diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index c8ded0296..2f4ce1572 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ Other changes:
 
  * Add prefix attribute to loadproperties task.
 
+ * Add resource attribute to length task.
+
 Changes from Ant 1.8.0RC1 TO Ant 1.8.0
 ======================================
 
diff --git a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/length.html b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/length.html
index e06499dad..e8009f141 100644
--- a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/length.html
+++ b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/length.html
@@ -47,9 +47,16 @@
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">file</td>
     <td valign="top">Single file whose length to report.</td>
-    <td valign="top" align="center" rowspan="2">One of these,
+    <td valign="top" align="center" rowspan="3">One of these,
       or one or more nested filesets</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">resource</td>
+    <td valign="top">Single resource whose length to report (using extended
+      <a href="../properties.html#propertyHelper">properties handling</a>).
+      <em>Since Ant 1.8.1</em>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">string</td>
     <td valign="top">The string whose length to report.</td>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Length.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Length.java
index 37c6b7935..644843147 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Length.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Length.java
@@ -67,6 +67,14 @@ public class Length extends Task implements Condition {
         this.property = property;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set the single resource for this task.
+     * @param resource the Resource whose length to retrieve.
+     */
+    public synchronized void setResource(Resource resource) {
+        add(resource);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the single file for this task.
      * @param file the <code>File</code> whose length to retrieve.
diff --git a/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/length-test.xml b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/length-test.xml
index 432706406..acd5310bb 100644
--- a/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/length-test.xml
+++ b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/length-test.xml
@@ -230,4 +230,11 @@
     </au:assertTrue>
   </target>
 
+  <target name="testResourceAttribute">
+    <string id="s" value="foo-bar-baz" />
+    <au:assertTrue>
+      <length length="11" resource="${ant.refid:s}" />
+    </au:assertTrue>
+  </target>
+
 </project>