diff --git a/paddle/framework/backward.cc b/paddle/framework/backward.cc
index a17036c6527da3a4a32f021a57542b6b6d68a395..faf6e60cbd1bcda9864c12696b336998ea7606b7 100644
--- a/paddle/framework/backward.cc
+++ b/paddle/framework/backward.cc
@@ -430,14 +430,14 @@ std::vector<std::unique_ptr<OpDescBind>> MakeBlockBackward(
     std::vector<std::unique_ptr<OpDescBind>> op_grads;
 
     if ((*it)->Type() == "recurrent" || (*it)->Type() == "while") {
-      int step_block_idx = (*it)->GetBlockAttr("step_block");
+      int step_block_idx = (*it)->GetBlockAttr("sub_block");
       BlockDescBind* backward_block = CreateStepBlock(
           program_desc, no_grad_vars, grad_to_var, step_block_idx);
       op_grads = MakeOpGrad(*it, no_grad_vars, grad_to_var, {backward_block});
     } else if ((*it)->Type() == "conditional_block") {
       BlockDescBind* backward_block =
           CreateStepBlock(program_desc, no_grad_vars, grad_to_var,
-                          (*it)->GetBlockAttr("block"));
+                          (*it)->GetBlockAttr("sub_block"));
       op_grads = MakeOpGrad(*it, no_grad_vars, grad_to_var, {backward_block});
     } else {
       op_grads = MakeOpGrad(*it, no_grad_vars, grad_to_var);
diff --git a/paddle/operators/conditional_block_op.cc b/paddle/operators/conditional_block_op.cc
index 03c58a7eab8b2071a3a0b75ac0c665e32ef39876..6f2ef9174e84a0c0ae096956c04039435e6583c6 100644
--- a/paddle/operators/conditional_block_op.cc
+++ b/paddle/operators/conditional_block_op.cc
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class ConditionalBlockOp : public ConditionalOp {
       scopes->front() = &scope.NewScope();
       auto &cur_scope = *scopes->front();
 
-      auto *block = Attr<framework::BlockDescBind *>("block");
+      auto *block = Attr<framework::BlockDescBind *>("sub_block");
       framework::Executor exec(dev_ctx);
       exec.Run(*block->Program(), &cur_scope, block->ID(), false);
     }
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class ConditionalBlockOpProtoMaker : public framework::OpProtoAndCheckerMaker {
               "unify the conditional block, rnn and while op, the type of "
               "scope is std::vector<Scope*>");
     AddAttr<framework::BlockDescBind *>(
-        "block", "The step block of conditional block operator");
+        "sub_block", "The step block of conditional block operator");
     AddComment(R"DOC(Conditional block operator
 
 Run the sub-block if X is not empty. Params is the other inputs and Out is the
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class ConditionalBlockGradOp : public ConditionalOp {
       auto &scopes = scope_var->Get<std::vector<framework::Scope *>>();
       framework::Scope &cur_scope = *scopes[0];
 
-      auto *block = Attr<framework::BlockDescBind *>("block");
+      auto *block = Attr<framework::BlockDescBind *>("sub_block");
       framework::Executor exec(dev_ctx);
       exec.Run(*block->Program(), &cur_scope, block->ID(), false);
 
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ class ConditionalBlockGradMaker : public framework::SingleGradOpDescMaker {
     grad_op->SetInput("Scope", Output("Scope"));
     grad_op->SetOutput(framework::GradVarName("X"), InputGrad("X"));
     grad_op->SetOutput(framework::GradVarName("Params"), InputGrad("Params"));
-    grad_op->SetBlockAttr("block", *this->grad_block_[0]);
+    grad_op->SetBlockAttr("sub_block", *this->grad_block_[0]);
     return std::unique_ptr<framework::OpDescBind>(grad_op);
   }
 };
diff --git a/paddle/operators/recurrent_op.cc b/paddle/operators/recurrent_op.cc
index 29f91636438449f90ea3ffee8adc21595aabe202..232d926f7b975c3b8ebecad983d0f1cc54b9486f 100644
--- a/paddle/operators/recurrent_op.cc
+++ b/paddle/operators/recurrent_op.cc
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ constexpr char kOutputs[] = "outputs";
 constexpr char kStepScopes[] = "step_scopes";
 constexpr char kExStates[] = "ex_states";
 constexpr char kStates[] = "states";
-constexpr char kStepBlock[] = "step_block";
+constexpr char kStepBlock[] = "sub_block";
 constexpr char kReverse[] = "reverse";
 constexpr char kIsTrain[] = "is_train";
 #define GRAD_SUFFIX "@GRAD"
diff --git a/paddle/operators/while_op.cc b/paddle/operators/while_op.cc
index b8e44bcc5a99380fdf08cc2819b20045695eaf87..9a092a570ff1f3f529413cd44dff55147adbaadc 100644
--- a/paddle/operators/while_op.cc
+++ b/paddle/operators/while_op.cc
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ namespace operators {
 using StepScopeVar = std::vector<framework::Scope *>;
 using LoDTensor = framework::LoDTensor;
 
-constexpr char kStepBlock[] = "step_block";
+constexpr char kStepBlock[] = "sub_block";
 constexpr char kCondition[] = "Condition";
 constexpr char kStepScopes[] = "StepScopes";
 constexpr char kParameters[] = "X";
diff --git a/python/paddle/v2/fluid/layers.py b/python/paddle/v2/fluid/layers.py
index f67d6d08c7557d939f280d19c5b86914885490bd..2781017ec4b05e7c6d51a455b8d16620678fb44d 100644
--- a/python/paddle/v2/fluid/layers.py
+++ b/python/paddle/v2/fluid/layers.py
@@ -1130,7 +1130,7 @@ class StaticRNN(object):
             attrs={
                 'ex_states': pre_memories,
                 'states': memories,
-                'step_block': rnn_block
+                'sub_block': rnn_block
             })
 
 
@@ -1207,7 +1207,7 @@ class While(object):
             },
             outputs={'Out': out_vars,
                      'StepScopes': [step_scope]},
-            attrs={'step_block': while_block})
+            attrs={'sub_block': while_block})
 
 
 def lstm(x,
@@ -1671,7 +1671,7 @@ class ConditionalBlock(object):
             },
             outputs={'Out': out_list,
                      'Scope': [step_scope]},
-            attrs={'block': inside_block})
+            attrs={'sub_block': inside_block})
 
 
 class IfElseBlockGuard(object):