diff --git a/nodes.go b/nodes.go
index 47a3aee..ea2fd60 100644
--- a/nodes.go
+++ b/nodes.go
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@ package hclencoder
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"unsafe"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/hcl/hcl/ast"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/hcl/hcl/token"
@@ -27,6 +29,11 @@ const (
 	// the key for the value.
 	SquashTag string = "squash"
 
+	// Optional tag is attached to fields of a struct that are not optional
+	// when being read by the HCL Parser. If the field is empty, these fields
+	// can be omitted from the resulting HCL output
+	OptionalTag string = "optional"
+
 	// UnusedKeysTag is a flag that indicates any unused keys found by the
 	// decoder are stored in this field of type []string. This has the same
 	// behavior as the OmitTag and is not encoded.
@@ -241,9 +248,17 @@ func encodeStruct(in reflect.Value) (ast.Node, []*ast.ObjectKey, error) {
 
 		// if the OmitEmptyTag is provided, check if the value is its zero value.
 		rawVal := in.Field(i)
+		//can only determine emptiness if the field is settable from the current context
 		if meta.omitEmpty {
+			var rawOut interface{}
 			zeroVal := reflect.Zero(rawVal.Type()).Interface()
-			if reflect.DeepEqual(rawVal.Interface(), zeroVal) {
+			if rawVal.CanInterface() {
+				rawOut = rawVal.Interface()
+			} else if rawVal.CanAddr() {
+				rvAddr := reflect.NewAt(rawVal.Type(), unsafe.Pointer(rawVal.UnsafeAddr()))
+				rawOut = rvAddr.Elem().Interface()
+			}
+			if rawOut != nil && reflect.DeepEqual(rawOut, zeroVal) {
 				continue
 			}
 		}
@@ -375,6 +390,9 @@ func extractFieldMeta(f reflect.StructField) (meta fieldMeta) {
 				meta.decodedFields = true
 			case UnusedKeysTag:
 				meta.unusedKeys = true
+			case OptionalTag:
+				log.Printf("Setting field to empty for field %s %s %s", f.PkgPath, f.Type, f.Name)
+				meta.omitEmpty = true
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/nodes_test.go b/nodes_test.go
index 4c90f52..6f0d53a 100644
--- a/nodes_test.go
+++ b/nodes_test.go
@@ -375,6 +375,21 @@ func TestEncodeStruct(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			}}},
 		},
+		{
+			ID:       "optional field - empty",
+			Input:    reflect.ValueOf(OptionalStruct{}),
+			Expected: &ast.ObjectType{List: &ast.ObjectList{Items: []*ast.ObjectItem{}}},
+		},
+		{
+			ID:    "optional field - not empty",
+			Input: reflect.ValueOf(OptionalStruct{"foo"}),
+			Expected: &ast.ObjectType{List: &ast.ObjectList{Items: []*ast.ObjectItem{
+				&ast.ObjectItem{
+					Keys: []*ast.ObjectKey{{Token: token.Token{Type: token.IDENT, Text: "Bar"}}},
+					Val:  &ast.LiteralType{Token: token.Token{Type: token.STRING, Text: `"foo"`}},
+				},
+			}}},
+		},
 		{
 			ID:       "nil field",
 			Input:    reflect.ValueOf(NillableStruct{}),
@@ -695,6 +710,10 @@ type OmitEmptyStruct struct {
 	Bar string `hcle:"omitempty"`
 }
 
+type OptionalStruct struct {
+	Bar string `hcl:",optional"`
+}
+
 type InvalidStruct struct {
 	Chan chan struct{}
 }