diff --git a/tensorflow/python/eager/BUILD b/tensorflow/python/eager/BUILD
index 09ec4ee12b2..4069ef1c703 100644
--- a/tensorflow/python/eager/BUILD
+++ b/tensorflow/python/eager/BUILD
@@ -339,7 +339,9 @@ py_library(
     srcs_version = "PY2AND3",
     visibility = ["//tensorflow:internal"],
     deps = [
+        ":imperative_grad",
         "//tensorflow/python:array_ops",
+        "//tensorflow/python:constant_op",
         "//tensorflow/python:dtypes",
         "//tensorflow/python:errors",
         "//tensorflow/python:framework_ops",
@@ -425,3 +427,9 @@ filegroup(
     ),
     visibility = ["//tensorflow:__subpackages__"],
 )
+
+py_library(
+    name = "imperative_grad",
+    srcs = ["imperative_grad.py"],
+    deps = [":tape"],
+)
diff --git a/tensorflow/python/eager/backprop.py b/tensorflow/python/eager/backprop.py
index 1d729cc2e19..3c84cbbd6fa 100644
--- a/tensorflow/python/eager/backprop.py
+++ b/tensorflow/python/eager/backprop.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 from __future__ import division
 from __future__ import print_function
 
-import collections
 import functools
 import operator
 import threading
@@ -28,6 +27,7 @@ import six
 from tensorflow.python import pywrap_tensorflow
 from tensorflow.python.eager import context
 from tensorflow.python.eager import execute
+from tensorflow.python.eager import imperative_grad
 from tensorflow.python.eager import tape
 from tensorflow.python.framework import constant_op
 from tensorflow.python.framework import dtypes
@@ -36,288 +36,10 @@ from tensorflow.python.framework import ops
 from tensorflow.python.framework import tensor_shape
 from tensorflow.python.ops import array_ops
 from tensorflow.python.ops import math_ops
-from tensorflow.python.util import tf_contextlib
+from tensorflow.python.util import nest
 from tensorflow.python.util import tf_inspect
 
 
-# If over MIN_AGGREGATE_COUNT gradients are accumulated and the total
-# memory consumption is over MIN_AGGREGATE_BYTES, do an early aggregation
-# so as to release the gradient tensor to save memory.
-_MIN_AGGREGATE_COUNT = 4
-_MIN_AGGREGATE_BYTES = 128 * 1024 * 1024
-
-# Terminology:
-#
-#  - op: a possibly composite operation, which has an entry in the tape
-#  - target: dy in dx/dy
-#  - source: dx in dx/dy
-#  - tensor: one of the many inputs or outputs of an operation
-#
-# Below here we do the gradient algorithm. It works as follows:
-#
-# First we filter the tape to just the subset of operations we want to
-# differentiate. In the process of doing so we count how many times each Tensor
-# is used as an input to an op (so we know when we're done computing gradients
-# for that Tensor). We also count, for each tape entry, how many of its output
-# Tensors need gradients to be computed (Tensors which are not used do not need
-# any gradients to be computed).
-#
-# Finally, we start a backprop stack with a set of tape entries for which we
-# have all gradients available. This set usually is a subset of the set of
-# targets (not all since targets which have outputs in the tape will not have
-# gradients available initially).
-#
-# Then we repeatedly pop an entry from the stack, run its backprop, and update
-# the gradients of its inputs. Once we have computed all gradients for a single
-# input we can mark this input as done, and this can trigger adding an entry to
-# the stack if all outputs of that entry are now done.
-#
-# When the stack is empty we have gradients for all tensors we're interested in.
-
-
-def _prepare_backprop(target, tensor_to_op, op_to_entry, id_sources):
-  """Filters the tape to only include relevant entries and counts tensor usages.
-
-  Args:
-    target: the target to optimize.
-    tensor_to_op: Map from tensor id to key in op_to_entry that produced it.
-    op_to_entry: Map from op id to a tape.TapeEntry object
-    id_sources: the ids of the sources wrt the gradient is being taken.
-
-  Returns:
-    usage counts (how many entries downstream from a tensor use it)
-    op_to_entry_map: entry map (a filtered tape, with only the relevant
-     entries),
-    missing: map from tensor id to how many downstream gradients still need
-     to be computed before this tensor's gradient can be computed.
