diff --git a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
index 78826b638..82224922d 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
@@ -44,8 +44,17 @@ type Config struct {
 	// your command(s) are executed.
 	Vars []string `mapstructure:"environment_vars"`
 
+	// The remote folder where the local shell script will be uploaded to.
+	// This should be set to a pre-existing directory, it defaults to /tmp
+	RemoteFolder string `mapstructure:"remote_folder"`
+
+	// The remote file name of the local shell script.
+	// This defaults to script_nnn.sh
+	RemoteFile string `mapstructure:"remote_file"`
+
 	// The remote path where the local shell script will be uploaded to.
 	// This should be set to a writable file that is in a pre-existing directory.
+	// This defaults to remote_folder/remote_file
 	RemotePath string `mapstructure:"remote_path"`
 
 	// The command used to execute the script. The '{{ .Path }}' variable
@@ -104,9 +113,17 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) error {
 		p.config.RawStartRetryTimeout = "5m"
 	}
 
+	if p.config.RemoteFolder == "" {
+		p.config.RemoteFolder = "/tmp"
+	}
+
+	if p.config.RemoteFile == "" {
+		p.config.RemoteFile = fmt.Sprintf("script_%d.sh", rand.Intn(9999))
+	}
+
 	if p.config.RemotePath == "" {
 		p.config.RemotePath = fmt.Sprintf(
-			"/tmp/script_%d.sh", rand.Intn(9999))
+			"%s/%s", p.config.RemoteFolder, p.config.RemoteFile)
 	}
 
 	if p.config.Scripts == nil {
diff --git a/provisioner/shell/provisioner_test.go b/provisioner/shell/provisioner_test.go
index 165490e2a..6f6b5424a 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell/provisioner_test.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell/provisioner_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
+	"strings"
+	"regexp"
 )
 
 func testConfig() map[string]interface{} {
@@ -217,3 +219,131 @@ func TestProvisionerQuote_EnvironmentVars(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("%s should be equal to %s", p.config.Vars[1], expectedValue)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestProvisioner_RemoteFolderSetSuccessfully(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	expectedRemoteFolder := "/example/path"
+	config["remote_folder"] = expectedRemoteFolder
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(p.config.RemotePath, expectedRemoteFolder) {
+		t.Fatalf("remote path does not contain remote_folder")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProvisioner_RemoteFolderDefaultsToTmp(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if p.config.RemoteFolder != "/tmp" {
+		t.Fatalf("remote_folder did not default to /tmp")
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(p.config.RemotePath, "/tmp") {
+		t.Fatalf("remote path does not contain remote_folder")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProvisioner_RemoteFileSetSuccessfully(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	expectedRemoteFile := "example.sh"
+	config["remote_file"] = expectedRemoteFile
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(p.config.RemotePath, expectedRemoteFile) {
+		t.Fatalf("remote path does not contain remote_file")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProvisioner_RemoteFileDefaultsToScriptnnnn(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	remoteFileRegex := regexp.MustCompile("script_[0-9]{4}.sh")
+
+	if !remoteFileRegex.MatchString(p.config.RemoteFile) {
+		t.Fatalf("remote_file did not default to script_nnnn.sh")
+	}
+
+	if !remoteFileRegex.MatchString(p.config.RemotePath) {
+		t.Fatalf("remote_path did not match script_nnnn.sh")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProvisioner_RemotePathSetViaRemotePathAndRemoteFile(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	expectedRemoteFile := "example.sh"
+	expectedRemoteFolder := "/example/path"
+	config["remote_file"] = expectedRemoteFile
+	config["remote_folder"] = expectedRemoteFolder
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if p.config.RemotePath != expectedRemoteFolder + "/" + expectedRemoteFile {
+		t.Fatalf("remote path does not contain remote_file")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProvisioner_RemotePathOverridesRemotePathAndRemoteFile(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	expectedRemoteFile := "example.sh"
+	expectedRemoteFolder := "/example/path"
+	expectedRemotePath := "/example/remote/path/script.sh"
+	config["remote_file"] = expectedRemoteFile
+	config["remote_folder"] = expectedRemoteFolder
+	config["remote_path"] = expectedRemotePath
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if p.config.RemotePath != expectedRemotePath {
+		t.Fatalf("remote path does not contain remote_path")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestProvisionerRemotePathDefaultsSuccessfully(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	p := new(Provisioner)
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	remotePathRegex := regexp.MustCompile("/tmp/script_[0-9]{4}.sh")
+
+	if !remotePathRegex.MatchString(p.config.RemotePath) {
+		t.Fatalf("remote path does not match the expected default regex")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md
index 78e85c3cf..4df9321d6 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md
@@ -78,10 +78,15 @@ Optional parameters:
     **Important:** If you customize this, be sure to include something like the
     `-e` flag, otherwise individual steps failing won't fail the provisioner.
 
--   `remote_path` (string) - The filename where the script will be uploaded
-    to in the machine. This defaults to `/tmp/script_nnn.sh` where "nnn" is
-    a randomly generated number. This value must be a writable location and
-    any parent directories must already exist.
+-   `remote_folder` (string) - The folder where the uploaded script will reside on
+    the machine. This defaults to '/tmp'.
+
+-   `remote_file` (string) - The filename the uploaded script will have on the machine.
+    This defaults to 'script_nnn.sh'.
+
+-   `remote_path` (string) - The full path to the uploaded script will have on the
+     machine. By default this is remote_folder/remote_file, if set this option will
+     override both remote_folder and remote_file.
 
 -   `skip_clean` (boolean) - If true, specifies that the helper scripts 
     uploaded to the system will not be removed by Packer. This defaults to