diff --git a/.changelog/3248.txt b/.changelog/3248.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6f42dd3de9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/3248.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:enhancement
+compute: Add new attribute reference `current_status`
+```
diff --git a/google-beta/resource_compute_instance.go b/google-beta/resource_compute_instance.go
index a43f5e260b..2dc1bacdd4 100644
--- a/google-beta/resource_compute_instance.go
+++ b/google-beta/resource_compute_instance.go
@@ -543,7 +543,10 @@ func resourceComputeInstance() *schema.Resource {
 				Optional:     true,
 				ValidateFunc: validation.StringInSlice([]string{"RUNNING", "TERMINATED"}, false),
 			},
-
+			"current_status": {
+				Type:     schema.TypeString,
+				Computed: true,
+			},
 			"tags": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeSet,
 				Optional: true,
@@ -1011,6 +1014,7 @@ func resourceComputeInstanceRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error
 	d.Set("name", instance.Name)
 	d.Set("description", instance.Description)
 	d.Set("hostname", instance.Hostname)
+	d.Set("current_status", instance.Status)
 
 	if d.Get("desired_status") != "" {
 		d.Set("desired_status", instance.Status)