diff --git a/builder/amazon/chroot/run_local_commands.go b/builder/amazon/chroot/run_local_commands.go
index 024a208f8..154d37a4f 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/chroot/run_local_commands.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/chroot/run_local_commands.go
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ package chroot
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
+	sl "github.com/hashicorp/packer/common/shell-local"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/post-processor/shell-local"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/template/interpolate"
 )
 
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ func RunLocalCommands(commands []string, wrappedCommand CommandWrapper, ctx inte
 		}
 
 		ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Executing command: %s", command))
-		comm := &shell_local.Communicator{}
+		comm := &sl.Communicator{
+			Ctx:            ctx,
+			ExecuteCommand: []string{""},
+		}
 		cmd := &packer.RemoteCmd{Command: command}
 		if err := cmd.StartWithUi(comm, ui); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Error executing command: %s", err)
diff --git a/provisioner/shell-local/communicator.go b/common/shell-local/communicator.go
similarity index 71%
rename from provisioner/shell-local/communicator.go
rename to common/shell-local/communicator.go
index 2afbe1028..dc84b575a 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell-local/communicator.go
+++ b/common/shell-local/communicator.go
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
-package shell
+package shell_local
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"runtime"
 	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
@@ -17,17 +18,34 @@ type Communicator struct {
 }
 
 func (c *Communicator) Start(cmd *packer.RemoteCmd) error {
-	// Render the template so that we know how to execute the command
-	c.Ctx.Data = &ExecuteCommandTemplate{
-		Command: cmd.Command,
-	}
-	for i, field := range c.ExecuteCommand {
-		command, err := interpolate.Render(field, &c.Ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("Error processing command: %s", err)
+	if len(c.ExecuteCommand) == 0 {
+		// Get default Execute Command
+		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+			c.ExecuteCommand = []string{
+				"cmd",
+				"/C",
+				"{{.Command}}",
+			}
+		} else {
+			c.ExecuteCommand = []string{
+				"/bin/sh",
+				"-c",
+				"{{.Command}}",
+			}
 		}
+	} else {
+		// Render the template so that we know how to execute the command
+		c.Ctx.Data = &ExecuteCommandTemplate{
+			Command: cmd.Command,
+		}
+		for i, field := range c.ExecuteCommand {
+			command, err := interpolate.Render(field, &c.Ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("Error processing command: %s", err)
+			}
 