-  """
-  if isinstance(target, (ops.Tensor)):
-    tensor_stack = [ops.tensor_id(target)]
-  else:
-    tensor_stack = list([ops.tensor_id(x) for x in target])
-  tensor_usage_counts = {}
-  o_to_e = {}  # Copy of just the bits we need from op_to_entry
-  while tensor_stack:
-    t = tensor_stack.pop()
-    op = tensor_to_op.get(t, None)
-    # op is None if the tensor is a source (i.e. was watched directly)
-    if op is None or op in o_to_e:
-      continue
-    op_trace = op_to_entry[op]
-    o_to_e[op] = op_trace
-    for it in op_trace.input_ids:
-      if it in tensor_usage_counts:
-        tensor_usage_counts[it] += 1
-      else:
-        tensor_usage_counts[it] = 1
-        if it not in id_sources and it in tensor_to_op:
-          tensor_stack.append(it)
-  op_missing_tensor_counts = collections.defaultdict(int)
-  for t in tensor_usage_counts:
-    if t in tensor_to_op and tensor_to_op[t] is not None:
-      op_missing_tensor_counts[tensor_to_op[t]] += 1
-  return tensor_usage_counts, o_to_e, op_missing_tensor_counts
-
-
-def _initialize_backprop_stack(op_to_entry, op_missing_tensor):
-  """Returns the set of tape entries which are available for backprop."""
-  ready_ops = []
-  for op in op_to_entry:
-    if op not in op_missing_tensor:
-      ready_ops.append(op)
-  return ready_ops
-
-
-def _initial_gradients(target, output_gradients, tensor_usage_counts):
-  """Computes the initial gradients for each Tensor."""
-  # Initialize the backprop stack
-  gradients = collections.defaultdict(list)
-  if isinstance(target, ops.Tensor):
-    if output_gradients is not None:
-      output_gradient = output_gradients
-    else:
-      output_gradient = array_ops.ones_like(target)
-    gradients[ops.tensor_id(target)].append(output_gradient)
-  else:
-    for i, t in enumerate(target):
-      if ops.tensor_id(t) in tensor_usage_counts:
-        # Can't provide a gradient of something we're trying to differentiate
-        assert output_gradients is None or output_gradients[i] is None
-      else:
-        if output_gradients is None or output_gradients[i] is None:
-          out_grad = array_ops.ones_like(t)
-        else:
-          out_grad = output_gradients[i]
-        gradients[ops.tensor_id(t)].append(out_grad)
-  return gradients
-
-
-@tf_contextlib.contextmanager
-def _no_op():
-  yield
-
-
-def _aggregate_grads(gradients):
-  """Aggregate gradients from multiple sources.
-
-  Args:
-    gradients: A list of 'Tensor' or 'IndexedSlices' gradients.
-
-  Returns:
-    If 'gradients' only has 'Tensor', returns an aggregated 'Tensor'.
-    Otherwise returns an aggregated 'IndexedSlices'.
-  """
-  assert gradients, "No gradients to aggregate"
-
-  if len(gradients) == 1:
-    return gradients[0]
-  if all([isinstance(g, ops.Tensor) for g in gradients]):
-    return math_ops.add_n(gradients)
-  else:
-    assert all([isinstance(g, (ops.Tensor, ops.IndexedSlices))
-                for g in gradients])
-    indexed_slices_list = []
-    for grad in gradients:
-      # TODO(xpan): Support nested IndexedSlices and core IndexedSlices
-      if isinstance(grad, ops.Tensor):
-        indexed_slices = ops.IndexedSlices(
-            grad,
-            constant_op.constant(range(grad.shape[0])),
-            constant_op.constant(grad.shape.as_list()))
-        indexed_slices_list.append(indexed_slices)
-      else:
-        indexed_slices_list.append(grad)
-
-    # Dense shapes from all gradients should be the same.
-    dense_shape = indexed_slices_list[0].dense_shape
-    # For simplicity now, always cast to int64.
-    indices = array_ops.concat([math_ops.cast(x.indices, dtypes.int64)
-                                for x in indexed_slices_list], 0)
-    values = array_ops.concat([x.values for x in indexed_slices_list], 0)
-    return ops.IndexedSlices(values, indices, dense_shape)
-
-
-def _add_new_grads(gradients, gradients_size, tid, grad):
-  """Adds a new gradient and maybe aggregate the gradients.
