diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/lib/base/task-definition.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/lib/base/task-definition.ts
index 2889c4d94df3d..fe17ce6cb2317 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/lib/base/task-definition.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/lib/base/task-definition.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import * as ec2 from '@aws-cdk/aws-ec2';
 import * as iam from '@aws-cdk/aws-iam';
-import { IResource, Lazy, Names, Resource } from '@aws-cdk/core';
+import { IResource, Lazy, Names, PhysicalName, Resource } from '@aws-cdk/core';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 import { ContainerDefinition, ContainerDefinitionOptions, PortMapping, Protocol } from '../container-definition';
 import { CfnTaskDefinition } from '../ecs.generated';
@@ -610,6 +610,8 @@ export class TaskDefinition extends TaskDefinitionBase {
     if (!this._executionRole) {
       this._executionRole = new iam.Role(this, 'ExecutionRole', {
         assumedBy: new iam.ServicePrincipal('ecs-tasks.amazonaws.com'),
+        // needed for cross-account access with TagParameterContainerImage
+        roleName: PhysicalName.GENERATE_IF_NEEDED,
       });
     }
     return this._executionRole;
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/test/images/tag-parameter-container-image.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/test/images/tag-parameter-container-image.test.ts
index beaa9a23308c8..d782d39d874cb 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/test/images/tag-parameter-container-image.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecs/test/images/tag-parameter-container-image.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { SynthUtils } from '@aws-cdk/assert-internal';
+import { expect, haveResourceLike, SynthUtils } from '@aws-cdk/assert-internal';
 import * as ecr from '@aws-cdk/aws-ecr';
 import * as cdk from '@aws-cdk/core';
 import { nodeunitShim, Test } from 'nodeunit-shim';
@@ -37,5 +37,100 @@ nodeunitShim({
 
       test.done();
     },
+
+    'can be used in a cross-account manner'(test: Test) {
+      // GIVEN
+      const app = new cdk.App();
+      const pipelineStack = new cdk.Stack(app, 'PipelineStack', {
+        env: {
+          account: 'pipeline-account',
+          region: 'us-west-1',
+        },
+      });
+      const repositoryName = 'my-ecr-repo';
+      const repository = new ecr.Repository(pipelineStack, 'Repository', {
+        repositoryName: repositoryName,
+      });
+      const tagParameterContainerImage = new ecs.TagParameterContainerImage(repository);
+
+      const serviceStack = new cdk.Stack(app, 'ServiceStack', {
+        env: {
+          account: 'service-account',
+          region: 'us-west-1',
+        },
+      });
+      const fargateTaskDefinition = new ecs.FargateTaskDefinition(serviceStack, 'ServiceTaskDefinition');
+
+      // WHEN
+      fargateTaskDefinition.addContainer('Container', {
+        image: tagParameterContainerImage,
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(pipelineStack).to(haveResourceLike('AWS::ECR::Repository', {
+        RepositoryName: repositoryName,
+        RepositoryPolicyText: {
+          Statement: [{
+            Action: [
+              'ecr:BatchCheckLayerAvailability',
+              'ecr:GetDownloadUrlForLayer',
+              'ecr:BatchGetImage',
+            ],
+            Effect: 'Allow',
+            Principal: {
+              AWS: {
+                'Fn::Join': ['', [
+                  'arn:',
+                  { Ref: 'AWS::Partition' },
+                  ':iam::service-account:role/servicestackionexecutionrolee7e2d9a783a54eb795f4',
+                ]],
+              },
+            },
+          }],
+        },
+      }));
+      expect(serviceStack).to(haveResourceLike('AWS::IAM::Role', {
+        RoleName: 'servicestackionexecutionrolee7e2d9a783a54eb795f4',
+      }));
+      expect(serviceStack).to(haveResourceLike('AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition', {
+        ContainerDefinitions: [
+          {
+            Image: {
+              'Fn::Join': ['', [
+                {
+                  'Fn::Select': [4, {
+                    'Fn::Split': [':', {
+                      'Fn::Join': ['', [
+                        'arn:',
+                        { Ref: 'AWS::Partition' },
+                        `:ecr:us-west-1:pipeline-account:repository/${repositoryName}`,
+                      ]],
+                    }],
+                  }],
+                },
+                '.dkr.ecr.',
+                {
+                  'Fn::Select': [3, {
+                    'Fn::Split': [':', {
+                      'Fn::Join': ['', [
+                        'arn:',
+                        { Ref: 'AWS::Partition' },
+                        `:ecr:us-west-1:pipeline-account:repository/${repositoryName}`,
+                      ]],
+                    }],
+                  }],
+                },
+                '.',
+                { Ref: 'AWS::URLSuffix' },
+                `/${repositoryName}:`,
+                { Ref: 'ServiceTaskDefinitionContainerImageTagParamCEC9D0BA' },
+              ]],
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      }));
+
+      test.done();
+    },
   },
 });