diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/lib/private/cache-behavior.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/lib/private/cache-behavior.ts
index 18b4d75aac2c7..09082c1dd4f8b 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/lib/private/cache-behavior.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/lib/private/cache-behavior.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+import * as iam from '@aws-cdk/aws-iam';
 import { CfnDistribution } from '../cloudfront.generated';
-import { AddBehaviorOptions, ViewerProtocolPolicy } from '../distribution';
+import { AddBehaviorOptions, EdgeLambda, ViewerProtocolPolicy } from '../distribution';
 
 /**
  * Properties for specifying custom behaviors for origins.
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ export class CacheBehavior {
 
   constructor(originId: string, private readonly props: CacheBehaviorProps) {
     this.originId = originId;
+
+    this.grantEdgeLambdaFunctionExecutionRole(props.edgeLambdas);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -55,4 +58,17 @@ export class CacheBehavior {
         : undefined,
     };
   }
+
+  private grantEdgeLambdaFunctionExecutionRole(edgeLambdas?: EdgeLambda[]) {
+    if (!edgeLambdas || edgeLambdas.length === 0) { return; }
+    edgeLambdas.forEach((edgeLambda) => {
+      const role = edgeLambda.functionVersion.role;
+      if (role && role instanceof iam.Role && role.assumeRolePolicy) {
+        role.assumeRolePolicy.addStatements(new iam.PolicyStatement({
+          actions: ['sts:AssumeRole'],
+          principals: [new iam.ServicePrincipal('edgelambda.amazonaws.com')],
+        }));
+      }
+    });
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts
index 0a8b5933e7f59..b4368de309232 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts
@@ -489,6 +489,42 @@ describe('with Lambda@Edge functions', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  test('edgelambda.amazonaws.com is added to the trust policy of lambda', () => {
+    new Distribution(stack, 'MyDist', {
+      defaultBehavior: {
+        origin,
+        edgeLambdas: [
+          {
+            functionVersion: lambdaFunction.currentVersion,
+            eventType: LambdaEdgeEventType.ORIGIN_REQUEST,
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(stack).toHaveResource('AWS::IAM::Role', {
+      AssumeRolePolicyDocument: {
+        Statement: [
+          {
+            Action: 'sts:AssumeRole',
+            Effect: 'Allow',
+            Principal: {
+              Service: 'lambda.amazonaws.com',
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            Action: 'sts:AssumeRole',
+            Effect: 'Allow',
+            Principal: {
+              Service: 'edgelambda.amazonaws.com',
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+        Version: '2012-10-17',
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
   test('can add an edge lambdas to additional behaviors', () => {
     new Distribution(stack, 'MyDist', {
       defaultBehavior: { origin },
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/integ.distribution-lambda.expected.json b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/integ.distribution-lambda.expected.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ef6030afded59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/integ.distribution-lambda.expected.json
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+{
+  "Resources": {
+    "LambdaServiceRoleA8ED4D3B": {
+      "Type": "AWS::IAM::Role",
+      "Properties": {
+        "AssumeRolePolicyDocument": {
+          "Statement": [
+            {
+              "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
+              "Effect": "Allow",
+              "Principal": {
+                "Service": "lambda.amazonaws.com"
+              }
+            },
+            {
+              "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
+              "Effect": "Allow",
+              "Principal": {
+                "Service": "edgelambda.amazonaws.com"
+              }
+            }
+          ],
+          "Version": "2012-10-17"
+        },
+        "ManagedPolicyArns": [
+          {
+            "Fn::Join": [
+              "",
+              [
+                "arn:",
+                {
+                  "Ref": "AWS::Partition"
+                },
+                ":iam::aws:policy/service-role/AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole"
+              ]
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    },
+    "LambdaD247545B": {
+      "Type": "AWS::Lambda::Function",
+      "Properties": {
+        "Code": {
+          "ZipFile": "foo"
+        },
+        "Handler": "index.handler",
+        "Role": {
+          "Fn::GetAtt": [
+            "LambdaServiceRoleA8ED4D3B",
+            "Arn"
+          ]
+        },
+        "Runtime": "nodejs10.x"
+      },
+      "DependsOn": [
+        "LambdaServiceRoleA8ED4D3B"
+      ]
+    },
+    "LambdaCurrentVersionDF706F6A97fb843e9bd06fcd2bb15eeace80e13e": {
+      "Type": "AWS::Lambda::Version",
+      "Properties": {
+        "FunctionName": {
+          "Ref": "LambdaD247545B"
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "DistB3B78991": {
+      "Type": "AWS::CloudFront::Distribution",
+      "Properties": {
+        "DistributionConfig": {
+          "DefaultCacheBehavior": {
+            "ForwardedValues": {
+              "QueryString": false
+            },
+            "LambdaFunctionAssociations": [
+              {
+                "EventType": "origin-request",
+                "LambdaFunctionARN": {
+                  "Ref": "LambdaCurrentVersionDF706F6A97fb843e9bd06fcd2bb15eeace80e13e"
+                }
+              }
+            ],
+            "TargetOriginId": "integdistributionlambdaDistOrigin133A13098",
+            "ViewerProtocolPolicy": "allow-all"
+          },
+          "Enabled": true,
+          "HttpVersion": "http2",
+          "IPV6Enabled": true,
+          "Origins": [
+            {
+              "CustomOriginConfig": {
+                "OriginProtocolPolicy": "https-only"
+              },
+              "DomainName": "www.example.com",
+              "Id": "integdistributionlambdaDistOrigin133A13098"
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/integ.distribution-lambda.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/integ.distribution-lambda.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..52bc6c1a320c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/integ.distribution-lambda.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import * as lambda from '@aws-cdk/aws-lambda';
+import * as cdk from '@aws-cdk/core';
+import * as cloudfront from '../lib';
+import { TestOrigin } from './test-origin';
+
+const app = new cdk.App();
+const stack = new cdk.Stack(app, 'integ-distribution-lambda', { env: { region: 'us-east-1' } });
+
+const lambdaFunction = new lambda.Function(stack, 'Lambda', {
+  code: lambda.Code.fromInline('foo'),
+  handler: 'index.handler',
+  runtime: lambda.Runtime.NODEJS_10_X,
+});
+
+new cloudfront.Distribution(stack, 'Dist', {
+  defaultBehavior: {
+    origin: new TestOrigin('www.example.com'),
+    edgeLambdas: [{
+      functionVersion: lambdaFunction.currentVersion,
+      eventType: cloudfront.LambdaEdgeEventType.ORIGIN_REQUEST,
+    }],
+  },
+});
+
+app.synth();