diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/OpenACC/OpenACCOps.td b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/OpenACC/OpenACCOps.td
index 41cec89fdf598..3ad8e4f9ccbeb 100644
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/OpenACC/OpenACCOps.td
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/OpenACC/OpenACCOps.td
@@ -2127,6 +2127,11 @@ def OpenACC_LoopOp : OpenACC_Op<"loop",
     /// Used to retrieve the block inside the op's region.
     Block &getBody() { return getLoopRegions().front()->front(); }
 
+    /// Used to determine if this operation is merely a container for a loop
+    /// operation instead of being loop-like itself.
+    bool isLoopLike() { return !getLowerbound().empty(); }
+    bool isContainerLike() { return !isLoopLike(); }
+
     /// Return true if the op has the auto attribute for the
     /// mlir::acc::DeviceType::None device_type.
     bool hasAuto();
@@ -2197,7 +2202,7 @@ def OpenACC_LoopOp : OpenACC_Op<"loop",
 
   let hasCustomAssemblyFormat = 1;
   let assemblyFormat = [{
-    custom<CombinedConstructsLoop>($combined)
+    ( `combined` `(` custom<CombinedConstructsLoop>($combined)^ `)` )?
     oilist(
         `gang` `` custom<GangClause>($gangOperands, type($gangOperands),
             $gangOperandsArgType, $gangOperandsDeviceType,
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/OpenACC/IR/OpenACC.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/OpenACC/IR/OpenACC.cpp
index c4cc560e42f6a..a7b01abe34e03 100644
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/OpenACC/IR/OpenACC.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/OpenACC/IR/OpenACC.cpp
@@ -1686,25 +1686,19 @@ static void printDeviceTypeOperandsWithKeywordOnly(
 static ParseResult
 parseCombinedConstructsLoop(mlir::OpAsmParser &parser,
                             mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr &attr) {
-  if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("combined"))) {
-    if (parser.parseLParen())
-      return failure();
-    if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("kernels"))) {
-      attr = mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr::get(
-          parser.getContext(), mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::KernelsLoop);
-    } else if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("parallel"))) {
-      attr = mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr::get(
-          parser.getContext(), mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::ParallelLoop);
-    } else if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("serial"))) {
-      attr = mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr::get(
-          parser.getContext(), mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::SerialLoop);
-    } else {
-      parser.emitError(parser.getCurrentLocation(),
-                       "expected compute construct name");
-      return failure();
-    }
-    if (parser.parseRParen())
-      return failure();
+  if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("kernels"))) {
+    attr = mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr::get(
+        parser.getContext(), mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::KernelsLoop);
+  } else if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("parallel"))) {
+    attr = mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr::get(
+        parser.getContext(), mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::ParallelLoop);
+  } else if (succeeded(parser.parseOptionalKeyword("serial"))) {
+    attr = mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsTypeAttr::get(
+        parser.getContext(), mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::SerialLoop);
+  } else {
+    parser.emitError(parser.getCurrentLocation(),
+                     "expected compute construct name");
+    return failure();
   }
   return success();
 }
@@ -1715,13 +1709,13 @@ printCombinedConstructsLoop(mlir::OpAsmPrinter &p, mlir::Operation *op,
   if (attr) {
     switch (attr.getValue()) {
     case mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::KernelsLoop:
-      p << "combined(kernels)";
+      p << "kernels";
       break;
     case mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::ParallelLoop:
-      p << "combined(parallel)";
+      p << "parallel";
       break;
     case mlir::acc::CombinedConstructsType::SerialLoop:
-      p << "combined(serial)";
+      p << "serial";
       break;
     };
   }
@@ -2304,6 +2298,14 @@ LogicalResult checkDeviceTypes(mlir::ArrayAttr deviceTypes) {
 }
 
 LogicalResult acc::LoopOp::verify() {
+  if (getUpperbound().size() != getStep().size())
+    return emitError() << "number of upperbounds expected to be the same as "
+                          "number of steps";
+
+  if (getUpperbound().size() != getLowerbound().size())
+    return emitError() << "number of upperbounds expected to be the same as "
+                          "number of lowerbounds";
+
   if (!getUpperbound().empty() && getInclusiveUpperbound() &&
       (getUpperbound().size() != getInclusiveUpperbound()->size()))
     return emitError() << "inclusiveUpperbound size is expected to be the same"
@@ -2421,6 +2423,15 @@ LogicalResult acc::LoopOp::verify() {
   if (getRegion().empty())
     return emitError("expected non-empty body.");
 
+  // When it is container-like - it is expected to hold a loop-like operation.
+  // TODO: Get the collapse attribute into account.
+  if (isContainerLike()) {
+    // TODO: Ensure there is a single loop-like operation at any one level.
+    auto loopLikeOps = getRegion().getOps<LoopLikeOpInterface>();
+    if (loopLikeOps.empty())
+      return emitError("expected to hold a loop-like operation.");
+  }
+
   return success();
 }