diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0c0b112..9bcf17d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ Optional properties:
 * `sqs.endpoint.url`: Override value for the AWS region specific endpoint.
 * `sqs.message.attributes.enabled`: If true, it gets the Kafka Headers and inserts them as SQS MessageAttributes (only string headers are currently supported). Default is false.
 * `sqs.message.attributes.include.list`: The comma separated list of Header names to be included, if empty it includes all the Headers. Default is the empty string.
+* `sqs.message.attributes.partition.key`: The name of a single AWS SQS MessageAttribute to use as the partition key. If this is not specified, default to the SQS message ID as the partition key.
 
 ### Sample Configuration
 ```json
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfig.java
index 26e700a..e6124e3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfig.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ abstract class SqsConnectorConfig extends AbstractConfig {
 
     private final List<String> messageAttributesList;
 
+    private final String messageAttributePartitionKey;
+
     public SqsConnectorConfig(ConfigDef configDef, Map<?, ?> originals) {
         super(configDef, originals);
         queueUrl = getString(SqsConnectorConfigKeys.SQS_QUEUE_URL.getValue());
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@ public SqsConnectorConfig(ConfigDef configDef, Map<?, ?> originals) {
 
         List<String> csMessageAttributesList = getList(SqsConnectorConfigKeys.SQS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTES_INCLUDE_LIST.getValue());
         messageAttributesList = messageAttributesEnabled ? csMessageAttributesList : new ArrayList<>();
+        messageAttributePartitionKey = getString(SqsConnectorConfigKeys.SQS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTE_PARTITION_KEY.getValue());
     }
 
     public String getQueueUrl() {
@@ -53,4 +56,8 @@ public Boolean getMessageAttributesEnabled() {
     public List<String> getMessageAttributesList() {
         return messageAttributesList;
     }
+
+    public String getMessageAttributePartitionKey() {
+        return messageAttributePartitionKey;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfigKeys.java b/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfigKeys.java
index 67795e5..132edc2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfigKeys.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsConnectorConfigKeys.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ public enum SqsConnectorConfigKeys {
   SQS_ENDPOINT_URL("sqs.endpoint.url"),
   SQS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTES_ENABLED("sqs.message.attributes.enabled"),
   SQS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTES_INCLUDE_LIST("sqs.message.attributes.include.list"),
+  SQS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTE_PARTITION_KEY("sqs.message.attributes.partition.key"),
 
   // These are not part of the connector configuration proper, but just a convenient
   // place to define the constants.
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsSourceConnectorTask.java b/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsSourceConnectorTask.java
index a89bb6a..c2a44a5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsSourceConnectorTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/nordstrom/kafka/connect/sqs/SqsSourceConnectorTask.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import java.util.stream.Collectors ;
 
 import com.amazonaws.services.sqs.model.MessageAttributeValue;
+import com.nordstrom.kafka.connect.utils.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.data.Schema ;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.data.SchemaAndValue;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.header.ConnectHeaders;
@@ -63,6 +64,31 @@ public void start( Map<String, String> props ) {
     log.info( "task.start.OK, sqs.queue.url={}, topics={}", config.getQueueUrl(), config.getTopics() ) ;
   }
 
+  private String getPartitionKey(Message message) {
+    String messageId = message.getMessageId();
+    if (!config.getMessageAttributesEnabled()) {
+      return messageId;
+    }
+    String messageAttributePartitionKey = config.getMessageAttributePartitionKey();
+    if (StringUtils.isBlank(messageAttributePartitionKey)) {
+      return messageId;
+    }
+
+    // search for the String message attribute with the same name as the configured partition key
+    Map<String, MessageAttributeValue> attributes = message.getMessageAttributes();
+    for(String attributeKey: attributes.keySet()) {
+      if (!Objects.equals(attributeKey, messageAttributePartitionKey)) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      MessageAttributeValue attrValue = attributes.get(attributeKey);
+      if (!attrValue.getDataType().equals("String")) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      return attrValue.getStringValue();
+    }
+    return messageId;
+  }
+
   /*
    * (non-Javadoc)
    * 
@@ -95,11 +121,11 @@ public List<SourceRecord> poll() throws InterruptedException {
       log.trace( ".poll:source-partition={}", sourcePartition ) ;
       log.trace( ".poll:source-offset={}", sourceOffset ) ;
 
-      final String body = message.getBody() ;
-      final String key = message.getMessageId() ;
+      final String body = message.getBody();
+      final String key = getPartitionKey(message);
       final String topic = config.getTopics() ;
 
-      ConnectHeaders headers = new ConnectHeaders();
+      final ConnectHeaders headers = new ConnectHeaders();
       if (config.getMessageAttributesEnabled()) {
         Map<String, MessageAttributeValue> attributes = message.getMessageAttributes();
         // sqs api should return only the fields specified in the list
@@ -112,7 +138,7 @@ public List<SourceRecord> poll() throws InterruptedException {
         }
       }
 
-      return new SourceRecord( sourcePartition, sourceOffset, topic, null, Schema.STRING_SCHEMA, key, Schema.STRING_SCHEMA,
+      return new SourceRecord(sourcePartition, sourceOffset, topic, null, Schema.STRING_SCHEMA, key, Schema.STRING_SCHEMA,
           body, null, headers) ;
     } ).collect( Collectors.toList() ) ;
   }