-
-  Args:
-    gradients: A dict map from tensor id to list of gradients.
-    gradients_size: A dict map from tensor id to its total units. Might
-       not be initialized.
-    tid: Tensor id.
-    grad: New gradient for the `tid`, either a Tensor or IndexedSlices.
-
-  Raises:
-    ValueError: if `grad` is neight Tensor nor IndexedSlices.
-  """
-  tensor_grads = gradients[tid]
-  tensor_grads.append(grad)
-  if len(tensor_grads) < _MIN_AGGREGATE_COUNT:
-    return
-  elif tid not in gradients_size:
-    if isinstance(grad, ops.Tensor):
-      size = functools.reduce(operator.mul, grad._shape_tuple(), 1)  # pylint: disable=protected-access
-    elif isinstance(grad, ops.IndexedSlices):
-      size = functools.reduce(operator.mul, grad.values._shape_tuple(), 1)  # pylint: disable=protected-access
-    else:
-      raise ValueError("Unexpected gradient type: %s" % type(grad))
-    gradients_size[tid] = size
-  else:
-    size = gradients_size[tid]
-
-  # For simplicity, assume each element to be 4 bytes now.
-  if len(tensor_grads) * size * 4 > _MIN_AGGREGATE_BYTES:
-    gradients[tid] = [_aggregate_grads(tensor_grads)]
-
-
-def imperative_grad(
-    target,
-    sources,
-    output_gradients=None):
-  """Computes gradients from the imperatively defined tape on top of the stack.
-
-  Works by filtering the tape, computing how many downstream usages are of each
-  tensor and entry, and repeatedly applying backward functions until we have
-  gradients for all sources.
-
-  Args:
-   target: either a Tensor or list of Tensors to be differentiated.
-   sources: list of Tensors for which we want gradients
-   output_gradients: if not None, a list of gradient provided for each Target,
-    or None if we are to use the target's computed downstream gradient.
-
-  Returns:
-   the gradient wrt each of the sources.
-
-  Raises:
-    RuntimeError: if something goes wrong.
-    ValueError: if there is no sequence of differentiable operations connecting
-     a source and any target Tensor. This can happen either if the target is
-     not computed based on the source, if the tracing was set up incorrectly,
-     or if only non-differentiable functions of the source were used in the
-     computation of target.
-  """
-  if not tape._tape_stack.stack:  # pylint: disable=protected-access
-    raise RuntimeError("Computing a gradient with no tape present")
-  bp_tape = tape.pop_tape()
-  tensor_to_op, op_to_entry = bp_tape.export()
-  # This overwrites the op_to_entry variable, which will release all memory used
-  # to keep traces that are irrelevant to the gradient computation we're doing
-  # here.
-  id_sources = [ops.tensor_id(t) for t in sources]
-  tensor_usage_counts, op_to_entry, op_missing_tensor = _prepare_backprop(
-      target, tensor_to_op, op_to_entry, id_sources)
-  ready_ops = _initialize_backprop_stack(op_to_entry, op_missing_tensor)
-  gradients = _initial_gradients(target, output_gradients,
-                                 tensor_usage_counts)
-  gradients_size = dict()
-  # Now exhaust the backprop stack
-  while ready_ops:
-    op = ready_ops.pop()
-    op_trace = op_to_entry.pop(op)
-    out_gradients = [gradients.pop(t, None) for t in op_trace.output_ids]
-    for i in range(len(out_gradients)):
-      if out_gradients[i] is None:
-        # TODO(apassos) this should be in the right device
-        none_indices = _grad_fn_accepts_none_for_indices.get(
-            op_trace.op_type, None)
-        if none_indices is None or i not in none_indices:
-          out_gradients[i] = array_ops.zeros(
-              *op_trace.output_shape_and_dtype[i])
-      else:
-        out_gradients[i] = _aggregate_grads(out_gradients[i])
-
-    in_gradients = op_trace.backward_function(
-        *(out_gradients + op_trace.side_outputs))
-    in_gradients = ([in_gradients]
-                    if isinstance(in_gradients, (ops.Tensor,
-                                                 ops.IndexedSlices,
