diff --git a/builder/virtualbox/common/step_ssh_key_pair.go b/builder/virtualbox/common/step_ssh_key_pair.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..afb4f9563
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/virtualbox/common/step_ssh_key_pair.go
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package common
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"runtime"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/common/uuid"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/helper/communicator"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/helper/multistep"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
+)
+
+// StepSshKeyPair executes the business logic for setting the SSH key pair in
+// the specified communicator.Config.
+type StepSshKeyPair struct {
+	Debug        bool
+	DebugKeyPath string
+	Comm         *communicator.Config
+}
+
+func (s *StepSshKeyPair) Run(_ context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
+	if s.Comm.SSHPassword != "" {
+		return multistep.ActionContinue
+	}
+
+	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
+
+	if s.Comm.SSHPrivateKeyFile != "" {
+		ui.Say("Using existing SSH private key for the communicator...")
+		privateKeyBytes, err := s.Comm.ReadSSHPrivateKeyFile()
+		if err != nil {
+			state.Put("error", err)
+			return multistep.ActionHalt
+		}
+
+		s.Comm.SSHPrivateKey = privateKeyBytes
+
+		return multistep.ActionContinue
+	}
+
+	if s.Comm.SSHAgentAuth {
+		ui.Say("Using local SSH Agent to authenticate connections for the communicator...")
+		return multistep.ActionContinue
+	}
+
+	ui.Say("Creating ephemeral key pair for SSH communicator...")
+
+	// TODO: Should we respect 's.Comm.SSHTemporaryKeyPairName'?
+	//  It appears to be specific to certain other builders, but it is not
+	//  mentioned in the virtualbox builders' documentation.
+	s.Comm.SSHKeyPairName = fmt.Sprintf("packer_%s", uuid.TimeOrderedUUID())
+
+	kp, err := newSshKeyPairBuilder().Build()
+	if err != nil {
+		state.Put("error", fmt.Errorf("Error creating temporary keypair: %s", err))
+		return multistep.ActionHalt
+	}
+
+	s.Comm.SSHPrivateKey = kp.PrivateKeyPemBlock()
+	s.Comm.SSHPublicKey = kp.PublicKeyAuthorizedKeysFormat(unixNewLine)
+
+	ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Created ephemeral SSH key pair of type %s", kp.Description()))
+
+	// If we're in debug mode, output the private key to the working
+	// directory.
+	if s.Debug {
+		ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Saving communicator private key for debug purposes: %s", s.DebugKeyPath))
+		f, err := os.Create(s.DebugKeyPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			state.Put("error", fmt.Errorf("Error saving debug key: %s", err))
+			return multistep.ActionHalt
+		}
+		defer f.Close()
+
+		// Write the key out
+		if _, err := f.Write(kp.PrivateKeyPemBlock()); err != nil {
+			state.Put("error", fmt.Errorf("Error saving debug key: %s", err))
+			return multistep.ActionHalt
+		}
+
+		// Chmod it so that it is SSH ready
+		if runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
+			if err := f.Chmod(0600); err != nil {
+				state.Put("error", fmt.Errorf("Error setting permissions of debug key: %s", err))
+				return multistep.ActionHalt
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return multistep.ActionContinue
+}
+
+func (s *StepSshKeyPair) Cleanup(state multistep.StateBag) {
+	if s.Debug {
+		if err := os.Remove(s.DebugKeyPath); err != nil {
+			ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
+			ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+				"Error removing debug key '%s': %s", s.DebugKeyPath, err))
+		}
+	}
+}