diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/linode/linode.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/linode/linode.py
index 2347635df36..187064410aa 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/linode/linode.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/linode/linode.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ options:
     description:
      - Name to give the instance (alphanumeric, dashes, underscore).
      - To keep sanity on the Linode Web Console, name is prepended with C(LinodeID_).
+    required: true
   displaygroup:
     description:
      - Add the instance to a Display Group in Linode Manager.
@@ -148,6 +149,7 @@ author:
 - Vincent Viallet (@zbal)
 notes:
   - C(LINODE_API_KEY) env variable can be used instead.
+  - Please review U(https://www.linode.com/api/linode) for determining the required parameters.
 '''
 
 EXAMPLES = '''
@@ -556,7 +558,7 @@ def main():
             state=dict(type='str', default='present',
                        choices=['absent', 'active', 'deleted', 'present', 'restarted', 'started', 'stopped']),
             api_key=dict(type='str', no_log=True),
-            name=dict(type='str'),
+            name=dict(type='str', required=True),
             alert_bwin_enabled=dict(type='bool'),
             alert_bwin_threshold=dict(type='int'),
             alert_bwout_enabled=dict(type='bool'),
diff --git a/test/runner/requirements/units.txt b/test/runner/requirements/units.txt
index a2fb5940268..d412d4383ea 100644
--- a/test/runner/requirements/units.txt
+++ b/test/runner/requirements/units.txt
@@ -30,4 +30,7 @@ pyfmg
 xmljson
 
 # requirement for winrm connection plugin tests
-pexpect
\ No newline at end of file
+pexpect
+
+# requirement for the linode module
+linode-python
diff --git a/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/__init__.py b/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/conftest.py b/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a7400b82db8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def api_key(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv('LINODE_API_KEY', 'foobar')
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def auth(monkeypatch):
+    def patched_test_echo(dummy):
+        return []
+    monkeypatch.setattr('linode.api.Api.test_echo', patched_test_echo)
diff --git a/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/test_linode.py b/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/test_linode.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..70e2dd90dca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/modules/cloud/linode/test_linode.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+
+import pytest
+
+from ansible.modules.cloud.linode import linode
+from units.modules.utils import set_module_args
+
+if not linode.HAS_LINODE:
+    pytestmark = pytest.mark.skip('test_linode.py requires the `linode-python` module')
+
+
+def test_name_is_a_required_parameter(api_key, auth):
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit):
+        set_module_args({})
+        linode.main()