-                                                 type(None)))
-                    else in_gradients)
-    for i, t in enumerate(op_trace.input_ids):
-      if in_gradients[i] is not None:
-        _add_new_grads(gradients, gradients_size, t, in_gradients[i])
-      if tensor_usage_counts.get(t, 0) > 0:
-        tensor_usage_counts[t] -= 1
-        if (t in tensor_to_op
-            and tensor_usage_counts[t] == 0
-            and t not in id_sources):
-          in_op = tensor_to_op[t]
-          if in_op is None:
-            continue
-          if op_missing_tensor.get(in_op, 0) > 0:
-            op_missing_tensor[in_op] -= 1
-            if op_missing_tensor.get(in_op, 0) == 0:
-              ready_ops.append(in_op)
-  result = []
-  for i, s in enumerate(sources):
-    g = gradients.get(ops.tensor_id(s), None)
-    if g is None:
-      result.append(None)
-    else:
-      result.append(_aggregate_grads(g))
-  return result
-
 _op_attr_type_cache = {}
 
 
@@ -557,7 +279,7 @@ def _record_gradient(op_name, inputs, attrs, results, name):
     if _tracing:
       print("Gradient for", (name if name else op_name), "inputs", op_inputs,
             "output_grads", orig_outputs, "gradients", result)
-    return result
+    return nest.flatten(result)
 
   tape.record_operation(op_name, results, inputs, [], grad_fn)
   if _tracing:
@@ -615,7 +337,9 @@ def implicit_val_and_grad(f):
     end_node = f(*args)
     variables = tape.top_tape_watched_variables()
     sources = [x.handle for x in variables]
-    grad = imperative_grad(end_node, sources)
+    grad = imperative_grad.imperative_grad(_default_vspace,
+                                           nest.flatten(end_node),
+                                           sources)
     return end_node, list(zip(grad, variables))
 
   return grad_fn
@@ -849,6 +573,96 @@ def val_and_grad_function(f, params=None):
       sources.append(args[i])
       tape.watch(args[i])
     result = f(*args)
-    return result, imperative_grad(result, sources, output_gradients=dy)
+    return result, imperative_grad.imperative_grad(
+        _default_vspace, nest.flatten(result), sources,
+        output_gradients=nest.flatten(dy) if dy is not None else None)
 
   return decorated
+
+
+def _aggregate_grads(gradients):
+  """Aggregate gradients from multiple sources.
+
+  Args:
+    gradients: A list of 'Tensor' or 'IndexedSlices' gradients.
+
+  Returns:
+    If 'gradients' only has 'Tensor', returns an aggregated 'Tensor'.
+    Otherwise returns an aggregated 'IndexedSlices'.
+  """
+  assert gradients, "No gradients to aggregate"
+
+  if len(gradients) == 1:
+    return gradients[0]
+  if all([isinstance(g, ops.Tensor) for g in gradients]):
+    return math_ops.add_n(gradients)
+  else:
+    assert all([isinstance(g, (ops.Tensor, ops.IndexedSlices))
+                for g in gradients])
+    indexed_slices_list = []
+    for grad in gradients:
+      # TODO(xpan): Support nested IndexedSlices and core IndexedSlices
+      if isinstance(grad, ops.Tensor):
+        indexed_slices = ops.IndexedSlices(
+            grad,
+            constant_op.constant(range(grad.shape[0])),
+            constant_op.constant(grad.shape.as_list()))
+        indexed_slices_list.append(indexed_slices)
+      else:
+        indexed_slices_list.append(grad)
+
+    # Dense shapes from all gradients should be the same.
+    dense_shape = indexed_slices_list[0].dense_shape
+    # For simplicity now, always cast to int64.
+    indices = array_ops.concat([math_ops.cast(x.indices, dtypes.int64)
+                                for x in indexed_slices_list], 0)
+    values = array_ops.concat([x.values for x in indexed_slices_list], 0)
+    return ops.IndexedSlices(values, indices, dense_shape)
+
+
+# If over MIN_AGGREGATE_COUNT gradients are accumulated and the total
+# memory consumption is over MIN_AGGREGATE_BYTES, do an early aggregation
+# so as to release the gradient tensor to save memory.
