diff --git a/common/shell-local/run.go b/common/shell-local/run.go
index 51bb047b0..ede99e30d 100644
--- a/common/shell-local/run.go
+++ b/common/shell-local/run.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/common"
 	commonhelper "github.com/hashicorp/packer/helper/common"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/template/interpolate"
@@ -165,6 +166,12 @@ func createFlattenedEnvVars(config *Config) (string, error) {
 	envVars["PACKER_BUILD_NAME"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s", config.PackerBuildName)
 	envVars["PACKER_BUILDER_TYPE"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s", config.PackerBuilderType)
 
+	// expose PACKER_HTTP_ADDR
+	httpAddr := common.GetHTTPAddr()
+	if httpAddr != "" {
+		envVars["PACKER_HTTP_ADDR"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s", httpAddr)
+	}
+
 	// interpolate environment variables
 	config.Ctx.Data = &EnvVarsTemplate{
 		WinRMPassword: getWinRMPassword(config.PackerBuildName),
diff --git a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell-local.html.md b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell-local.html.md
index d64e19fac..16719f239 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell-local.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell-local.html.md
@@ -184,6 +184,13 @@ commonly useful environmental variables:
     machine that the script is running on. This is useful if you want to run
     only certain parts of the script on systems built with certain builders.
 
+-   `PACKER_HTTP_ADDR` If using a builder that provides an http server for file
+    transfer (such as hyperv, parallels, qemu, virtualbox, and vmware), this
+    will be set to the address. You can use this address in your provisioner to
+    download large files over http. This may be useful if you're experiencing
+    slower speeds using the default file provisioner. A file provisioner using
+    the `winrm` communicator may experience these types of difficulties.
+
 ## Safely Writing A Script
 
 Whether you use the `inline` option, or pass it a direct `script` or `scripts`,