diff --git a/docs/docsite/rst/playbooks_loops.rst b/docs/docsite/rst/playbooks_loops.rst
index 2f8fa0d10f..06838ea3d9 100644
--- a/docs/docsite/rst/playbooks_loops.rst
+++ b/docs/docsite/rst/playbooks_loops.rst
@@ -287,6 +287,19 @@ Another option to loop control is ``pause``, which allows you to control the tim
       loop_control:
         pause: 3
 
+.. versionadded:: 2.7
+
+If you need to keep track of where you are in a loop, you can use the ``index_var`` option to loop control to specify a variable name to contain the current loop index.::
+
+    - name: count our fruit
+      debug:
+        msg: "{{ item }} with index {{ my_idx }}"
+      loop:
+        - apple
+        - banana
+        - pear
+      loop_control:
+        index_var: my_idx
 
 .. _loops_and_includes_2.0:
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
index 8a0f0b7c8f..7f5c43e8b6 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
@@ -269,10 +269,12 @@ class TaskExecutor:
         task_vars = self._job_vars
 
         loop_var = 'item'
+        index_var = None
         label = None
         loop_pause = 0
         if self._task.loop_control:
             loop_var = self._task.loop_control.loop_var
+            index_var = self._task.loop_control.index_var
             loop_pause = self._task.loop_control.pause
             # the these may be 'None', so we still need to default to something useful
             label = self._task.loop_control.label or ('{{' + loop_var + '}}')
@@ -287,8 +289,10 @@ class TaskExecutor:
             # Only squash with 'with_:' not with the 'loop:', 'magic' squashing can be removed once with_ loops are
             items = self._squash_items(items, loop_var, task_vars)
 
-        for item in items:
+        for item_index, item in enumerate(items):
             task_vars[loop_var] = item
+            if index_var:
+                task_vars[index_var] = item_index
 
             # pause between loop iterations
             if loop_pause and ran_once:
@@ -316,6 +320,8 @@ class TaskExecutor:
             # now update the result with the item info, and append the result
             # to the list of results
             res[loop_var] = item
+            if index_var:
+                res[index_var] = item_index
             res['_ansible_item_result'] = True
             res['_ansible_ignore_errors'] = task_fields.get('ignore_errors')
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/included_file.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/included_file.py
index f565a4aa0c..7d9bd4e611 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/included_file.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/included_file.py
@@ -78,10 +78,14 @@ class IncludedFile:
 
                     include_variables = include_result.get('include_variables', dict())
                     loop_var = 'item'
+                    index_var = None
                     if original_task.loop_control:
                         loop_var = original_task.loop_control.loop_var
+                        index_var = original_task.loop_control.index_var
                     if loop_var in include_result:
                         task_vars[loop_var] = include_variables[loop_var] = include_result[loop_var]
+                    if index_var and index_var in include_result:
+                        task_vars[index_var] = include_variables[index_var] = include_result[index_var]
 
                     if original_task.action in ('include', 'include_tasks'):
                         include_file = None
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py
index 7fe0ca50ab..b34c6552fe 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ from ansible.playbook.base import Base
 class LoopControl(Base):
 
     _loop_var = FieldAttribute(isa='str', default='item')
+    _index_var = FieldAttribute(isa='str')
     _label = FieldAttribute(isa='str')
     _pause = FieldAttribute(isa='int', default=0)
 
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/index_var_tasks.yml b/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/index_var_tasks.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fa9a5bdfc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/index_var_tasks.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+- name: check that index var exists inside included tasks file
+  assert:
+    that: my_idx == item|int
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/main.yml
index 5d61df6de0..72dc1af1e3 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/loops/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+#
+# loop_control/pause
+#
+
 - name: Measure time before
   shell: date +%s
   register: before
@@ -146,3 +150,29 @@
     that:
       - 'results10["results"][0]["ping"] == "Hello World"'
       - 'results10["results"][1]["ping"] == "Olá Mundo"'
+
+#
+# loop_control/index_var
+#
+
+- name: check that the index var is created and increments as expected
+  assert:
+    that: my_idx == item|int
+  with_sequence: start=0 count=3
+  loop_control:
+    index_var: my_idx
+
+- name: check that value of index var matches position of current item in source list
+  assert:
+    that: 'test_var.index(item) == my_idx'
+  vars:
+    test_var: ['a', 'b', 'c']
+  with_items: "{{ test_var }}"
+  loop_control:
+    index_var: my_idx
+
+- name: check index var with included tasks file
+  include_tasks: index_var_tasks.yml
+  with_sequence: start=0 count=3
+  loop_control:
+    index_var: my_idx