diff --git a/jobspec/parse.go b/jobspec/parse.go
index 37e96b0b0..5d791835d 100644
--- a/jobspec/parse.go
+++ b/jobspec/parse.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/hcl"
 	hclobj "github.com/hashicorp/hcl/hcl"
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ func parseJob(result *structs.Job, obj *hclobj.Object) error {
 	}
 	delete(m, "constraint")
 	delete(m, "meta")
+	delete(m, "update")
 
 	// Set the ID and name to the object key
 	result.ID = obj.Key
@@ -98,6 +100,13 @@ func parseJob(result *structs.Job, obj *hclobj.Object) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// If we have an update strategy, then parse that
+	if o := obj.Get("update", false); o != nil {
+		if err := parseUpdate(&result.Update, o); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Parse out meta fields. These are in HCL as a list so we need
 	// to iterate over them and merge them.
 	if metaO := obj.Get("meta", false); metaO != nil {
@@ -221,6 +230,11 @@ func parseConstraints(result *[]*structs.Constraint, obj *hclobj.Object) error {
 		m["RTarget"] = m["value"]
 		m["Operand"] = m["operator"]
 
+		// Default constraint to being hard
+		if _, ok := m["hard"]; !ok {
+			m["hard"] = true
+		}
+
 		// Build the constraint
 		var c structs.Constraint
 		if err := mapstructure.WeakDecode(m, &c); err != nil {
@@ -362,3 +376,38 @@ func parseResources(result *structs.Resources, obj *hclobj.Object) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func parseUpdate(result *structs.UpdateStrategy, obj *hclobj.Object) error {
+	if obj.Len() > 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("only one 'update' block allowed per job")
+	}
+
+	for _, o := range obj.Elem(false) {
+		var m map[string]interface{}
+		if err := hcl.DecodeObject(&m, o); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		for _, key := range []string{"stagger", "Stagger"} {
+			if raw, ok := m[key]; ok {
+				switch v := raw.(type) {
+				case string:
+					dur, err := time.ParseDuration(v)
+					if err != nil {
+						return fmt.Errorf("invalid stagger time '%s'", raw)
+					}
+					m[key] = dur
+				case int:
+					m[key] = time.Duration(v) * time.Second
+				default:
+					return fmt.Errorf("invalid type for stagger time '%s'",
+						raw)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if err := mapstructure.WeakDecode(m, result); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/jobspec/parse_test.go b/jobspec/parse_test.go
index 93eca1330..6f4589344 100644
--- a/jobspec/parse_test.go
+++ b/jobspec/parse_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/nomad/structs"
 )
@@ -31,12 +32,18 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 
 				Constraints: []*structs.Constraint{
 					&structs.Constraint{
+						Hard:    true,
 						LTarget: "kernel.os",
 						RTarget: "windows",
 						Operand: "=",
 					},
 				},
 
+				Update: structs.UpdateStrategy{
+					Stagger:     60 * time.Second,
+					MaxParallel: 2,
+				},
+
 				TaskGroups: []*structs.TaskGroup{
 					&structs.TaskGroup{
 						Name:  "outside",
@@ -60,6 +67,7 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 						Count: 5,
 						Constraints: []*structs.Constraint{
 							&structs.Constraint{
+								Hard:    true,
 								LTarget: "kernel.os",
 								RTarget: "linux",
 								Operand: "=",
@@ -101,6 +109,7 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 								},
 								Constraints: []*structs.Constraint{
 									&structs.Constraint{
+										Hard:    true,
 										LTarget: "kernel.arch",
 										RTarget: "amd64",
 										Operand: "=",
diff --git a/jobspec/test-fixtures/basic.hcl b/jobspec/test-fixtures/basic.hcl
index bc107ecc4..e81f1e9bf 100644
--- a/jobspec/test-fixtures/basic.hcl
+++ b/jobspec/test-fixtures/basic.hcl
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ job "binstore-storagelocker" {
         value = "windows"
     }
 
+    update {
+        stagger = "60s"
+        max_parallel = 2
+    }
+
     task "outside" {
         driver = "java"
         config {