diff --git a/programs/cleos/main.cpp b/programs/cleos/main.cpp
index 3ea631ab6f9..f2fd1e1f13c 100644
--- a/programs/cleos/main.cpp
+++ b/programs/cleos/main.cpp
@@ -3781,6 +3781,23 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv ) {
 
       EOSC_ASSERT( str_private_key.empty() || str_public_key.empty(), "ERROR: Either -k/--private-key or --public-key or none of them can be set" );
       fc::variant trx_var = json_from_file_or_string(trx_json_to_sign);
+
+      // If transaction was packed, unpack it before signing 
+      bool was_packed_trx = false;
+      if( trx_var.is_object() ) {
+         fc::variant_object& vo = trx_var.get_object();
+         if( vo.contains("packed_trx") ) {
+            packed_transaction_v0 packed_trx;
+            try {
+              fc::from_variant<packed_transaction_v0>( trx_var, packed_trx );
+            } EOS_RETHROW_EXCEPTIONS( transaction_type_exception, "Invalid packed transaction format: '${data}'",
+                                ("data", fc::json::to_string(trx_var, fc::time_point::maximum())))
+           const signed_transaction& strx = packed_trx.get_signed_transaction();
+           trx_var = strx;
+           was_packed_trx = true;
+         }
+      }
+
       signed_transaction trx;
       try {
         abi_serializer::from_variant( trx_var, trx, abi_serializer_resolver_empty, abi_serializer::create_yield_function( abi_serializer_max_time ) );
@@ -3822,7 +3839,11 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv ) {
          auto trx_result = call(push_txn_func, packed_transaction_v0(trx, packed_transaction_v0::compression_type::none));
          std::cout << fc::json::to_pretty_string(trx_result) << std::endl;
       } else {
-         std::cout << fc::json::to_pretty_string(trx) << std::endl;
+         if ( was_packed_trx ) { // pack it as before
+           std::cout << fc::json::to_pretty_string(packed_transaction_v0(trx,packed_transaction_v0::compression_type::none)) << std::endl;
+         } else {
+           std::cout << fc::json::to_pretty_string(trx) << std::endl;
+         }
       }
    });
 
diff --git a/tests/cli_test.py b/tests/cli_test.py
index 354c32695e7..e0b384501ae 100755
--- a/tests/cli_test.py
+++ b/tests/cli_test.py
@@ -56,6 +56,79 @@ def cli11_optional_option_arg_test():
                                       '-c', chain, '-k', key, '{}'])
     assert(b'signatures' in output)
 
+def cleos_sign_test():
+    """Test that sign can on both regular and packed transactions"""
+    chain = 'cf057bbfb72640471fd910bcb67639c22df9f92470936cddc1ade0e2f2e7dc4f'
+    key = '5Jgfqh3svgBZvCAQkcnUX8sKmVUkaUekYDGqFakm52Ttkc5MBA4'
+
+    # regular trasaction
+    trx = (
+        '{'
+        '"expiration": "2019-08-01T07:15:49",'
+        '"ref_block_num": 34881,'
+        '"ref_block_prefix": 2972818865,'
+        '"max_net_usage_words": 0,'
+        '"max_cpu_usage_ms": 0,'
+        '"delay_sec": 0,'
+        '"context_free_actions": [],'
+        '"actions": [{'
+            '"account": "eosio.token",'
+            '"name": "transfer",'
+            '"authorization": [{'
+            '"actor": "eosio",'
+            '"permission": "active"'
+        '}'
+        '],'
+        '"data": "000000000000a6690000000000ea305501000000000000000453595300000000016d"'
+       '}'
+       '],'
+        '"transaction_extensions": [],'
+        '"context_free_data": []'
+    '}')
+
+    output = subprocess.check_output(['./programs/cleos/cleos', 'sign',
+                                      '-c', chain, '-k', key, trx])
+    # make sure it is signed
+    assert(b'signatures' in output)
+    # make sure fields are kept
+    assert(b'"expiration": "2019-08-01T07:15:49"' in output)
+    assert(b'"ref_block_num": 34881' in output)
+    assert(b'"ref_block_prefix": 2972818865' in output)
+    assert(b'"account": "eosio.token"' in output)
+    assert(b'"name": "transfer"' in output)
+    assert(b'"actor": "eosio"' in output)
+    assert(b'"permission": "active"' in output)
+    assert(b'"data": "000000000000a6690000000000ea305501000000000000000453595300000000016d"' in output)
+
+    packed_trx = ' { "signatures": [], "compression": "none", "packed_context_free_data": "", "packed_trx": "a591425d4188b19d31b1000000000100a6823403ea3055000000572d3ccdcd010000000000ea305500000000a8ed323222000000000000a6690000000000ea305501000000000000000453595300000000016d00" } '
+
+    # Test packed transaction is unpacked. Only with options --print-request and --public-key
+    # the sign request is dumped to stderr.
+    cmd = ['./programs/cleos/cleos', '--print-request', 'sign', '-c', chain, '--public-key', 'EOS8Dq1KosJ9PMn1vKQK3TbiihgfUiDBUsz471xaCE6eYUssPB1KY', packed_trx]
+    outs=None
+    errs=None
+    try:
+        popen=subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        outs,errs=popen.communicate()
+        popen.wait()
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as ex:
+        print(ex.output)
+    # make sure fields are unpacked
+    assert(b'"expiration": "2019-08-01T07:15:49"' in errs)
+    assert(b'"ref_block_num": 34881' in errs)
+    assert(b'"ref_block_prefix": 2972818865' in errs)
+    assert(b'"account": "eosio.token"' in errs)
+    assert(b'"name": "transfer"' in errs)
+    assert(b'"actor": "eosio"' in errs)
+    assert(b'"permission": "active"' in errs)
+    assert(b'"data": "000000000000a6690000000000ea305501000000000000000453595300000000016d"' in errs)
+
+    # Test packed transaction is signed.
+    output = subprocess.check_output(['./programs/cleos/cleos', 'sign',
+                                      '-c', chain, '-k', key, packed_trx])
+    # Make sure signatures not empty
+    assert(b'signatures' in output)
+    assert(b'"signatures": []' not in output)
 
 nodeos_help_test()
 
@@ -67,3 +140,4 @@ def cli11_optional_option_arg_test():
 cli11_bugfix_test()
 
 cli11_optional_option_arg_test()
+cleos_sign_test()