diff --git a/src/cmd/flux-jstat.c b/src/cmd/flux-jstat.c
index 9424952b9e65..63fb35775844 100644
--- a/src/cmd/flux-jstat.c
+++ b/src/cmd/flux-jstat.c
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 /******************************************************************************
  *                                                                            *
  *                Internal types, macros and static variables                 *
- *                                                                            * 
+ *                                                                            *
  ******************************************************************************/
 typedef struct {
     flux_t *h;
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static const struct option longopts[] = {
 /******************************************************************************
  *                                                                            *
  *                              Utilities                                     *
- *                                                                            * 
+ *                                                                            *
  ******************************************************************************/
 static void usage (int code)
 {
@@ -104,9 +104,9 @@ static void sig_handler (int s)
 static FILE *open_test_outfile (const char *fn)
 {
     FILE *fp;
-    if (!fn) 
-        fp = NULL; 
-    else if ( !(fp = fopen (fn, "w"))) 
+    if (!fn)
+        fp = NULL;
+    else if ( !(fp = fopen (fn, "w")))
         fprintf (stderr, "Failed to open %s\n", fn);
     return fp;
 }
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ static inline void get_states (json_object *jcb, int64_t *os, int64_t *ns)
 /******************************************************************************
  *                                                                            *
  *                      Async notification callback                           *
- *                                                                            * 
+ *                                                                            *
  ******************************************************************************/
 
 static int job_status_cb (const char *jcbstr, void *arg, int errnum)
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ static int job_status_cb (const char *jcbstr, void *arg, int errnum)
     get_states (jcb, &os, &ns);
     Jput (jcb);
 
-    fprintf (ctx->op, "%s->%s\n", 
-    jsc_job_num2state ((job_state_t)os), 
+    fprintf (ctx->op, "%s->%s\n",
+    jsc_job_num2state ((job_state_t)os),
     jsc_job_num2state ((job_state_t)ns));
     fflush (ctx->op);
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ static int handle_notify_req (flux_t *h, const char *ofn)
     jstatctx_t *ctx = NULL;
 
     sig_flux_h = h;
-    if (signal (SIGINT, sig_handler) == SIG_ERR) 
+    if (signal (SIGINT, sig_handler) == SIG_ERR)
         return -1;
 
     ctx = getctx (h);
@@ -182,9 +182,9 @@ static int handle_notify_req (flux_t *h, const char *ofn)
 
     if (jsc_notify_status (h, job_status_cb, (void *)h) != 0) {
         flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "failed to reg a job status change CB");
-        return -1; 
+        return -1;
     }
-    if (flux_reactor_run (flux_get_reactor (h), 0) < 0) 
+    if (flux_reactor_run (flux_get_reactor (h), 0) < 0)
         flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "error in flux_reactor_run");
 
     return 0;
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ static int handle_query_req (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *k, const char *n)
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int handle_update_req (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *k, 
+static int handle_update_req (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *k,
                               const char *jcbstr, const char *n)
 {
     jstatctx_t *ctx = NULL;
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ static int handle_update_req (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *k,
 
 int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    flux_t *h; 
+    flux_t *h;
     int ch = 0;
     int rc = 0;
     char *cmd = NULL;
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
     else if (!strcmp ("query", cmd) && optind == argc - 2) {
         j = (const char *)(*(argv+optind));
         attr = (const char *)(*(argv+optind+1));
-        rc = handle_query_req (h, strtol (j, NULL, 10), attr, ofn); 
+        rc = handle_query_req (h, strtol (j, NULL, 10), attr, ofn);
     }
     else if (!strcmp ("update", cmd) && optind == argc - 3) {
         j = (const char *)(*(argv+optind));
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
         jcbstr = (const char *)(*(argv+optind+2));
         rc = handle_update_req (h, strtol (j, NULL, 10), attr, jcbstr, ofn);
     }
-    else 
+    else
         usage (1);
 
     flux_close (h);
diff --git a/src/common/libjsc/README.md b/src/common/libjsc/README.md
index 242a3a8245b7..fe48aaf7031b 100644
--- a/src/common/libjsc/README.md
+++ b/src/common/libjsc/README.md
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ service.
 | rdesc      | JSC_RDESC      | dictionary     | Information on the resources owned by this job. See Table 3-3.                 |
 | rdl        | JSC_RDL        | string         | RDL binary string allocated to the job                                         |
 | rdl_alloc  | JSC_RDL\_ALLOC | array of per-broker resources | Resource descriptor array (Resources allocated per broker - rank order). See Table 3-4.|
+| R_lite     | JSC_R\_LITE    | string         | R\_lite serialized JSON string allocated to the job                            |
 | pdesc      | JSC_PDESC      | dictionary     | Information on the processes spawned by this job. See Table 3-5.               |
 
 **Table 3-1** Keys and values of top-level JCB attributes
diff --git a/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.c b/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.c
index f44ee9e77d39..a0945ec7df29 100644
--- a/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.c
+++ b/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.c
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ static int extract_raw_rdl (flux_t *h, int64_t j, char **rdlstr)
     flux_future_t *f = NULL;
 
     if (!key || !(f = flux_kvs_lookup (h, 0, key))
-             || flux_kvs_lookup_get_unpack (f, "s", &s) < 0) {
+             || flux_kvs_lookup_get (f, &s) < 0) {
         flux_log_error (h, "extract %s", key);
         rc = -1;
     }
@@ -446,6 +446,27 @@ static int extract_raw_rdl (flux_t *h, int64_t j, char **rdlstr)
     return rc;
 }
 
+static int extract_raw_r_lite (flux_t *h, int64_t j, char **rlitestr)
+{
+    int rc = 0;
+    char *key = lwj_key (h, j, ".R_lite");
+    const char *s;
+    flux_future_t *f = NULL;
+
+    if (!key || !(f = flux_kvs_lookup (h, 0, key))
+             || flux_kvs_lookup_get (f, &s) < 0) {
+        flux_log_error (h, "extract %s", key);
+        rc = -1;
+    }
+    else {
+        *rlitestr = xstrdup (s);
+        flux_log (h, LOG_DEBUG, "R_lite under %s extracted", key);
+    }
+    free (key);
+    flux_future_destroy (f);
+    return rc;
+}
+
 static int extract_raw_state (flux_t *h, int64_t j, int64_t *s)
 {
     int rc = 0;
@@ -681,6 +702,21 @@ static int query_rdl (flux_t *h, int64_t j, json_object **jcb)
     return 0;
 }
 
+static int query_r_lite (flux_t *h, int64_t j, json_object **jcb)
+{
+    char *rlitestr = NULL;
+
+    if (extract_raw_r_lite (h, j, &rlitestr) < 0) return -1;
+
+    *jcb = Jnew ();
+    Jadd_str (*jcb, JSC_R_LITE, (const char *)rlitestr);
+    /* Note: seems there is no mechanism to transfer ownership
+     * of this string to jcb */
+    if (rlitestr)
+        free (rlitestr);
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static int query_rdl_alloc (flux_t *h, int64_t j, json_object **jcb)
 {
     *jcb = Jnew ();
@@ -842,7 +878,7 @@ static int update_rdl (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *rs)
         flux_log_error (h, "txn_create");
         goto done;
     }
-    if (flux_kvs_txn_pack (txn, 0, key, "s", rs) < 0) {
+    if (flux_kvs_txn_put (txn, 0, key, rs) < 0) {
         flux_log_error (h, "update %s", key);
         goto done;
     }
@@ -861,6 +897,36 @@ static int update_rdl (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *rs)
     return rc;
 }
 