-		c.ExecuteCommand[i] = command
+			c.ExecuteCommand[i] = command
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Build the local command to execute
diff --git a/provisioner/shell-local/communicator_test.go b/common/shell-local/communicator_test.go
similarity index 97%
rename from provisioner/shell-local/communicator_test.go
rename to common/shell-local/communicator_test.go
index 8ebd4fa60..903ab154d 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell-local/communicator_test.go
+++ b/common/shell-local/communicator_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package shell
+package shell_local
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
diff --git a/post-processor/shell-local/communicator.go b/post-processor/shell-local/communicator.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b0bfb008f..000000000
--- a/post-processor/shell-local/communicator.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
-package shell_local
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"os"
-	"os/exec"
-	"syscall"
-
-	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
-)
-
-type Communicator struct{}
-
-func (c *Communicator) Start(cmd *packer.RemoteCmd) error {
-	localCmd := exec.Command("sh", "-c", cmd.Command)
-	localCmd.Stdin = cmd.Stdin
-	localCmd.Stdout = cmd.Stdout
-	localCmd.Stderr = cmd.Stderr
-
-	// Start it. If it doesn't work, then error right away.
-	if err := localCmd.Start(); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// We've started successfully. Start a goroutine to wait for
-	// it to complete and track exit status.
-	go func() {
-		var exitStatus int
-		err := localCmd.Wait()
-		if err != nil {
-			if exitErr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
-				exitStatus = 1
-
-				// There is no process-independent way to get the REAL
-				// exit status so we just try to go deeper.
-				if status, ok := exitErr.Sys().(syscall.WaitStatus); ok {
-					exitStatus = status.ExitStatus()
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		cmd.SetExited(exitStatus)
-	}()
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (c *Communicator) Upload(string, io.Reader, *os.FileInfo) error {
-	return fmt.Errorf("upload not supported")
-}
-
-func (c *Communicator) UploadDir(string, string, []string) error {
-	return fmt.Errorf("uploadDir not supported")
-}
-
-func (c *Communicator) Download(string, io.Writer) error {
-	return fmt.Errorf("download not supported")
-}
-
-func (c *Communicator) DownloadDir(src string, dst string, exclude []string) error {
-	return fmt.Errorf("downloadDir not supported")
-}
diff --git a/post-processor/shell-local/communicator_test.go b/post-processor/shell-local/communicator_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 025deec54..000000000
--- a/post-processor/shell-local/communicator_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-package shell_local
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"runtime"
-	"strings"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
-)
-
-func TestCommunicator_impl(t *testing.T) {
-	var _ packer.Communicator = new(Communicator)
-}
-
-func TestCommunicator(t *testing.T) {
-	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		t.Skip("windows not supported for this test")
-		return
-	}
-
-	c := &Communicator{}
-
-	var buf bytes.Buffer
-	cmd := &packer.RemoteCmd{
-		Command: "/bin/echo foo",
-		Stdout:  &buf,
-	}
-
-	if err := c.Start(cmd); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	cmd.Wait()
-
-	if cmd.ExitStatus != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("err bad exit status: %d", cmd.ExitStatus)
-	}
-
-	if strings.TrimSpace(buf.String()) != "foo" {
-		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", buf.String())
-	}
-}
diff --git a/post-processor/shell-local/post-processor.go b/post-processor/shell-local/post-processor.go
index c2bd2d5c0..d77086177 100644
--- a/post-processor/shell-local/post-processor.go
+++ b/post-processor/shell-local/post-processor.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/common"
+	sl "github.com/hashicorp/packer/common/shell-local"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/helper/config"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/template/interpolate"
@@ -178,7 +179,10 @@ func (p *PostProcessor) PostProcess(ui packer.Ui, artifact packer.Artifact) (pac
 
 		ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Post processing with local shell script: %s", script))
 
-		comm := &Communicator{}
+		comm := &sl.Communicator{
+			Ctx:            p.config.ctx,
+			ExecuteCommand: []string{p.config.ExecuteCommand},
+		}
 
 		cmd := &packer.RemoteCmd{Command: command}
 
diff --git a/provisioner/shell-local/provisioner.go b/provisioner/shell-local/provisioner.go
index 3f8222c19..ecd59fa98 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell-local/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell-local/provisioner.go
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ package shell
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"runtime"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/common"
+	sl "github.com/hashicorp/packer/common/shell-local"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/helper/config"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/template/interpolate"
@@ -41,33 +41,12 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if len(p.config.ExecuteCommand) == 0 {
-		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-			p.config.ExecuteCommand = []string{
-				"cmd",
-				"/C",
-				"{{.Command}}",
-			}
-		} else {
-			p.config.ExecuteCommand = []string{
-				"/bin/sh",
-				"-c",
-				"{{.Command}}",
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	var errs *packer.MultiError
 	if p.config.Command == "" {
 		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
 			errors.New("command must be specified"))
 	}
 
-	if len(p.config.ExecuteCommand) == 0 {
-		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
-			errors.New("execute_command must not be empty"))
-	}
-
 	if errs != nil && len(errs.Errors) > 0 {
 		return errs
 	}
@@ -77,7 +56,7 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) error {
 
 func (p *Provisioner) Provision(ui packer.Ui, _ packer.Communicator) error {
 	// Make another communicator for local
-	comm := &Communicator{
+	comm := &sl.Communicator{
 		Ctx:            p.config.ctx,
 		ExecuteCommand: p.config.ExecuteCommand,
 	}