diff --git a/pkg/cmd/cli/describe/describer.go b/pkg/cmd/cli/describe/describer.go
index 7c781def0d55..7e23d0362a7a 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/cli/describe/describer.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/cli/describe/describer.go
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ func (d *TemplateDescriber) DescribeParameters(params []templateapi.Parameter, o
 	}
 }
 
-func (d *TemplateDescriber) DescribeObjects(objects []runtime.Object, out *tabwriter.Writer) {
+func (d *TemplateDescriber) DescribeObjects(objects []runtime.Object, labels map[string]string, out *tabwriter.Writer) {
 	formatString(out, "Objects", " ")
 
 	indent := "    "
@@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ func (d *TemplateDescriber) DescribeObjects(objects []runtime.Object, out *tabwr
 		}
 		formatAnnotations(out, meta, indent)
 	}
+	if len(labels) > 0 {
+		out.Write([]byte("\n"))
+		formatString(out, indent+"Common Labels", formatLabels(labels))
+	}
 }
 
 func (d *TemplateDescriber) Describe(namespace, name string) (string, error) {
@@ -410,7 +414,7 @@ func (d *TemplateDescriber) Describe(namespace, name string) (string, error) {
 		out.Flush()
 		d.DescribeParameters(template.Parameters, out)
 		out.Write([]byte("\n"))
-		d.DescribeObjects(template.Objects, out)
+		d.DescribeObjects(template.Objects, template.ObjectLabels, out)
 		return nil
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/template/api/types.go b/pkg/template/api/types.go
index 95fb719aaa5e..634fda3424c8 100644
--- a/pkg/template/api/types.go
+++ b/pkg/template/api/types.go
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ type Template struct {
 
 	// Required: A list of resources to create
 	Objects []runtime.Object
+
+	// Optional: ObjectLabels is a set of labels that are applied to every
+	// object during the Template to Config transformation
+	ObjectLabels map[string]string
 }
 
 // TemplateList is a list of Template objects.
diff --git a/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/conversion.go b/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
index 2dfdd997a06c..5768d10a1adb 100644
--- a/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
@@ -14,12 +14,21 @@ func init() {
 			if err := s.Convert(&in.Objects, &out.Items, 0); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			return s.DefaultConvert(in, out, conversion.IgnoreMissingFields)
+			//FIXME: DefaultConvert should not overwrite the Labels field on the
+			//       the base object. This is likely a bug in the DefaultConvert
+			//       code. For now, it is called before converting the labels.
+			if err := s.DefaultConvert(in, out, conversion.IgnoreMissingFields); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			return s.Convert(&in.ObjectLabels, &out.Labels, 0)
 		},
 		func(in *Template, out *newer.Template, s conversion.Scope) error {
 			if err := s.Convert(&in.Items, &out.Objects, 0); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			if err := s.Convert(&in.Labels, &out.ObjectLabels, 0); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 			return s.DefaultConvert(in, out, conversion.IgnoreMissingFields)
 		},
 	)
diff --git a/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/types.go b/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/types.go
index 783c0509203b..573be64338be 100644
--- a/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/template/api/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ type Template struct {
 	// Optional: Parameters is an array of Parameters used during the
 	// Template to Config transformation.
 	Parameters []Parameter `json:"parameters,omitempty"`
+
+	// Optional: Labels is a set of labels that are applied to every
+	// object during the Template to Config transformation
+	Labels map[string]string `json:"labels,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // TemplateList is a list of Template objects.
diff --git a/pkg/template/api/validation/validation.go b/pkg/template/api/validation/validation.go
index 24ceaffcdd08..cb4b337e9690 100644
--- a/pkg/template/api/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/template/api/validation/validation.go
@@ -48,5 +48,6 @@ func validateTemplateBody(template *api.Template) (errs errors.ValidationErrorLi
 		paramErr := ValidateParameter(&template.Parameters[i])
 		errs = append(errs, paramErr.PrefixIndex(i).Prefix("parameters")...)
 	}
+	errs = append(errs, validation.ValidateLabels(template.ObjectLabels, "labels")...)
 	return
 }
diff --git a/pkg/template/registry/rest.go b/pkg/template/registry/rest.go
index f976ce626d5b..a5c67dc87cfe 100644
--- a/pkg/template/registry/rest.go
+++ b/pkg/template/registry/rest.go
@@ -96,10 +96,13 @@ func (s *REST) Create(ctx kapi.Context, obj runtime.Object) (runtime.Object, err
 		glog.V(1).Infof(utilerr.NewAggregate(err).Error())
 	}
 
-	if err := template.AddConfigLabels(cfg, labels.Set{"template": tpl.Name}); len(err) > 0 {
-		// TODO: We don't report the processing errors to users as there is no
-		// good way how to do it for just some items.
-		glog.V(1).Infof(utilerr.NewAggregate(err).Error())
+	if tpl.ObjectLabels != nil {
+		objectLabels := labels.Set(tpl.ObjectLabels)
+		if err := template.AddConfigLabels(cfg, objectLabels); len(err) > 0 {
+			// TODO: We don't report the processing errors to users as there is no
+			// good way how to do it for just some items.
+			glog.V(1).Infof(utilerr.NewAggregate(err).Error())
+		}
 	}
 	return cfg, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/template/registry/rest_test.go b/pkg/template/registry/rest_test.go
index 7ae96e814c25..f6110e4f81b4 100644
--- a/pkg/template/registry/rest_test.go
+++ b/pkg/template/registry/rest_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	kapi "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 
 	config "github.com/openshift/origin/pkg/config/api"
 	template "github.com/openshift/origin/pkg/template/api"
@@ -32,3 +33,49 @@ func TestNewRESTDefaultsName(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected return object: %#v", obj)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNewRESTTemplateLabels(t *testing.T) {
+	testLabels := map[string]string{
+		"label1": "value1",
+		"label2": "value2",
+	}
+	storage := NewREST()
+	obj, err := storage.Create(nil, &template.Template{
+		ObjectMeta: kapi.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: "test",
+		},
+		Objects: []runtime.Object{
+			&kapi.Service{
+				ObjectMeta: kapi.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "test-service",
+				},
+				Spec: kapi.ServiceSpec{
+					Port:            80,
+					Protocol:        kapi.ProtocolTCP,
+					SessionAffinity: kapi.AffinityTypeNone,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		ObjectLabels: testLabels,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	config, ok := obj.(*config.Config)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected return object: %#v", obj)
+	}
+	svc, ok := config.Items[0].(*kapi.Service)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected object in config: %#v", svc)
+	}
+	for k, v := range testLabels {
+		value, ok := svc.Labels[k]
+		if !ok {
+			t.Fatalf("Missing output label: %s", k)
+		}
+		if value != v {
+			t.Fatalf("Unexpected label value: %s", value)
+		}
+	}
+}