diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/264-fix-elemt-type-for-containers-in-ecs_taskdefinition.yml b/changelogs/fragments/264-fix-elemt-type-for-containers-in-ecs_taskdefinition.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b68ffff4f4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/264-fix-elemt-type-for-containers-in-ecs_taskdefinition.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - ecs_taskdefinition - fixes elements type for ``containers`` parameter (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.aws/issues/264).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/ecs_taskdefinition.py b/plugins/modules/ecs_taskdefinition.py
index b7afe864ee8..c1a30b33307 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/ecs_taskdefinition.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/ecs_taskdefinition.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
             - A list of containers definitions.
         required: False
         type: list
-        elements: str
+        elements: dict
     network_mode:
         description:
             - The Docker networking mode to use for the containers in the task.
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ def main():
         family=dict(required=False, type='str'),
         revision=dict(required=False, type='int'),
         force_create=dict(required=False, default=False, type='bool'),
-        containers=dict(required=False, type='list', elements='str'),
+        containers=dict(required=False, type='list', elements='dict'),
         network_mode=dict(required=False, default='bridge', choices=['default', 'bridge', 'host', 'none', 'awsvpc'], type='str'),
         task_role_arn=dict(required=False, default='', type='str'),
         execution_role_arn=dict(required=False, default='', type='str'),