diff --git a/internal/service/athena/database.go b/internal/service/athena/database.go
index 4827d58866a..9845bd9a265 100644
--- a/internal/service/athena/database.go
+++ b/internal/service/athena/database.go
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ func ResourceDatabase() *schema.Resource {
 				Required: true,
 				ForceNew: true,
 			},
+			"comment": {
+				Type:     schema.TypeString,
+				Optional: true,
+			},
 			"force_destroy": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeBool,
 				Optional: true,
@@ -93,8 +97,15 @@ func expandAthenaResultConfiguration(bucket string, encryptionConfigurationList
 func resourceDatabaseCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 	conn := meta.(*conns.AWSClient).AthenaConn
 
+	var databaseDescription string
+	if v, ok := d.GetOk("comment"); ok {
+		databaseDescription = strings.Replace(v.(string), "'", "\\'", -1)
+	} else {
+		databaseDescription = ""
+	}
+
 	input := &athena.StartQueryExecutionInput{
-		QueryString:         aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("create database `%s`;", d.Get("name").(string))),
+		QueryString:         aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("create database `%[1]s`  comment '%[2]s';", d.Get("name").(string), databaseDescription)),
 		ResultConfiguration: expandAthenaResultConfiguration(d.Get("bucket").(string), d.Get("encryption_configuration").([]interface{})),
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/service/athena/database_test.go b/internal/service/athena/database_test.go
index 3d96f064e3a..943807129f4 100644
--- a/internal/service/athena/database_test.go
+++ b/internal/service/athena/database_test.go
@@ -35,6 +35,46 @@ func TestAccAthenaDatabase_basic(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccAthenaDatabase_description(t *testing.T) {
+	rInt := sdkacctest.RandInt()
+	dbName := sdkacctest.RandString(8)
+	resource.ParallelTest(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { acctest.PreCheck(t) },
+		ErrorCheck:   acctest.ErrorCheck(t, athena.EndpointsID),
+		Providers:    acctest.Providers,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckDatabaseDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccAthenaDatabaseCommentConfig(rInt, dbName, false),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckDatabaseExists("aws_athena_database.hoge"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("aws_athena_database.hoge", "name", dbName),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
+func TestAccAthenaDatabase_unescaped_description(t *testing.T) {
+	rInt := sdkacctest.RandInt()
+	dbName := sdkacctest.RandString(8)
+	resource.ParallelTest(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { acctest.PreCheck(t) },
+		ErrorCheck:   acctest.ErrorCheck(t, athena.EndpointsID),
+		Providers:    acctest.Providers,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckDatabaseDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccAthenaDatabaseUnescapedCommentConfig(rInt, dbName, false),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckDatabaseExists("aws_athena_database.hoge"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("aws_athena_database.hoge", "name", dbName),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccAthenaDatabase_encryption(t *testing.T) {
 	rInt := sdkacctest.RandInt()
 	dbName := sdkacctest.RandString(8)
@@ -354,6 +394,38 @@ resource "aws_athena_database" "hoge" {
 `, randInt, dbName, forceDestroy)
 }
 
+func testAccAthenaDatabaseCommentConfig(randInt int, dbName string, forceDestroy bool) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+resource "aws_s3_bucket" "hoge" {
+  bucket        = "tf-test-athena-db-%[1]d"
+  force_destroy = true
+}
+
+resource "aws_athena_database" "hoge" {
+  name          = "%[2]s"
+  bucket        = aws_s3_bucket.hoge.bucket
+  comment       = "athena is a goddess"
+  force_destroy = %[3]t
+}
+`, randInt, dbName, forceDestroy)
+}
+
+func testAccAthenaDatabaseUnescapedCommentConfig(randInt int, dbName string, forceDestroy bool) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+resource "aws_s3_bucket" "hoge" {
+  bucket        = "tf-test-athena-db-%[1]d"
+  force_destroy = true
+}
+
+resource "aws_athena_database" "hoge" {
+  name          = "%[2]s"
+  bucket        = aws_s3_bucket.hoge.bucket
+  comment       = "athena's a goddess"
+  force_destroy = %[3]t
+}
+`, randInt, dbName, forceDestroy)
+}
+
 func testAccAthenaDatabaseWithKMSConfig(randInt int, dbName string, forceDestroy bool) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(`
 resource "aws_kms_key" "hoge" {
diff --git a/website/docs/r/athena_database.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/athena_database.html.markdown
index 53ee0b6d92b..917f834a136 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/athena_database.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/athena_database.html.markdown
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 * `name` - (Required) Name of the database to create.
 * `bucket` - (Required) Name of s3 bucket to save the results of the query execution.
+* `comment` - (Optional) Description of the database.
 * `encryption_configuration` - (Optional) The encryption key block AWS Athena uses to decrypt the data in S3, such as an AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) key. An `encryption_configuration` block is documented below.
 * `force_destroy` - (Optional, Default: false) A boolean that indicates all tables should be deleted from the database so that the database can be destroyed without error. The tables are *not* recoverable.