diff --git a/skypy/pipeline/_config.py b/skypy/pipeline/_config.py
index 93d0892d6..6de372ba9 100644
--- a/skypy/pipeline/_config.py
+++ b/skypy/pipeline/_config.py
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ def construct_function(self, name, node):
 
         return (function, args, kwargs)
 
+    def construct_lambda(self, node):
+        lambda_val = 'lambda ' + self.construct_scalar(node)
+        return eval(lambda_val, {})
+
     def construct_quantity(self, node):
         value = self.construct_scalar(node)
         return Quantity(value)
@@ -89,6 +93,9 @@ def construct_quantity(self, node):
 # constructor for generic functions
 SkyPyLoader.add_multi_constructor('!', SkyPyLoader.construct_function)
 
+# constructor for lambda functions
+SkyPyLoader.add_constructor('!lambda', SkyPyLoader.construct_lambda)
+
 # constructor for quantities
 SkyPyLoader.add_constructor('!quantity', SkyPyLoader.construct_quantity)
 # Implicitly resolve quantities using the regex from astropy
diff --git a/skypy/pipeline/tests/data/lambda_function.yml b/skypy/pipeline/tests/data/lambda_function.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..12f646bda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skypy/pipeline/tests/data/lambda_function.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+a: 0.5
+tau: !lambda 'a : 1. / a'
+twice: !lambda 'a : a * 2'
diff --git a/skypy/pipeline/tests/test_config.py b/skypy/pipeline/tests/test_config.py
index 34bac602c..87b34d8a2 100644
--- a/skypy/pipeline/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/skypy/pipeline/tests/test_config.py
@@ -65,3 +65,11 @@ def test_kwarg_must_be_strings():
     with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
         load_skypy_yaml(filename)
     assert("Invalid key found in config" in e.value.args[0])
+
+
+def test_lambda_functions():
+    filename = get_pkg_data_filename('data/lambda_function.yml')
+    config = load_skypy_yaml(filename)
+    a = config['a']
+    assert config['tau'](a) == 1. / a
+    assert config['twice'](a) == 1.0