diff --git a/paddle/fluid/framework/prune.cc b/paddle/fluid/framework/prune.cc
index 0c27d41f33ffb3d76a3e024da21ff74514f386d5..c58cb8ad2ace9927d85a22cb400e2b91af331cbd 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/framework/prune.cc
+++ b/paddle/fluid/framework/prune.cc
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ namespace framework {
 const char kFeedOpType[] = "feed";
 const char kFetchOpType[] = "fetch";
 
+const char kRecurrent[] = "recurrent";
+const char kStates[] = "states";
+const char kExStates[] = "ex_states";
+
 bool HasDependentInputVar(
     const proto::OpDesc& op_desc,
     const std::unordered_set<std::string>& dependent_vars) {
@@ -173,6 +177,7 @@ void prune_impl(const proto::ProgramDesc& input, proto::ProgramDesc* output,
       auto* op = op_field->Add();
       *op = input.blocks(block_id).ops(i);
       if (HasSubBlock(*op)) {
+        VLOG(2) << "Pruning op which has sub block: " << op->type();
         // create sub_block_dependent_vars here to help prune the sub block
         std::unordered_set<std::string> sub_block_dependent_vars;
         for (auto& var : op->inputs()) {
@@ -189,6 +194,20 @@ void prune_impl(const proto::ProgramDesc& input, proto::ProgramDesc* output,
             }
           }
         }
+
+        // Recurrent op's states are also dependent vars
+        if (op->type() == kRecurrent) {
+          auto& attributes = op->attrs();
+          for (auto& attr : attributes) {
+            if (attr.name() == kStates || attr.name() == kExStates) {
+              for (auto& argu : attr.strings()) {
+                if (feed_var_names.count(argu) == 0) {
+                  sub_block_dependent_vars.insert(argu);
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
         // GetSubBlockIndex(*op) is the idx of the sub_block in the input desc
         // output_block_id is the idx of the current block in the output desc
         prune_impl(input, output, GetSubBlockIndex(*op), output_block_id,
diff --git a/paddle/fluid/framework/prune_test.cc b/paddle/fluid/framework/prune_test.cc
index 210e61a4dec7ee01e3b1d4db2a7d4934156d9b04..eb5c241a8372a460483c70e38f962168b1cdbbc0 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/framework/prune_test.cc
+++ b/paddle/fluid/framework/prune_test.cc
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License. */
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
+#include <vector>
 
 #include "paddle/fluid/framework/attribute.h"
 #include "paddle/fluid/framework/operator.h"
@@ -61,12 +62,12 @@ TEST(Prune, one_operator) {
   f::proto::ProgramDesc pruned;
   std::set<std::string> feed_var_names = {};
   f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
-  PADDLE_ENFORCE_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 0);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 0);
 
   feed_var_names.insert("a");
   pdesc->mutable_blocks(0)->mutable_ops(0)->set_is_target(true);
   f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
-  PADDLE_ENFORCE_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 1);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 1);
 }
 
 TEST(Prune, forward) {
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ TEST(Prune, forward) {
     f::proto::ProgramDesc pruned;
     pdesc->mutable_blocks(0)->mutable_ops(i)->set_is_target(true);
     f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
-    PADDLE_ENFORCE_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), i + 1);
+    EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), i + 1);
   }
 }
 
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ TEST(Prune, multi_input_op) {
   f::proto::ProgramDesc pruned;
   std::set<std::string> feed_var_names = {"a0", "a1", "a2"};
   f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
-  PADDLE_ENFORCE_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 4);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 4);
 }
 
 TEST(Prune, multi_output_op) {
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ TEST(Prune, multi_output_op) {
   f::proto::ProgramDesc pruned;
   std::set<std::string> feed_var_names = {"a"};
   f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
-  PADDLE_ENFORCE_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 2);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 2);
 }
 
 TEST(Prune, multi_target) {
@@ -152,5 +153,35 @@ TEST(Prune, multi_target) {
   f::proto::ProgramDesc pruned;
   std::set<std::string> feed_var_names = {"a"};
   f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
-  PADDLE_ENFORCE_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 3);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 3);
+}
+
+TEST(Prune, recurrrent_op) {
+  f::ProgramDesc program;
+  f::BlockDesc *block = program.MutableBlock(0);
+  f::BlockDesc *sub_block = program.AppendBlock(*block);
+  AddOp("one_two", {{"input", {"a"}}}, {{"output", {"b", "c"}}},
+        f::AttributeMap{}, block);
+
+  std::vector<std::string> state_var_name(1, "y");
+  AddOp("recurrent", {{"input", {"b", "c"}}}, {{"output", {"b1, c1"}}},
+        {{"ex_states", state_var_name},
+         {"states", state_var_name},
+         {"sub_block", sub_block}},
+        block);
+
+  EXPECT_TRUE(sub_block != nullptr);
+  AddOp("rnn_memory_helper", {{"input", {"x"}}}, {{"output", {"y"}}},
+        f::AttributeMap{}, sub_block);
+
+  f::proto::ProgramDesc *pdesc = program.Proto();
+  pdesc->mutable_blocks(0)->mutable_ops(1)->set_is_target(true);
+
+  f::proto::ProgramDesc pruned;
+  std::set<std::string> feed_var_names = {"a"};
+
+  f::Prune(*pdesc, feed_var_names, &pruned);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks_size(), 2);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(0).ops_size(), 2);
+  EXPECT_EQ(pruned.blocks(1).ops_size(), 1);
 }