diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
index de3c7b2ac..5e0592894 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func getImage(c *Config, d Driver) (*Image, error) {
 func (s *StepCreateInstance) Run(_ context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	c := state.Get("config").(*Config)
 	d := state.Get("driver").(Driver)
-	sshPublicKey := state.Get("ssh_public_key").(string)
+
 	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
 
 	sourceImage, err := getImage(c, d)
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func (s *StepCreateInstance) Run(_ context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) mu
 
 	var errCh <-chan error
 	var metadata map[string]string
-	metadata, err = c.createInstanceMetadata(sourceImage, sshPublicKey)
+	metadata, err = c.createInstanceMetadata(sourceImage, string(c.Comm.SSHPublicKey))
 	errCh, err = d.RunInstance(&InstanceConfig{
 		AcceleratorType:              c.AcceleratorType,
 		AcceleratorCount:             c.AcceleratorCount,
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go
index 7d5a24555..476ea454c 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_ssh_key.go
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ type StepCreateSSHKey struct {
 }
 
 // Run executes the Packer build step that generates SSH key pairs.
-// The key pairs are added to the multistep state as "ssh_private_key" and
-// "ssh_public_key".
+// The key pairs are added to the ssh config
 func (s *StepCreateSSHKey) Run(_ context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
+	config := state.Get("config").(*Config)
 
 	if s.PrivateKeyFile != "" {
 		ui.Say("Using existing SSH private key")
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ func (s *StepCreateSSHKey) Run(_ context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) mult
 			return multistep.ActionHalt
 		}
 
-		state.Put("ssh_private_key", string(privateKeyBytes))
-		state.Put("ssh_public_key", "")
+		config.Comm.SSHPrivateKey = privateKeyBytes
+		config.Comm.SSHPublicKey = nil
 
 		return multistep.ActionContinue
 	}
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ func (s *StepCreateSSHKey) Run(_ context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) mult
 		ui.Error(err.Error())
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
-	state.Put("ssh_private_key", string(pem.EncodeToMemory(&priv_blk)))
-	state.Put("ssh_public_key", string(ssh.MarshalAuthorizedKey(pub)))
+	config.Comm.SSHPrivateKey = pem.EncodeToMemory(&priv_blk)
+	config.Comm.SSHPublicKey = ssh.MarshalAuthorizedKey(pub)
 
 	if s.Debug {
 		ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Saving key for debug purposes: %s", s.DebugKeyPath))
diff --git a/helper/communicator/config.go b/helper/communicator/config.go
index a0db7b6eb..3d25f210c 100644
--- a/helper/communicator/config.go
+++ b/helper/communicator/config.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	SSHPort                   int           `mapstructure:"ssh_port"`
 	SSHUsername               string        `mapstructure:"ssh_username"`
 	SSHPassword               string        `mapstructure:"ssh_password"`
+	SSHPublicKey              []byte        `mapstructure:"ssh_public_key"`
+	SSHPrivateKey             []byte        `mapstructure:"ssh_private_key"`
 	SSHPrivateKeyFile         string        `mapstructure:"ssh_private_key_file"`
 	SSHPty                    bool          `mapstructure:"ssh_pty"`
 	SSHTimeout                time.Duration `mapstructure:"ssh_timeout"`
@@ -97,9 +99,8 @@ func (c *Config) SSHConfigFunc() func(multistep.StateBag) (*ssh.ClientConfig, er
 			privateKeys = append(privateKeys, []byte(iKey.(string)))
 		}
 
-		// gcp key
-		if iKey, hasKey := state.GetOk("ssh_private_key"); hasKey {
-			privateKeys = append(privateKeys, []byte(iKey.(string)))
+		if len(c.SSHPrivateKey) != 0 {
+			privateKeys = append(privateKeys, c.SSHPrivateKey)
 		}
 
 		//scaleway key