diff --git a/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner.go b/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner.go
index 1fb2d4bc6..e3dd4dd77 100644
--- a/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner.go
@@ -163,6 +163,17 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if p.config.ManifestDir != "" {
+		info, err := os.Stat(p.config.ManifestDir)
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+				fmt.Errorf("manifest_dir is invalid: %s", err))
+		} else if !info.IsDir() {
+			errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+				fmt.Errorf("manifest_dir must point to a directory"))
+		}
+	}
+
 	if p.config.ManifestFile == "" {
 		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
 			fmt.Errorf("A manifest_file must be specified."))
diff --git a/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner_test.go b/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner_test.go
index b71534aea..0d5576b6b 100644
--- a/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner_test.go
+++ b/provisioner/puppet-masterless/provisioner_test.go
@@ -87,13 +87,13 @@ func TestProvisionerPrepare_manifestDir(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Test with a good one
-	tf, err := ioutil.TempFile("", "packer")
+	td, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "packer")
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("error tempfile: %s", err)
+		t.Fatalf("error: %s", err)
 	}
-	defer os.Remove(tf.Name())
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
 
-	config["manifest_dir"] = tf.Name()
+	config["manifest_dir"] = td
 	p = new(Provisioner)
 	err = p.Prepare(config)
 	if err != nil {