diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy
index 202d20c81a9..79a199e98e4 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package org.elasticsearch.gradle.test
 
+import org.gradle.api.GradleException
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import org.gradle.api.file.FileCollection
 import org.gradle.api.tasks.Input
@@ -65,6 +66,9 @@ class ClusterConfiguration {
 
     Map<String, String> settings = new HashMap<>()
 
+    // map from destination path, to source file
+    Map<String, Object> extraConfigFiles = new HashMap<>()
+
     LinkedHashMap<String, Object> plugins = new LinkedHashMap<>()
 
     LinkedHashMap<String, Object[]> setupCommands = new LinkedHashMap<>()
@@ -93,4 +97,16 @@ class ClusterConfiguration {
     void setupCommand(String name, Object... args) {
         setupCommands.put(name, args)
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Add an extra configuration file. The path is relative to the config dir, and the sourceFile
+     * is anything accepted by project.file()
+     */
+    @Input
+    void extraConfigFile(String path, Object sourceFile) {
+        if (path == 'elasticsearch.yml') {
+            throw new GradleException('Overwriting elasticsearch.yml is not allowed, add additional settings using cluster { setting "foo", "bar" }')
+        }
+        extraConfigFiles.put(path, sourceFile)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
index 51d6ee7b4b8..fe92d9cdcfe 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
@@ -167,7 +167,14 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
             'repositories.url.allowed_urls'   : 'http://snapshot.test*'
         ]
 
-        return project.tasks.create(name: name, type: DefaultTask, dependsOn: setup) << {
+        Copy copyConfig = project.tasks.create(name: name, type: Copy, dependsOn: setup)
+        copyConfig.into(new File(node.homeDir, 'config')) // copy must always have a general dest dir, even though we don't use it
+        for (Map.Entry<String,Object> extraConfigFile : node.config.extraConfigFiles.entrySet()) {
+            copyConfig.from(extraConfigFile.getValue())
+                      .into(new File(node.homeDir, 'config/' + extraConfigFile.getKey()))
+        }
+        copyConfig.doLast {
+            // write elasticsearch.yml last, it cannot be overriden
             File configFile = new File(node.homeDir, 'config/elasticsearch.yml')
             logger.info("Configuring ${configFile}")
             configFile.setText(esConfig.collect { key, value -> "${key}: ${value}" }.join('\n'), 'UTF-8')