diff --git a/builder/vmware/builder.go b/builder/vmware/builder.go
index ac8b574d5..95028d744 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/builder.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/builder.go
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook) packer.Artifact {
 	rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
 
 	steps := []multistep.Step{
+		&stepDownloadISO{},
 		&stepPrepareOutputDir{},
 		&stepCreateDisk{},
 		&stepCreateVMX{},
diff --git a/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go b/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go
index 313111126..f8ff37665 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ type vmxTemplateData struct {
 //
 // Uses:
 //   config *config
+//   iso_path string
 //   ui     packer.Ui
 //
 // Produces:
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ type stepCreateVMX struct{}
 
 func (stepCreateVMX) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
 	config := state["config"].(*config)
+	isoPath := state["iso_path"].(string)
 	ui := state["ui"].(packer.Ui)
 
 	ui.Say("Building and writing VMX file")
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ func (stepCreateVMX) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
 		config.VMName,
 		config.GuestOSType,
 		config.DiskName,
-		config.ISOUrl,
+		isoPath,
 	}
 
 	var buf bytes.Buffer
diff --git a/builder/vmware/step_download_iso.go b/builder/vmware/step_download_iso.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..39fa728c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/vmware/step_download_iso.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package vmware
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	"log"
+)
+
+// This step downloads the ISO specified.
+//
+// Uses:
+//   config *config
+//   ui     packer.Ui
+//
+// Produces:
+//   iso_path string
+type stepDownloadISO struct{}
+
+func (stepDownloadISO) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
+	config := state["config"].(*config)
+
+	log.Printf("Acquiring lock to download the ISO.")
+
+	state["iso_path"] = config.ISOUrl
+
+	return multistep.ActionContinue
+}
+
+func (stepDownloadISO) Cleanup(map[string]interface{}) {}