diff --git a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
index baedd645a..338092755 100644
--- a/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/shell/provisioner.go
@@ -266,12 +266,25 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Provision(ui packer.Ui, comm packer.Communicator) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		// Close the original file since we copied it
-		f.Close()
-
 		if cmd.ExitStatus != 0 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Script exited with non-zero exit status: %d", cmd.ExitStatus)
 		}
+
+		// Delete the temporary file we created
+		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()
+		if cmd.ExitStatus != 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"Error removing temporary script at %s!",
+				p.config.RemotePath)
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil