diff --git a/consumergroup.go b/consumergroup.go
index 0c9843a45..05a708a32 100644
--- a/consumergroup.go
+++ b/consumergroup.go
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ type ConsumerGroupConfig struct {
 	// for more complex use cases.
 	Topics []string
 
+	// The unique identifier of the consumer instance provided by end user.
+	GroupInstanceID string
+
 	// A transport used to send messages to kafka clusters.
 	//
 	// If nil, DefaultTransport will be used.
@@ -311,6 +314,9 @@ type Generation struct {
 	// coordinator.
 	MemberID string
 
+	// The unique identifier of the consumer instance provided by end user.
+	GroupInstanceID string
+
 	// Assignments is the initial state of this Generation.  The partition
 	// assignments are grouped by topic.
 	Assignments map[string][]PartitionAssignment
@@ -471,9 +477,10 @@ func (g *Generation) heartbeatLoop(interval time.Duration) {
 				return
 			case <-ticker.C:
 				_, err := g.coord.heartbeat(ctx, &HeartbeatRequest{
-					GroupID:      g.GroupID,
-					GenerationID: g.ID,
-					MemberID:     g.MemberID,
+					GroupID:         g.GroupID,
+					GenerationID:    g.ID,
+					MemberID:        g.MemberID,
+					GroupInstanceID: g.GroupInstanceID,
 				})
 				if err != nil {
 					return
@@ -826,6 +833,7 @@ func (cg *ConsumerGroup) nextGeneration(memberID string) (string, error) {
 		ID:              generationID,
 		GroupID:         cg.config.ID,
 		MemberID:        memberID,
+		GroupInstanceID: cg.config.GroupInstanceID,
 		Assignments:     cg.makeAssignments(assignments, offsets),
 		coord:           cg.coord,
 		done:            make(chan struct{}),
@@ -936,6 +944,7 @@ func (cg *ConsumerGroup) makeJoinGroupRequest(memberID string) (*JoinGroupReques
 		SessionTimeout:   cg.config.SessionTimeout,
 		RebalanceTimeout: cg.config.RebalanceTimeout,
 		ProtocolType:     defaultProtocolType,
+		GroupInstanceID:  cg.config.GroupInstanceID,
 	}
 
 	for _, balancer := range cg.config.GroupBalancers {
diff --git a/reader.go b/reader.go
index 6a965c07a..dd68ec9f4 100644
--- a/reader.go
+++ b/reader.go
@@ -367,6 +367,9 @@ type ReaderConfig struct {
 	// The topic to read messages from.
 	Topic string
 
+	// The unique identifier of the consumer instance provided by end user.
+	GroupInstanceID string
+
 	// Partition to read messages from.  Either Partition or GroupID may
 	// be assigned, but not both
 	Partition int
@@ -731,6 +734,7 @@ func NewReader(config ReaderConfig) *Reader {
 			ID:                     r.config.GroupID,
 			Brokers:                r.config.Brokers,
 			Topics:                 r.getTopics(),
+			GroupInstanceID:        r.config.GroupInstanceID,
 			GroupBalancers:         r.config.GroupBalancers,
 			HeartbeatInterval:      r.config.HeartbeatInterval,
 			PartitionWatchInterval: r.config.PartitionWatchInterval,