+_MIN_AGGREGATE_COUNT = 4
+_MIN_AGGREGATE_BYTES = 128 * 1024 * 1024
+
+
+def _add_new_grads(gradients, gradients_size, tid, grad):
+  """Adds a new gradient and maybe aggregate the gradients.
+
+  Args:
+    gradients: A dict map from tensor id to list of gradients.
+    gradients_size: A dict map from tensor id to its total units. Might
+       not be initialized.
+    tid: Tensor id.
+    grad: New gradient for the `tid`, either a Tensor or IndexedSlices.
+
+  Raises:
+    ValueError: if `grad` is neight Tensor nor IndexedSlices.
+  """
+  tensor_grads = gradients[tid]
+  tensor_grads.append(grad)
+  if len(tensor_grads) < _MIN_AGGREGATE_COUNT:
+    return
+  elif tid not in gradients_size:
+    if isinstance(grad, ops.Tensor):
+      size = functools.reduce(operator.mul, grad._shape_tuple(), 1)  # pylint: disable=protected-access
+    elif isinstance(grad, ops.IndexedSlices):
+      size = functools.reduce(operator.mul, grad.values._shape_tuple(), 1)  # pylint: disable=protected-access
+    else:
+      raise ValueError("Unexpected gradient type: %s" % type(grad))
+    gradients_size[tid] = size
+  else:
+    size = gradients_size[tid]
+
+  # For simplicity, assume each element to be 4 bytes now.
+  if len(tensor_grads) * size * 4 > _MIN_AGGREGATE_BYTES:
+    gradients[tid] = [_aggregate_grads(tensor_grads)]
+
+
+_default_vspace = imperative_grad.VSpace(
+    add_new_grads_fn=_add_new_grads,
+    aggregate_fn=_aggregate_grads,
+    tensor_id=ops.tensor_id,
+    zeros=array_ops.zeros,
+    ones_like=array_ops.ones_like)
diff --git a/tensorflow/python/eager/custom_gradient.py b/tensorflow/python/eager/custom_gradient.py
index 67c9015bf0c..4360e53225c 100644
--- a/tensorflow/python/eager/custom_gradient.py
+++ b/tensorflow/python/eager/custom_gradient.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def custom_gradient(f):
     # second derivative this way if they capture any output tensors. Change the
     # signature of custom_gradient.
     def actual_grad_fn(*outputs):
-      return grad_fn(*outputs)
+      return nest.flatten(grad_fn(*outputs))
 
     flat_result = nest.flatten(result)
     tape.record_operation(
diff --git a/tensorflow/python/eager/function.py b/tensorflow/python/eager/function.py
index cb70d23f068..6ffc914f73e 100644
--- a/tensorflow/python/eager/function.py
+++ b/tensorflow/python/eager/function.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def _convert_to_graph_tensor(value, dtype=None, name=None, as_ref=False):
   else:
     captured_value = captured_value[1]
   tape.record_operation("captured_value", [captured_value], [value], [],
-                        lambda x: x)
+                        lambda x: [x])
   return captured_value
 
 
diff --git a/tensorflow/python/eager/imperative_grad.py b/tensorflow/python/eager/imperative_grad.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b81f5bba145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorflow/python/eager/imperative_grad.py
@@ -0,0 +1,227 @@
+# Copyright 2017 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+# ==============================================================================
+"""Code for backpropagation using the tape utilities."""
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import division
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import collections
+
+from tensorflow.python.eager import tape
+
+
+# Terminology:
+#
+#  - op: a possibly composite operation, which has an entry in the tape
+#  - target: dy in dx/dy
+#  - source: dx in dx/dy
+#  - tensor: one of the many inputs or outputs of an operation
+#
+# Below here we do the gradient algorithm. It works as follows:
+#
+# First we filter the tape to just the subset of operations we want to
+# differentiate. In the process of doing so we count how many times each Tensor
+# is used as an input to an op (so we know when we're done computing gradients
+# for that Tensor). We also count, for each tape entry, how many of its output
+# Tensors need gradients to be computed (Tensors which are not used do not need
+# any gradients to be computed).
+#
+# Finally, we start a backprop stack with a set of tape entries for which we
+# have all gradients available. This set usually is a subset of the set of
+# targets (not all since targets which have outputs in the tape will not have
+# gradients available initially).
