diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 55ff251c6..b13a9fa77 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ BUG FIXES:
     the client [GH-1641]
   * discovery/jobspec: Validate service name after interpolation [GH-1852]
   * driver/docker: Fix `local/` directory mount into container [GH-1830]
+  * jobspec: Tasks without a resource block no longer fail to validate [GH-1864]
 
 ## 0.4.1 (August 18, 2016)
 
diff --git a/nomad/structs/structs.go b/nomad/structs/structs.go
index 10c19fc6d..c7ea2e9ff 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/structs.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/structs.go
@@ -2106,7 +2106,10 @@ func (t *Task) Canonicalize(job *Job, tg *TaskGroup) {
 		service.Canonicalize(job.Name, tg.Name, t.Name)
 	}
 
-	if t.Resources != nil {
+	// If Resources are nil initialize them to defaults, otherwise canonicalize
+	if t.Resources == nil {
+		t.Resources = DefaultResources()
+	} else {
 		t.Resources.Canonicalize()
 	}
 
@@ -2158,12 +2161,12 @@ func (t *Task) Validate(ephemeralDisk *EphemeralDisk) error {
 	// Validate the resources.
 	if t.Resources == nil {
 		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, errors.New("Missing task resources"))
-	} else if err := t.Resources.MeetsMinResources(); err != nil {
-		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, err)
-	}
+	} else {
+		if err := t.Resources.MeetsMinResources(); err != nil {
+			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, err)
+		}
 
-	// Ensure the task isn't asking for disk resources
-	if t.Resources != nil {
+		// Ensure the task isn't asking for disk resources
 		if t.Resources.DiskMB > 0 {
 			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, errors.New("Task can't ask for disk resources, they have to be specified at the task group level."))
 		}