diff --git a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs
index c726d93e13..d3c428061b 100644
--- a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs
+++ b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ pub type AccountIdOf<T> = <T as system::Trait>::AccountId;
 pub type CallOf<T> = <T as Trait>::Call;
 pub type MomentOf<T> = <T as timestamp::Trait>::Moment;
 pub type SeedOf<T> = <T as system::Trait>::Hash;
+pub type BlockNumberOf<T> = <T as system::Trait>::BlockNumber;
 
 /// A type that represents a topic of an event. At the moment a hash is used.
 pub type TopicOf<T> = <T as system::Trait>::Hash;
@@ -120,6 +121,9 @@ pub trait Ext {
 
 	/// Rent allowance of the contract
 	fn rent_allowance(&self) -> BalanceOf<Self::T>;
+
+	/// Returns the current block number.
+	fn block_number(&self) -> BlockNumberOf<Self::T>;
 }
 
 /// Loader is a companion of the `Vm` trait. It loads an appropriate abstract
@@ -363,6 +367,7 @@ where
 							caller: self.self_account.clone(),
 							value_transferred: value,
 							timestamp: timestamp::Module::<T>::now(),
+							block_number: <system::Module<T>>::block_number(),
 						},
 						input_data,
 						empty_output_buf,
@@ -433,6 +438,7 @@ where
 						caller: self.self_account.clone(),
 						value_transferred: endowment,
 						timestamp: timestamp::Module::<T>::now(),
+						block_number: <system::Module<T>>::block_number(),
 					},
 					input_data,
 					EmptyOutputBuf::new(),
@@ -585,6 +591,7 @@ struct CallContext<'a, 'b: 'a, T: Trait + 'b, V: Vm<T> + 'b, L: Loader<T>> {
 	caller: T::AccountId,
 	value_transferred: BalanceOf<T>,
 	timestamp: T::Moment,
+	block_number: T::BlockNumber,
 }
 
 impl<'a, 'b: 'a, T, E, V, L> Ext for CallContext<'a, 'b, T, V, L>
@@ -673,6 +680,8 @@ where
 		self.ctx.overlay.get_rent_allowance(&self.ctx.self_account)
 			.unwrap_or(<BalanceOf<T>>::max_value()) // Must never be triggered actually
 	}
+
+	fn block_number(&self) -> T::BlockNumber { self.block_number }
 }
 
 /// These tests exercise the executive layer.
diff --git a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs
index 71c1a1d3f4..1f63b5d9df 100644
--- a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs
+++ b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs
@@ -291,6 +291,8 @@ mod tests {
 		fn rent_allowance(&self) -> u64 {
 			self.rent_allowance
 		}
+
+		fn block_number(&self) -> u64 { 121 }
 	}
 
 	fn execute<E: Ext>(
@@ -1342,4 +1344,70 @@ mod tests {
 			Err("during execution"),
 		);
 	}
+
+	/// calls `ext_block_number`, loads the current block number from the scratch buffer and
+	/// compares it with the constant 121.
+	const CODE_BLOCK_NUMBER: &str = r#"
+(module
+	(import "env" "ext_block_number" (func $ext_block_number))
+	(import "env" "ext_scratch_size" (func $ext_scratch_size (result i32)))
+	(import "env" "ext_scratch_copy" (func $ext_scratch_copy (param i32 i32 i32)))
+	(import "env" "memory" (memory 1 1))
+
+	(func $assert (param i32)
+		(block $ok
+			(br_if $ok
+				(get_local 0)
+			)
+			(unreachable)
+		)
+	)
+
+	(func (export "call")
+		;; This stores the block height in the scratch buffer
+		(call $ext_block_number)
+
+		;; assert $ext_scratch_size == 8
+		(call $assert
+			(i32.eq
+				(call $ext_scratch_size)
+				(i32.const 8)
+			)
+		)
+
+		;; copy contents of the scratch buffer into the contract's memory.
+		(call $ext_scratch_copy
+			(i32.const 8)		;; Pointer in memory to the place where to copy.
+			(i32.const 0)		;; Offset from the start of the scratch buffer.
+			(i32.const 8)		;; Count of bytes to copy.
+		)
+
+		;; assert that contents of the buffer is equal to the i64 value of 121.
+		(call $assert
+			(i64.eq
+				(i64.load
+					(i32.const 8)
+				)
+				(i64.const 121)
+			)
+		)
+	)
+
+	(func (export "deploy"))
+)
+"#;
+
+	#[test]
+	fn block_number() {
+		let mut mock_ext = MockExt::default();
+		execute(
+			CODE_BLOCK_NUMBER,
+			&[],
+			&mut Vec::new(),
+			&mut mock_ext,
+			&mut GasMeter::with_limit(50_000, 1),
+		)
+		.unwrap();
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs
index d05b716478..29965c9676 100644
--- a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs
+++ b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs
@@ -701,6 +701,13 @@ define_env!(Env, <E: Ext>,
 		}
 		Ok(())
 	},
+
+	// Stores the current block number of the current contract into the scratch buffer.
+	ext_block_number(ctx) => {
+		ctx.scratch_buf.clear();
+		ctx.ext.block_number().encode_to(&mut ctx.scratch_buf);
+		Ok(())
+	},
 );
 
 /// Finds duplicates in a given vector.