+#
+# Then we repeatedly pop an entry from the stack, run its backprop, and update
+# the gradients of its inputs. Once we have computed all gradients for a single
+# input we can mark this input as done, and this can trigger adding an entry to
+# the stack if all outputs of that entry are now done.
+#
+# When the stack is empty we have gradients for all tensors we're interested in.
+def _prepare_backprop(vspace, target, tensor_to_op, op_to_entry, id_sources):
+  """Filters the tape to only include relevant entries and counts tensor usages.
+
+  Args:
+    vspace: information about the space we're differentiating in.
+    target: the target to optimize.
+    tensor_to_op: Map from tensor id to key in op_to_entry that produced it.
+    op_to_entry: Map from op id to a tape.TapeEntry object
+    id_sources: the ids of the sources wrt the gradient is being taken.
+
+  Returns:
+    usage counts (how many entries downstream from a tensor use it)
+    op_to_entry_map: entry map (a filtered tape, with only the relevant
+     entries),
+    missing: map from tensor id to how many downstream gradients still need
+     to be computed before this tensor's gradient can be computed.
+  """
+  tensor_stack = [vspace.tensor_id(x) for x in target]
+  tensor_usage_counts = {}
+  o_to_e = {}  # Copy of just the bits we need from op_to_entry
+  while tensor_stack:
+    t = tensor_stack.pop()
+    op = tensor_to_op.get(t, None)
+    # op is None if the tensor is a source (i.e. was watched directly)
+    if op is None or op in o_to_e:
+      continue
+    op_trace = op_to_entry[op]
+    o_to_e[op] = op_trace
+    for it in op_trace.input_ids:
+      if it in tensor_usage_counts:
+        tensor_usage_counts[it] += 1
+      else:
+        tensor_usage_counts[it] = 1
+        if it not in id_sources and it in tensor_to_op:
+          tensor_stack.append(it)
+  op_missing_tensor_counts = collections.defaultdict(int)
+  for t in tensor_usage_counts:
+    if t in tensor_to_op and tensor_to_op[t] is not None:
+      op_missing_tensor_counts[tensor_to_op[t]] += 1
+  return tensor_usage_counts, o_to_e, op_missing_tensor_counts
+
+
+def _initialize_backprop_stack(op_to_entry, op_missing_tensor):
+  """Returns the set of tape entries which are available for backprop."""
+  ready_ops = []
+  for op in op_to_entry:
+    if op not in op_missing_tensor:
+      ready_ops.append(op)
+  return ready_ops
+
+
+def _initial_gradients(vspace, target, output_gradients, tensor_usage_counts):
+  """Computes the initial gradients for each Tensor."""
+  # Initialize the backprop stack
+  gradients = collections.defaultdict(list)
+  for i, t in enumerate(target):
+    if vspace.tensor_id(t) in tensor_usage_counts:
+      # Can't provide a gradient of something we're trying to differentiate
+      assert output_gradients is None or output_gradients[i] is None
+    else:
+      if output_gradients is None or output_gradients[i] is None:
+        out_grad = vspace.ones_like(t)
+      else:
+        out_grad = output_gradients[i]
+      gradients[vspace.tensor_id(t)].append(out_grad)
+  return gradients
+
+
+VSpace = collections.namedtuple(
+    "VSpace",
+    ["add_new_grads_fn", "aggregate_fn", "tensor_id", "zeros", "ones_like"])
+
+
+def imperative_grad(
+    vspace,
+    target,
+    sources,
+    output_gradients=None):
+  """Computes gradients from the imperatively defined tape on top of the stack.
+
+  Works by filtering the tape, computing how many downstream usages are of each
+  tensor and entry, and repeatedly applying backward functions until we have
+  gradients for all sources.
+
+  Args:
+   vspace: the vector space in which to differentiate.
+   target: either a Tensor or list of Tensors to be differentiated.
+   sources: list of Tensors for which we want gradients
+   output_gradients: if not None, a list of gradient provided for each Target,
+    or None if we are to use the target's computed downstream gradient.
+
+  Returns:
+   the gradient wrt each of the sources.
+
+  Raises:
+    RuntimeError: if something goes wrong.
+    ValueError: if there is no sequence of differentiable operations connecting
+     a source and any target Tensor. This can happen either if the target is
+     not computed based on the source, if the tracing was set up incorrectly,
+     or if only non-differentiable functions of the source were used in the
+     computation of target.
