diff --git a/python/paddle/trainer/config_parser.py b/python/paddle/trainer/config_parser.py
index 239fe4204b20a37a0869ba1e0e99adf4293dac7e..4fdf4090212e31adcccf6b119c937e70d5cbf995 100644
--- a/python/paddle/trainer/config_parser.py
+++ b/python/paddle/trainer/config_parser.py
@@ -3622,8 +3622,13 @@ class ConcatenateLayer2(LayerBase):
 
 @config_layer('recurrent')
 class RecurrentLayer(LayerBase):
+    layer_type = 'recurrent'
+
     def __init__(self, name, inputs, reversed=False, bias=True, **xargs):
-        super(RecurrentLayer, self).__init__(name, 'recurrent', 0, inputs,
+        use_mkl_packed = bool(
+            int(g_command_config_args.get("use_mkl_packed", 0)))
+        self.layer_type = 'mkl_packed_recurrent' if use_mkl_packed else 'recurrent'
+        super(RecurrentLayer, self).__init__(name, self.layer_type, 0, inputs,
                                              **xargs)
         config_assert(len(self.inputs) == 1, 'RecurrentLayer must have 1 input')
         input_layer = self.get_input_layer(0)