diff --git a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
index 7bf8da23d..2a9a08522 100644
--- a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Provision(ui packer.Ui, comm packer.Communicator) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	encryptedDataBagSecret := ""
+	encryptedDataBagSecretPath := ""
 	if p.config.EncryptedDataBagSecretPath != "" {
 		encryptedDataBagSecretPath = fmt.Sprintf("%s/encrypted_data_bag_secret", p.config.StagingDir)
 		if err := p.uploadFile(ui, comm, encryptedDataBagSecretPath, p.config.EncryptedDataBagSecretPath); err != nil {
diff --git a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
index 46da3c465..f7094103e 100644
--- a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
+++ b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
@@ -155,6 +155,49 @@ func TestProvisionerPrepare_dataBagsPath(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestProvisionerPrepare_encryptedDataBagSecretPath(t *testing.T) {
+	var err error
+	var p Provisioner
+
+	// Test no config template
+	config := testConfig()
+	delete(config, "encrypted_data_bag_secret_path")
+	err = p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Test with a file
+	tf, err := ioutil.TempFile("", "packer")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer os.Remove(tf.Name())
+
+	config = testConfig()
+	config["encrypted_data_bag_secret_path"] = tf.Name()
+	p = Provisioner{}
+	err = p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Test with a directory
+	td, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "packer")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
+
+	config = testConfig()
+	config["encrypted_data_bag_secret_path"] = td
+	p = Provisioner{}
+	err = p.Prepare(config)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("should have err")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestProvisionerPrepare_environmentsPath(t *testing.T) {
 	var p Provisioner