diff --git a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
index 3c32b3fc2..78826b638 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	// This can be set high to allow for reboots.
 	RawStartRetryTimeout string `mapstructure:"start_retry_timeout"`
 
+	// Whether to clean scripts up
+	SkipClean bool `mapstructure:"skip_clean"`
+
 	startRetryTimeout time.Duration
 	ctx               interpolate.Context
 }
@@ -271,29 +274,32 @@ 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. 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 !p.config.SkipClean {
+
+			// 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
 			}
-			if err := comm.Start(cmd); err != nil {
+
+			if cmd.ExitStatus != 0 {
 				return fmt.Errorf(
-					"Error removing temporary script at %s: %s",
-					p.config.RemotePath, err)
+					"Error removing temporary script at %s!",
+					p.config.RemotePath)
 			}
-			cmd.Wait()
-			return nil
-		})
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		if cmd.ExitStatus != 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf(
-				"Error removing temporary script at %s!",
-				p.config.RemotePath)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.markdown
index eb5f36d9e..710c201ca 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.markdown
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ Optional parameters:
     system reboot. Set this to a higher value if reboots take a longer amount
     of time.
 
+-   `skip_clean` (boolean) - If true, specifies that the helper scripts 
+    uploaded to the system will not be removed by Packer. This defaults to 
+    false (clean scripts from the system).
+
 ## Execute Command Example
 
 To many new users, the `execute_command` is puzzling. However, it provides an