInitAttribute) {
 
             // parse the function (unless we are at the end of the file in
             // which case we print a warning)
@@ -1673,6 +1677,7 @@ namespace attributes {
     bool SourceFileAttributesParser::isKnownAttribute(const std::string& name)
                                                                         const {
         return name == kExportAttribute ||
+               name == kInitAttribute ||
                name == kDependsAttribute ||
                name == kPluginsAttribute ||
                name == kInterfacesAttribute;
@@ -1894,6 +1899,8 @@ namespace attributes {
 
                 // add it to the native routines list
                 nativeRoutines_.push_back(*it);
+            } else if (it->name() == kInitAttribute) {
+                initFunctions_.push_back(*it);
             }
         }                                               // #nocov end
 
@@ -1967,7 +1974,7 @@ namespace attributes {
          }
 
          // write native routines
-         if (!hasPackageInit && (!nativeRoutines_.empty() || !modules_.empty())) {
+         if (!hasPackageInit && (!nativeRoutines_.empty() || !modules_.empty() || !initFunctions_.empty())) {
 
             // build list of routines we will register
             std::vector<std::string> routineNames;
@@ -2022,11 +2029,29 @@ namespace attributes {
 
             ostr() << std::endl;
 
+            // write prototypes for init functions
+            for (std::size_t i = 0; i<initFunctions_.size(); i++) {
+                const Function& function = initFunctions_[i].function();
+                printFunction(ostr(), function, false);
+                ostr() << ";" << std::endl;
+            }
+
             ostr() << "RcppExport void R_init_" << packageCpp() << "(DllInfo *dll) {" << std::endl;
             ostr() << "    R_registerRoutines(dll, NULL, CallEntries, NULL, NULL);" << std::endl;
             ostr() << "    R_useDynamicSymbols(dll, FALSE);" << std::endl;
+            // call init functions
+            for (std::size_t i = 0; i<initFunctions_.size(); i++) {
+                const Function& function = initFunctions_[i].function();
+                ostr() << "    " << function.name() << "(dll);" << std::endl;
+            }
             ostr() << "}" << std::endl;
          }
+
+         // warn if both a hand-written package init function and Rcpp::init are used
+         if (hasPackageInit && !initFunctions_.empty()) {
+            showWarning("[[Rcpp::init]] attribute used in a package with an explicit "
+                        "R_init function (Rcpp::init functions will not be called)");
+         }
     }
 
     std::string CppExportsGenerator::registerCCallable(
diff --git a/vignettes/Rcpp-attributes.Rmd b/vignettes/Rcpp-attributes.Rmd
index 1ca87aedf..b434f5056 100644
--- a/vignettes/Rcpp-attributes.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/Rcpp-attributes.Rmd
@@ -650,6 +650,30 @@ step may be required. Specifically, if your package `NAMESPACE` file
 does not use a pattern to export functions then you should add an explicit
 entry to `NAMESPACE` for each R function you want publicly available.
 
+## Package Init Functions
+
+Rcpp attribute compilation will automatically generate a package R_init function that does native routine registration as described here: <https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-exts.html#Registering-native-routines>.
+
+You may however want to add additional C++ code to the package initialization sequence. To do this, you can add the `[[Rcpp::init]]` attribute to functions within your package. For example:
+
+```{cpp, eval = FALSE}
+// [[Rcpp::init]]
+void my_package_init(DllInfo *dll) {
+  // initialization code here
+}
+```
+
+In this case, a call to `my_package_init()` will be added to the end of the automatically generated R_init function within RcppExports.cpp. For example:
+
+```{cpp, eval = FALSE}
+void my_package_init(DllInfo *dll);
+RcppExport void R_init_pkgname(DllInfo *dll) {
+    R_registerRoutines(dll, NULL, CallEntries, NULL, NULL);
+    R_useDynamicSymbols(dll, FALSE);
+    my_package_init(dll);
+}
+```
+
 ## Types in Generated Code 
 
 In some cases the signatures of the C++ functions that are generated within