diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/BlazorRazorEngine.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/BlazorRazorEngine.cs
index 040b4ec7b2..b93a95b7dd 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/BlazorRazorEngine.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/BlazorRazorEngine.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor
             _engine = RazorEngine.Create(configure =>
             {
                 FunctionsDirective.Register(configure);
+                TemporaryLayoutPass.Register(configure);
 
                 configure.SetBaseType(BlazorComponent.FullTypeName);
 
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/TemporaryLayoutPass.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/TemporaryLayoutPass.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f18e7f6207
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor.Extensions/TemporaryLayoutPass.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Language;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Language.Intermediate;
+using System;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Razor
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// This code is temporary. It finds top-level expressions of the form
+    ///     @Layout<SomeType>()
+    /// ... and converts them into [Layout(typeof(SomeType))] attributes on the class.
+    /// Once we're able to add Blazor-specific directives and have them show up in tooling,
+    /// we'll replace this with a simpler and cleaner "@Layout SomeType" directive.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal class TemporaryLayoutPass : IntermediateNodePassBase, IRazorDirectiveClassifierPass
+    {
+        // Example: "Layout<MyApp.Namespace.SomeType<T1, T2>>()"
+        // Captures: MyApp.Namespace.SomeType<T1, T2>
+        private static readonly Regex LayoutSourceRegex
+            = new Regex(@"^\s*Layout\s*<(.+)\>\s*\(\s*\)\s*$");
+        private const string LayoutAttributeTypeName
+            = "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Layouts.LayoutAttribute";
+
+        public static void Register(IRazorEngineBuilder configuration)
+        {
+            configuration.Features.Add(new TemporaryLayoutPass());
+        }
+
+        protected override void ExecuteCore(RazorCodeDocument codeDocument, DocumentIntermediateNode documentNode)
+        {
+            var visitor = new Visitor();
+            visitor.Visit(documentNode);
+
+            if (visitor.DidFindLayoutDeclaration)
+            {
+                visitor.MethodNode.Children.Remove(visitor.LayoutNode);
+
+                var attributeNode = new CSharpCodeIntermediateNode();
+                attributeNode.Children.Add(new IntermediateToken()
+                {
+                    Kind = TokenKind.CSharp,
+                    Content = $"[{LayoutAttributeTypeName}(typeof ({visitor.LayoutType}))]" + Environment.NewLine,
+                });
+
+                var classNodeIndex = visitor
+                    .NamespaceNode
+                    .Children
+                    .IndexOf(visitor.ClassNode);
+                visitor.NamespaceNode.Children.Insert(classNodeIndex, attributeNode);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private class Visitor : IntermediateNodeWalker
+        {
+            public bool DidFindLayoutDeclaration { get; private set; }
+            public NamespaceDeclarationIntermediateNode NamespaceNode { get; private set; }
+            public ClassDeclarationIntermediateNode ClassNode { get; private set; }
+            public MethodDeclarationIntermediateNode MethodNode { get; private set; }
+            public CSharpExpressionIntermediateNode LayoutNode { get; private set; }
+            public string LayoutType { get; private set; }
+
+            public override void VisitNamespaceDeclaration(NamespaceDeclarationIntermediateNode node)
+            {
+                NamespaceNode = node;
+                base.VisitNamespaceDeclaration(node);
+            }
+
+            public override void VisitClassDeclaration(ClassDeclarationIntermediateNode node)
+            {
+                ClassNode = node;
+                base.VisitClassDeclaration(node);
+            }
+
+            public override void VisitMethodDeclaration(MethodDeclarationIntermediateNode methodNode)
+            {
+                var topLevelExpressions = methodNode.Children.OfType<CSharpExpressionIntermediateNode>();
+                foreach (var csharpExpression in topLevelExpressions)
+                {
+                    if (csharpExpression.Children.Count == 1)
+                    {
+                        var child = csharpExpression.Children[0];
+                        if (child is IntermediateToken intermediateToken)
+                        {
+                            if (TryGetLayoutType(intermediateToken.Content, out string layoutType))
+                            {
+                                DidFindLayoutDeclaration = true;
+                                MethodNode = methodNode;
+                                LayoutNode = csharpExpression;
+                                LayoutType = layoutType;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+                base.VisitMethodDeclaration(methodNode);
+            }
+
+            private bool TryGetLayoutType(string sourceCode, out string layoutType)
+            {
+                var match = LayoutSourceRegex.Match(sourceCode);
+                if (match.Success)
+                {
+                    layoutType = match.Groups[1].Value;
+                    return true;
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    layoutType = null;
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Components/RazorToolingWorkaround.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Components/RazorToolingWorkaround.cs
index db7b860b2c..9f69c73d6e 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Components/RazorToolingWorkaround.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Components/RazorToolingWorkaround.cs
@@ -24,7 +24,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc
 
 namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor
 {
-    public class RazorPage<T>: BlazorComponent { }
+    public class RazorPage<T>: BlazorComponent
+    {
+        // This is temporary and exists only to support TemporaryLayoutPass.
+        // It will be removed when we can add Blazor-specific directives.
+        public object Layout<TLayout>() where TLayout : IComponent
+            => throw new NotImplementedException();
+    }
 
     namespace Internal
     {
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Layouts/LayoutAttribute.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Layouts/LayoutAttribute.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d05798a866
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor/Layouts/LayoutAttribute.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Components;
+using System;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Layouts
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Indicates that the associated component type uses a specified layout.
+    /// </summary>
+    [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class, AllowMultiple = false, Inherited = true)]
+    public class LayoutAttribute : Attribute
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The type of the layout. The type always implements <see cref="IComponent"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        public Type LayoutType { get; private set; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Constructs an instance of <see cref="LayoutAttribute"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="layoutType">The type of the layout. This must implement <see cref="IComponent"/>.</param>
+        public LayoutAttribute(Type layoutType)
+        {
+            LayoutType = layoutType ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(layoutType));
+
+            if (!typeof(IComponent).IsAssignableFrom(layoutType))
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentException($"Invalid layout type: {layoutType.FullName} " +
+                    $"does not implement {typeof(IComponent).FullName}.");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Build.Test/RazorCompilerTest.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Build.Test/RazorCompilerTest.cs
index 2c6b911788..59469f1159 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Build.Test/RazorCompilerTest.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Build.Test/RazorCompilerTest.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Build.Core.RazorCompilation;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Components;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Layouts;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Rendering;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.RenderTree;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Test.Shared;
@@ -360,6 +361,34 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Blazor.Build.Test
                 frame => AssertFrame.Component<TestComponent>(frame, 0));
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public void ComponentsDoNotHaveLayoutAttributeByDefault()
+        {
+            // Arrange/Act
+            var component = CompileToComponent($"Hello");
+
+            // Assert
+            Assert.Null(component.GetType().GetCustomAttribute<LayoutAttribute>());
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void SupportsLayoutDeclarationsViaTemporarySyntax()
+        {
+            // Arrange/Act
+            var testComponentTypeName = typeof(TestComponent).FullName.Replace('+', '.');
+            var component = CompileToComponent(
+                $"@(Layout<{testComponentTypeName}>())" +
+                $"Hello");
+            var frames = GetRenderTree(component);
+
+            // Assert
+            var layoutAttribute = component.GetType().GetCustomAttribute<LayoutAttribute>();
+            Assert.NotNull(layoutAttribute);
+            Assert.Equal(typeof(TestComponent), layoutAttribute.LayoutType);
+            Assert.Collection(frames,
+                frame => AssertFrame.Text(frame, "Hello"));
+        }
+
         private static RenderTreeFrame[] GetRenderTree(IComponent component)
         {
             var renderer = new TestRenderer();