diff --git a/template/parse.go b/template/parse.go
index f9dc7cba3..df29e8af0 100644
--- a/template/parse.go
+++ b/template/parse.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ func (r *rawTemplate) Template() (*Template, error) {
 	var result Template
 	var errs error
 
+	// Copy some literals
+	result.Description = r.Description
+	result.MinVersion = r.MinVersion
+
 	// Gather the variables
 	if len(r.Variables) > 0 {
 		result.Variables = make(map[string]*Variable, len(r.Variables))
diff --git a/template/parse_test.go b/template/parse_test.go
index b28670e40..3e6847604 100644
--- a/template/parse_test.go
+++ b/template/parse_test.go
@@ -243,6 +243,22 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 			nil,
 			true,
 		},
+
+		{
+			"parse-description.json",
+			&Template{
+				Description: "foo",
+			},
+			false,
+		},
+
+		{
+			"parse-min-version.json",
+			&Template{
+				MinVersion: "1.2",
+			},
+			false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
diff --git a/template/test-fixtures/parse-description.json b/template/test-fixtures/parse-description.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c72a24eb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/test-fixtures/parse-description.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+    "description": "foo"
+}
diff --git a/template/test-fixtures/parse-min-version.json b/template/test-fixtures/parse-min-version.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f98101efb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/test-fixtures/parse-min-version.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+    "min_packer_version": "1.2"
+}