diff --git a/metric.go b/metric.go
index 3fb531358b1fc..8caf7dbf676ca 100644
--- a/metric.go
+++ b/metric.go
@@ -17,6 +17,20 @@ const (
 	Histogram
 )
 
+var (
+	ValueTypeToName = map[ValueType]string{
+		Counter:   "counter",
+		Gauge:     "gauge",
+		Untyped:   "untyped",
+		Summary:   "summary",
+		Histogram: "histogram",
+	}
+)
+
+func (v ValueType) String() string {
+	return ValueTypeToName[v]
+}
+
 type Metric interface {
 	// Serialize serializes the metric into a line-protocol byte buffer,
 	// including a newline at the end.
diff --git a/plugins/serializers/json/json.go b/plugins/serializers/json/json.go
index 452364c950a14..f5df61ce9bb98 100644
--- a/plugins/serializers/json/json.go
+++ b/plugins/serializers/json/json.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ func (s *JsonSerializer) Serialize(metric telegraf.Metric) ([]byte, error) {
 	m["fields"] = metric.Fields()
 	m["name"] = metric.Name()
 	m["timestamp"] = metric.UnixNano() / units_nanoseconds
+	m["type"] = metric.Type().String()
 	serialized, err := ejson.Marshal(m)
 	if err != nil {
 		return []byte{}, err
diff --git a/plugins/serializers/json/json_test.go b/plugins/serializers/json/json_test.go
index e44952b6f5f2e..03d17ba7c3370 100644
--- a/plugins/serializers/json/json_test.go
+++ b/plugins/serializers/json/json_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 
+	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/metric"
 )
 
@@ -25,7 +26,8 @@ func TestSerializeMetricFloat(t *testing.T) {
 	var buf []byte
 	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":91.5},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d}`, now.Unix()) + "\n")
+	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":91.5},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Untyped.String()) + "\n")
 	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
 }
 
@@ -45,7 +47,8 @@ func TestSerializeMetricInt(t *testing.T) {
 	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
-	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":90},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d}`, now.Unix()) + "\n")
+	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":90},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Untyped.String()) + "\n")
 	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
 }
 
@@ -65,7 +68,8 @@ func TestSerializeMetricString(t *testing.T) {
 	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
-	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":"foobar"},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d}`, now.Unix()) + "\n")
+	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":"foobar"},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Untyped.String()) + "\n")
 	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
 }
 
@@ -86,7 +90,8 @@ func TestSerializeMultiFields(t *testing.T) {
 	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
-	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":90,"usage_total":8559615},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d}`, now.Unix()) + "\n")
+	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"usage_idle":90,"usage_total":8559615},"name":"cpu","tags":{"cpu":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Untyped.String()) + "\n")
 	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
 }
 
@@ -105,6 +110,59 @@ func TestSerializeMetricWithEscapes(t *testing.T) {
 	buf, err := s.Serialize(m)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
-	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"U,age=Idle":90},"name":"My CPU","tags":{"cpu tag":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d}`, now.Unix()) + "\n")
+	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"U,age=Idle":90},"name":"My CPU","tags":{"cpu tag":"cpu0"},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Untyped.String()) + "\n")
+	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
+}
+
+func TestSerializeMetricIncludesType(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	tags := map[string]string{}
+	fields := map[string]interface{}{"field1": float64(42)}
+	s := JsonSerializer{}
+
+	// untyped
+	m, err := metric.New("cpu", tags, fields, now)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	buf, err := s.Serialize(m)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	expS := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"field1":42},"name":"cpu","tags":{},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Untyped.String()) + "\n")
+	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
+
+	// gauge
+	m, err = metric.New("cpu", tags, fields, now, telegraf.Gauge)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	expS = []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"field1":42},"name":"cpu","tags":{},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Gauge.String()) + "\n")
+	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
+
+	// counter
+	m, err = metric.New("cpu", tags, fields, now, telegraf.Counter)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	expS = []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"field1":42},"name":"cpu","tags":{},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Counter.String()) + "\n")
+	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
+
+	// summary
+	m, err = metric.New("cpu", tags, fields, now, telegraf.Summary)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	expS = []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"field1":42},"name":"cpu","tags":{},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Summary.String()) + "\n")
+	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
+
+	// histogram
+	m, err = metric.New("cpu", tags, fields, now, telegraf.Histogram)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	buf, err = s.Serialize(m)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	expS = []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"fields":{"field1":42},"name":"cpu","tags":{},"timestamp":%d,"type":"%s"}`,
+		now.Unix(), telegraf.Histogram.String()) + "\n")
 	assert.Equal(t, string(expS), string(buf))
 }