+  """
+  if not tape._tape_stack.stack:  # pylint: disable=protected-access
+    raise RuntimeError("Computing a gradient with no tape present")
+  bp_tape = tape.pop_tape()
+  tensor_to_op, op_to_entry = bp_tape.export()
+  # This overwrites the op_to_entry variable, which will release all memory used
+  # to keep traces that are irrelevant to the gradient computation we're doing
+  # here.
+  id_sources = [vspace.tensor_id(t) for t in sources]
+  tensor_usage_counts, op_to_entry, op_missing_tensor = _prepare_backprop(
+      vspace, target, tensor_to_op, op_to_entry, id_sources)
+  ready_ops = _initialize_backprop_stack(op_to_entry, op_missing_tensor)
+  gradients = _initial_gradients(vspace, target, output_gradients,
+                                 tensor_usage_counts)
+  gradients_size = dict()
+  # Now exhaust the backprop stack
+  while ready_ops:
+    op = ready_ops.pop()
+    op_trace = op_to_entry.pop(op)
+    out_gradients = [gradients.pop(t, None) for t in op_trace.output_ids]
+    for i in range(len(out_gradients)):
+      if out_gradients[i] is None:
+        # TODO(apassos) this should be in the right device
+        none_indices = _grad_fn_accepts_none_for_indices.get(
+            op_trace.op_type, None)
+        if none_indices is None or i not in none_indices:
+          out_gradients[i] = vspace.zeros(
+              *op_trace.output_shape_and_dtype[i])
+      else:
+        out_gradients[i] = vspace.aggregate_fn(out_gradients[i])
+
+    in_gradients = op_trace.backward_function(
+        *(out_gradients + op_trace.side_outputs))
+    for i, t in enumerate(op_trace.input_ids):
+      if in_gradients[i] is not None:
+        vspace.add_new_grads_fn(gradients, gradients_size, t, in_gradients[i])
+      if tensor_usage_counts.get(t, 0) > 0:
+        tensor_usage_counts[t] -= 1
+        if (t in tensor_to_op
+            and tensor_usage_counts[t] == 0
+            and t not in id_sources):
+          in_op = tensor_to_op[t]
+          if in_op is None:
+            continue
+          if op_missing_tensor.get(in_op, 0) > 0:
+            op_missing_tensor[in_op] -= 1
+            if op_missing_tensor.get(in_op, 0) == 0:
+              ready_ops.append(in_op)
+  result = []
+  for i, s in enumerate(sources):
+    g = gradients.get(vspace.tensor_id(s), None)
+    if g is None:
+      result.append(None)
+    else:
+      result.append(vspace.aggregate_fn(g))
+  return result
+
+
+# TODO(agarwal): use an automatic mechanism for handling None arguments to
+# gradient functions.
+# Some gradient functions can accept None arguments for gradients. The following
+# maps the operation name to the indices at which the corresponding gradient
+# function can accept None values.
+# e.g. FusedBatchNorm outputs 5 values and hence receives 5 gradient values
+# during backprop. However the gradient function uses only the first of those
+# values and ignores the rest. The entry, "FusedBatchNorm": [1, 2, 3, 4],
+# indicates that only the gradient corresponding to index 0 is used, and the
+# gradient values at indices 1-4 are ignored (and hence can be None). The
+# backprop algorithm can then leverage this by not constructing zeros to
+# pass for those indices.
+_grad_fn_accepts_none_for_indices = {
+    "SoftmaxCrossEntropyWithLogits": [1],
+    "FusedBatchNorm": [1, 2, 3, 4]
+}
diff --git a/tensorflow/python/framework/ops.py b/tensorflow/python/framework/ops.py
index 50aa070985b..ae842976908 100644
--- a/tensorflow/python/framework/ops.py
+++ b/tensorflow/python/framework/ops.py
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ class _EagerTensorBase(Tensor):
     if not context.in_graph_mode():
       self_device = self.device
       def grad_fun(dresult):
-        return dresult._copy(device_name=self_device)
+        return [dresult._copy(device_name=self_device)]
       tape.record_operation("_copy", [new_tensor], [self], [], grad_fun)
     return new_tensor
     # pylint: enable=protected-access