diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/builder.go b/builder/googlecompute/builder.go
index 8e35598d2..3ed576b50 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/builder.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/builder.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/helper/communicator"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
 )
 
@@ -60,10 +61,10 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 		&StepInstanceInfo{
 			Debug: b.config.PackerDebug,
 		},
-		&common.StepConnectSSH{
-			SSHAddress:     sshAddress,
-			SSHConfig:      sshConfig,
-			SSHWaitTimeout: b.config.sshTimeout,
+		&communicator.StepConnect{
+			Config:     &b.config.Comm,
+			SSHAddress: sshAddress,
+			SSHConfig:  sshConfig,
 		},
 		new(common.StepProvision),
 		new(StepTeardownInstance),
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/config.go b/builder/googlecompute/config.go
index 69d223a75..7f59aa183 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/config.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/config.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common/uuid"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/helper/communicator"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/helper/config"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/template/interpolate"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 // state of the config object.
 type Config struct {
 	common.PackerConfig `mapstructure:",squash"`
+	Comm                communicator.Config `mapstructure:",squash"`
 
 	AccountFile string `mapstructure:"account_file"`
 	ProjectId   string `mapstructure:"project_id"`
@@ -31,16 +33,12 @@ type Config struct {
 	Network              string            `mapstructure:"network"`
 	SourceImage          string            `mapstructure:"source_image"`
 	SourceImageProjectId string            `mapstructure:"source_image_project_id"`
-	SSHUsername          string            `mapstructure:"ssh_username"`
-	SSHPort              uint              `mapstructure:"ssh_port"`
-	RawSSHTimeout        string            `mapstructure:"ssh_timeout"`
 	RawStateTimeout      string            `mapstructure:"state_timeout"`
 	Tags                 []string          `mapstructure:"tags"`
 	Zone                 string            `mapstructure:"zone"`
 
 	account         accountFile
 	privateKeyBytes []byte
-	sshTimeout      time.Duration
 	stateTimeout    time.Duration
 	ctx             *interpolate.Context
 }
@@ -88,20 +86,12 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 		c.MachineType = "n1-standard-1"
 	}
 
-	if c.RawSSHTimeout == "" {
-		c.RawSSHTimeout = "5m"
-	}
-
 	if c.RawStateTimeout == "" {
 		c.RawStateTimeout = "5m"
 	}
 
-	if c.SSHUsername == "" {
-		c.SSHUsername = "root"
-	}
-
-	if c.SSHPort == 0 {
-		c.SSHPort = 22
+	if c.Comm.SSHUsername == "" {
+		c.Comm.SSHUsername = "root"
 	}
 
 	var errs *packer.MultiError
@@ -122,14 +112,6 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 			errs, errors.New("a zone must be specified"))
 	}
 
-	// Process timeout settings.
-	sshTimeout, err := time.ParseDuration(c.RawSSHTimeout)
-	if err != nil {
-		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(
-			errs, fmt.Errorf("Failed parsing ssh_timeout: %s", err))
-	}
-	c.sshTimeout = sshTimeout
-
 	stateTimeout, err := time.ParseDuration(c.RawStateTimeout)
 	if err != nil {
 		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go b/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go
index e04029e44..446648884 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/ssh.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 func sshAddress(state multistep.StateBag) (string, error) {
 	config := state.Get("config").(*Config)
 	ipAddress := state.Get("instance_ip").(string)
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", ipAddress, config.SSHPort), nil
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", ipAddress, config.Comm.SSHPort), nil
 }
 
 // sshConfig returns the ssh configuration.
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ func sshConfig(state multistep.StateBag) (*ssh.ClientConfig, error) {
 	}
 
 	return &ssh.ClientConfig{
-		User: config.SSHUsername,
+		User: config.Comm.SSHUsername,
 		Auth: []ssh.AuthMethod{
 			ssh.PublicKeys(signer),
 		},
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
index 6bfee5460..939925c58 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func (config *Config) getInstanceMetadata(sshPublicKey string) map[string]string
 
 	// Merge any existing ssh keys with our public key
 	sshMetaKey := "sshKeys"
-	sshKeys := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", config.SSHUsername, sshPublicKey)
+	sshKeys := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", config.Comm.SSHUsername, sshPublicKey)
 	if confSshKeys, exists := instanceMetadata[sshMetaKey]; exists {
 		sshKeys = fmt.Sprintf("%s\n%s", sshKeys, confSshKeys)
 	}