diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/lib/rule.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/lib/rule.ts
index 14e1fa20f241a..fd71ec2473987 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/lib/rule.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/lib/rule.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ export class EventRule extends EventRuleRef {
         super(parent, name);
 
         const resource = new cloudformation.RuleResource(this, 'Resource', {
+            ruleName: props.ruleName,
             description: props.description,
             state: props.enabled == null ? 'ENABLED' : (props.enabled ? 'ENABLED' : 'DISABLED'),
             scheduleExpression: new Token(() => this.scheduleExpression),
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/test/test.rule.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/test/test.rule.ts
index 7ef0d9a0fd19d..d21ce1552b6a6 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/test/test.rule.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-events/test/test.rule.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { expect } from '@aws-cdk/assert';
+import { expect, haveResource } from '@aws-cdk/assert';
 import iam = require('@aws-cdk/aws-iam');
 import cdk = require('@aws-cdk/cdk');
 import { resolve } from '@aws-cdk/cdk';
@@ -30,6 +30,24 @@ export = {
         test.done();
     },
 
+    'rule with physical name'(test: Test) {
+      // GIVEN
+      const stack = new cdk.Stack();
+
+      // WHEN
+      new EventRule(stack, 'MyRule', {
+        ruleName: 'PhysicalName',
+        scheduleExpression: 'rate(10 minutes)'
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(stack).to(haveResource('AWS::Events::Rule', {
+        Name: 'PhysicalName'
+      }));
+
+      test.done();
+    },
+
     'eventPattern is rendered properly'(test: Test) {
         const stack = new cdk.Stack();