+static int update_r_lite (flux_t *h, int64_t j, const char *rs)
+{
+    int rc = -1;
+    char *key = lwj_key (h, j, ".R_lite");
+    flux_kvs_txn_t *txn = NULL;
+    flux_future_t *f = NULL;
+
+    if (!(txn = flux_kvs_txn_create ())) {
+        flux_log_error (h, "txn_create");
+        goto done;
+    }
+    if (flux_kvs_txn_put (txn, 0, key, rs) < 0) {
+        flux_log_error (h, "update %s", key);
+        goto done;
+    }
+    if (!(f = flux_kvs_commit (h, 0, txn)) || flux_future_get (f, NULL) < 0) {
+        flux_log_error (h, "commit failed");
+        goto done;
+    }
+    flux_log (h, LOG_DEBUG, "job (%"PRId64") assigned new R_lite.", j);
+    rc = 0;
+
+done:
+    flux_kvs_txn_destroy (txn);
+    flux_future_destroy (f);
+    free (key);
+
+    return rc;
+}
+
 static int update_hash_1ra (flux_t *h, int64_t j, json_object *o, zhash_t *rtab)
 {
     int rc = 0;
@@ -1299,6 +1365,9 @@ int jsc_query_jcb (flux_t *h, int64_t jobid, const char *key, char **jcb_str)
     } else if (!strcmp (key, JSC_RDL)) {
         if ( (rc = query_rdl (h, jobid, &jcb)) < 0)
             flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "query_rdl failed");
+    } else if (!strcmp (key, JSC_R_LITE)) {
+        if ( (rc = query_r_lite (h, jobid, &jcb)) < 0)
+            flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "query_r_lite failed");
     } else if (!strcmp (key, JSC_RDL_ALLOC)) {
         if ( (rc = query_rdl_alloc (h, jobid, &jcb)) < 0)
             flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "query_rdl_alloc failed");
@@ -1341,6 +1410,10 @@ int jsc_update_jcb (flux_t *h, int64_t jobid, const char *key,
         const char *s = NULL;
         if (Jget_str (jcb, JSC_RDL, &s))
             rc = update_rdl (h, jobid, s);
+    } else if (!strcmp (key, JSC_R_LITE)) {
+        const char *s = NULL;
+        if (Jget_str (jcb, JSC_R_LITE, &s))
+            rc = update_r_lite (h, jobid, s);
     } else if (!strcmp (key, JSC_RDL_ALLOC)) {
         if (Jget_obj (jcb, JSC_RDL_ALLOC, &o))
             rc = update_rdl_alloc (h, jobid, o);
diff --git a/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.h b/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.h
index 6dad910c2aeb..006cfadc8abf 100644
--- a/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.h
+++ b/src/common/libjsc/jstatctl.h
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ typedef int (*jsc_handler_f)(const char *base_jcb, void *arg, int errnum);
 # define JSC_RDESC_NGPUS "ngpus"
 # define JSC_RDESC_WALLTIME "walltime"
 #define JSC_RDL "rdl"
+#define JSC_R_LITE "R_lite"
 #define JSC_RDL_ALLOC "rdl_alloc"
 # define JSC_RDL_ALLOC_CONTAINED "contained"
 #  define JSC_RDL_ALLOC_CONTAINING_RANK "cmbdrank"
diff --git a/t/t2001-jsc.t b/t/t2001-jsc.t
index 4b3434cdb5e4..0a166a3f1915 100755
--- a/t/t2001-jsc.t
+++ b/t/t2001-jsc.t
@@ -230,15 +230,15 @@ EOF
 "
 
 test_expect_success 'jstat 12: update rdl' "
-    flux jstat update 1 rdl '{\"rdl\": \"fake_rdl_string\"}' &&
+    flux jstat update 1 rdl '{\"rdl\": {\"cluster\": \"fake_rdl_string\"}}' &&
     flux kvs get --json $(flux wreck kvs-path 1).rdl > output.12.1 &&
     cat > expected.12.1 <<-EOF &&
-fake_rdl_string
+{\"cluster\": \"fake_rdl_string\"}
 EOF
     test_cmp expected.12.1 output.12.1 
 "
 
-test_expect_success 'jstat 13: update rdl_alloc' "
+test_expect_success 'jstat 13.1: update rdl_alloc' "
     flux jstat update 1 rdl_alloc '{\"rdl_alloc\": [{\"contained\": {\"cmbdrank\": 0, \"cmbdncores\": 102, \"cmbdngpus\": 4}}]}' &&
     flux kvs get --json $(flux wreck kvs-path 1).rank.0.cores > output.13.1 &&
     flux kvs get --json $(flux wreck kvs-path 1).rank.0.gpus >> output.13.1 &&
@@ -249,6 +249,15 @@ EOF
     test_cmp expected.13.1 output.13.1 
 "
 
+test_expect_success 'jstat 13.2: update r_lite' "
+    flux jstat update 1 R_lite '{\"R_lite\": [{\"children\": {\"core\": \"0\"}, \"rank\": 0}]}' &&
+    flux kvs get --json $(flux wreck kvs-path 1).R_lite > output.13.2 &&
+    cat > expected.13.2 <<-EOF &&
+[{\"children\": {\"core\": \"0\"}, \"rank\": 0}]
+EOF
+    test_cmp expected.13.2 output.13.2
+"
+
 test_expect_success 'jstat 14: update detects bad inputs' "
     test_expect_code 42 flux jstat update 1 jobid '{\"jobid\": 1}' &&
     test_expect_code 42 flux jstat update 0 rdesc '{\"rdesc\": {\"nnodes\": 128, \"ntasks\": 128,  \"ncores\":128, \"walltime\": 1800}}' &&