diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go b/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go
index e498ed43b..3de529eeb 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func commHost(state multistep.StateBag) (string, error) {
+	config := state.Get("config").(*Config)
+	if config.Comm.SSHHost != "" {
+		return config.Comm.SSHHost, nil
+	}
 	ipAddress := state.Get("instance_ip").(string)
 	return ipAddress, nil
 }