diff --git a/library/init/lean/default.lean b/library/init/lean/default.lean
index fc4fd06ad0..709bf91035 100644
--- a/library/init/lean/default.lean
+++ b/library/init/lean/default.lean
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ import init.lean.runtime
 import init.lean.attributes
 import init.lean.evalconst
 import init.lean.parser
+import init.lean.reducibilityattrs
diff --git a/library/init/lean/reducibilityattrs.lean b/library/init/lean/reducibilityattrs.lean
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..54f7880a9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/library/init/lean/reducibilityattrs.lean
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/-
+Copyright (c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+Released under Apache 2.0 license as described in the file LICENSE.
+Authors: Leonardo de Moura
+-/
+prelude
+import init.lean.attributes
+
+namespace Lean
+
+inductive ReducibilityStatus
+| reducible | semireducible | irreducible
+
+instance ReducibilityStatus.inhabited : Inhabited ReducibilityStatus := ⟨ReducibilityStatus.semireducible⟩
+
+def mkReducibilityAttrs : IO (EnumAttributes ReducibilityStatus) :=
+registerEnumAttributes `reducibility
+  [(`reducible, "reducible", ReducibilityStatus.reducible),
+   (`semireducible, "semireducible", ReducibilityStatus.semireducible),
+   (`irreducible, "irreducible", ReducibilityStatus.irreducible)]
+
+@[init mkReducibilityAttrs]
+constant reducibilityAttrs : EnumAttributes ReducibilityStatus := default _
+
+@[export lean.get_reducibility_status_core]
+def getReducibilityStatus (env : Environment) (n : Name) : ReducibilityStatus :=
+match reducibilityAttrs.getValue env n with
+| some s := s
+| none   := ReducibilityStatus.semireducible
+
+@[export lean.set_reducibility_status_core]
+def setReducibilityStatus (env : Environment) (n : Name) (s : ReducibilityStatus) : Environment :=
+match reducibilityAttrs.setValue env n s with
+| Except.ok env := env
+| _ := env -- TODO(Leo): we should extend EnumAttributes.setValue in the future and ensure it never fails
+
+end Lean