diff --git a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
index c2ae4d938..2f64759b9 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
@@ -270,16 +270,25 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Provision(ui packer.Ui, comm packer.Communicator) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Script exited with non-zero exit status: %d", cmd.ExitStatus)
 		}
 
-		// Delete the temporary file we created
-		cmd = &packer.RemoteCmd{
-			Command: fmt.Sprintf("rm -f %s", p.config.RemotePath),
-		}
-		if err := comm.Start(cmd); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf(
-				"Error removing temporary script at %s: %s",
-				p.config.RemotePath, err)
+		// Delete the temporary file we created. We retry this a few times
+		// since if the above rebooted we have to wait until the reboot
+		// completes.
+		err = p.retryable(func() error {
+			cmd = &packer.RemoteCmd{
+				Command: fmt.Sprintf("rm -f %s", p.config.RemotePath),
+			}
+			if err := comm.Start(cmd); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf(
+					"Error removing temporary script at %s: %s",
+					p.config.RemotePath, err)
+			}
+			cmd.Wait()
+			return nil
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-		cmd.Wait()
+
 		if cmd.ExitStatus != 0 {
 			return fmt.Errorf(
 				"Error removing temporary script at %s!",