diff --git a/paddle/fluid/imperative/layer.h b/paddle/fluid/imperative/layer.h
index 2abda933cfc983bcef2433c3be4681c51e78ff1c..377ac3e1c5f84d25db1c1adb519f80bc36de3e7d 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/imperative/layer.h
+++ b/paddle/fluid/imperative/layer.h
@@ -153,7 +153,10 @@ class Layer {
     return vars;
   }
 
-  virtual void Backward() { LOG(ERROR) << "To support customize"; }
+  virtual std::vector<VarBase> Backward(const std::vector<VarBase>& inputs) {
+    std::vector<VarBase> vars;
+    return vars;
+  }
 };
 
 }  // namespace imperative
diff --git a/paddle/fluid/pybind/imperative.h b/paddle/fluid/pybind/imperative.h
index 7a9d3a01ea81f11ac85000c3d0153f20e108789a..ef0d643954c3b979c249fe7613e4eb45625c55ab 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/pybind/imperative.h
+++ b/paddle/fluid/pybind/imperative.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ limitations under the License. */
 namespace paddle {
 namespace pybind {
 
-class PyLayer : public imperative::Layer {
+class Layer : public imperative::Layer {
  public:
   using imperative::Layer::Layer;  // Inherit constructors
 
@@ -32,8 +32,10 @@ class PyLayer : public imperative::Layer {
                       inputs);  // NOLINT
   }
 
-  void Backward() override {
-    PYBIND11_OVERLOAD(void, Layer, Backward, );  // NOLINT
+  std::vector<imperative::VarBase> Backward(
+      const std::vector<imperative::VarBase>& inputs) override {
+    PYBIND11_OVERLOAD(std::vector<imperative::VarBase>, Layer, Backward,
+                      inputs);  // NOLINT
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/paddle/fluid/pybind/pybind.cc b/paddle/fluid/pybind/pybind.cc
index 3b81d59ad965b7532ca729682e7aeb8eb96194a8..6e3c52da89f2a62efa5674f2ba947c95ed65f210 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/pybind/pybind.cc
+++ b/paddle/fluid/pybind/pybind.cc
@@ -170,14 +170,17 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(core, m) {
           },
           py::return_value_policy::reference);
 
-  py::class_<imperative::Layer, PyLayer /* <--- trampoline*/> layer(m, "Layer");
+  py::class_<imperative::Layer, Layer /* <--- trampoline*/> layer(m, "Layer");
   layer.def(py::init<>())
       .def("forward",
            [](imperative::Layer &self,
               const std::vector<imperative::VarBase> &inputs) {
              return self.Forward(inputs);
            })
-      .def("backward", &imperative::Layer::Backward);
+      .def("backward", [](imperative::Layer &self,
+                          const std::vector<imperative::VarBase> &inputs) {
+        return self.Backward(inputs);
+      });
   BindTracer(&m);
 
   py::class_<Tensor>(m, "Tensor", py::buffer_protocol())
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/layers.py b/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/layers.py
index d78d61eb3f02c27ec44806ae52e134068c2cb9be..1ebf79e0529352e37fb604f0eaaf6f5734b9fe47 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/layers.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/layers.py
@@ -20,10 +20,12 @@ from paddle.fluid import core
 from paddle.fluid import framework
 from paddle.fluid.imperative import base
 
-__all__ = ['PyLayer']
+__all__ = ['Layer']
 
 
-class PyLayer(core.Layer):
+class Layer(core.Layer):
+    """Layers composed of operators."""
+
     def __init__(self, dtype=core.VarDesc.VarType.FP32, name=None):
         self._once_built = False
         self._dtype = dtype
@@ -37,8 +39,23 @@ class PyLayer(core.Layer):
             self._once_built = True
 
         outputs = self.forward(*inputs)
-
         return outputs
 
     def forward(self, *inputs):
         raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def backward(self, *inputs):
+        raise ValueError("Layer shouldn't implement backward")
+
+
+class PyLayer(core.Layer):
+    """Layers composed of user-defined python codes."""
+
+    def __call__(self, *inputs):
+        pass
+
+    def forward(self, *inputs):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def backward(self, *inputs):
+        raise NotImplementedError
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/nn.py b/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/nn.py
index 4f30417e99d21bcb66dacaab0257816c4d77f932..8754e5d4d0c8c829303f1fe9cd39ead36619ac3b 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/nn.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/imperative/nn.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ __all__ = [
 ]
 
 
-class Conv2D(layers.PyLayer):
+class Conv2D(layers.Layer):
     def __init__(self,
                  num_channels,
                  num_filters,
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class Conv2D(layers.PyLayer):
         return self._helper.append_activation(pre_act)
 
 
-class Pool2D(layers.PyLayer):
+class Pool2D(layers.Layer):
     def __init__(self,
                  pool_size=-1,
                  pool_type="max",
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ class Pool2D(layers.PyLayer):
         return pool_out
 
 
-class FC(layers.PyLayer):
+class FC(layers.Layer):
     def __init__(self,
                  size,
                  param_attr=None,
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative.py b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative.py
index 1dc13ec74e8da1f13d447950b3c7822bbbecb2a7..44005411d1f60b05f9266adfe280c926d813dee6 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from paddle.fluid.imperative.nn import FC
 from test_imperative_base import new_program_scope
 
 
-class MyLayer(fluid.imperative.PyLayer):
+class MyLayer(fluid.imperative.Layer):
     def __init__(self):
         super(MyLayer, self).__init__()
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class MyLayer(fluid.imperative.PyLayer):
         return [x]
 
 
-class MLP(fluid.imperative.PyLayer):
+class MLP(fluid.imperative.Layer):
     def __init__(self):
         super(MLP, self).__init__()
         self._fc1 = FC(3,
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class TestImperative(unittest.TestCase):
         with fluid.imperative.guard():
             cl = core.Layer()
             cl.forward([])
-            l = fluid.imperative.PyLayer()
+            l = fluid.imperative.Layer()
             self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError, l.forward, [])
 
     def test_layer_in_out(self):
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative_optimizer.py b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative_optimizer.py
index 5d97edf8768d8d2cf1ba7f826fa4d588c30f2aee..0549f50fe2673e87a87cdcf1929b4ca2ebce70f9 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative_optimizer.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_imperative_optimizer.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ from paddle.fluid.imperative.base import to_variable
 from test_imperative_base import new_program_scope
 
 
-class SimpleImgConvPool(fluid.imperative.PyLayer):
+class SimpleImgConvPool(fluid.imperative.Layer):
     def __init__(self,
                  num_channels,
                  num_filters,
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class SimpleImgConvPool(fluid.imperative.PyLayer):
         return x
 
 
-class MNIST(fluid.imperative.PyLayer):
+class MNIST(fluid.imperative.Layer):
     def __init__(self, param_attr=None, bias_attr=None):
         super(MNIST, self).__init__()