diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/config.go b/builder/googlecompute/config.go
index ab2d5b7cb..871176396 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/config.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/config.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	DiskType             string            `mapstructure:"disk_type"`
 	ImageName            string            `mapstructure:"image_name"`
 	ImageDescription     string            `mapstructure:"image_description"`
+	ImageFamily          string            `mapstructure:"image_family"`
 	InstanceName         string            `mapstructure:"instance_name"`
 	MachineType          string            `mapstructure:"machine_type"`
 	Metadata             map[string]string `mapstructure:"metadata"`
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/config_test.go b/builder/googlecompute/config_test.go
index 5c6ea6334..5124eadc9 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/config_test.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/config_test.go
@@ -108,6 +108,21 @@ func TestConfigPrepare(t *testing.T) {
 			"SO VERY BAD",
 			true,
 		},
+		{
+			"image_family",
+			nil,
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"image_family",
+			"",
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"image_family",
+			"foo-bar",
+			false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
@@ -182,6 +197,7 @@ func testConfig(t *testing.T) map[string]interface{} {
 		"account_file": testAccountFile(t),
 		"project_id":   "hashicorp",
 		"source_image": "foo",
+		"image_family": "bar",
 		"zone":         "us-east1-a",
 	}
 }
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/driver.go b/builder/googlecompute/driver.go
index 5f4ad3ca7..13cd2809e 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/driver.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/driver.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ type Driver interface {
 
 	// CreateImage creates an image from the given disk in Google Compute
 	// Engine.
-	CreateImage(name, description, zone, disk string) <-chan error
+	CreateImage(name, description, family, zone, disk string) <-chan error
 
 	// DeleteImage deletes the image with the given name.
 	DeleteImage(name string) <-chan error
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go b/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go
index bea0c4770..306ab1756 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go
@@ -91,10 +91,11 @@ func (d *driverGCE) ImageExists(name string) bool {
 	return err == nil
 }
 
-func (d *driverGCE) CreateImage(name, description, zone, disk string) <-chan error {
+func (d *driverGCE) CreateImage(name, description, family, zone, disk string) <-chan error {
 	image := &compute.Image{
 		Description: description,
 		Name:        name,
+		Family:      family,
 		SourceDisk:  fmt.Sprintf("%s%s/zones/%s/disks/%s", d.service.BasePath, d.projectId, zone, disk),
 		SourceType:  "RAW",
 	}
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/driver_mock.go b/builder/googlecompute/driver_mock.go
index 196aa1d81..551671a91 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/driver_mock.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/driver_mock.go
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@ type DriverMock struct {
 	ImageExistsName   string
 	ImageExistsResult bool
 
-	CreateImageName  string
-	CreateImageDesc  string
-	CreateImageZone  string
-	CreateImageDisk  string
-	CreateImageErrCh <-chan error
+	CreateImageName   string
+	CreateImageDesc   string
+	CreateImageFamily string
+	CreateImageZone   string
+	CreateImageDisk   string
+	CreateImageErrCh  <-chan error
 
 	DeleteImageName  string
 	DeleteImageErrCh <-chan error
@@ -50,9 +51,10 @@ func (d *DriverMock) ImageExists(name string) bool {
 	return d.ImageExistsResult
 }
 
-func (d *DriverMock) CreateImage(name, description, zone, disk string) <-chan error {
+func (d *DriverMock) CreateImage(name, description, family, zone, disk string) <-chan error {
 	d.CreateImageName = name
 	d.CreateImageDesc = description
+	d.CreateImageFamily = family
 	d.CreateImageZone = zone
 	d.CreateImageDisk = disk
 
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image.go
index 47838bc6c..dbb690dd3 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func (s *StepCreateImage) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
 
 	ui.Say("Creating image...")
-	errCh := driver.CreateImage(config.ImageName, config.ImageDescription, config.Zone, config.DiskName)
+	errCh := driver.CreateImage(config.ImageName, config.ImageDescription, config.ImageFamily, config.Zone, config.DiskName)
 	var err error
 	select {
 	case err = <-errCh:
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image_test.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image_test.go
index c9043a39a..4358f10de 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image_test.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_image_test.go
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ func TestStepCreateImage(t *testing.T) {
 	if driver.CreateImageDesc != config.ImageDescription {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", driver.CreateImageDesc)
 	}
+	if driver.CreateImageFamily != config.ImageFamily {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", driver.CreateImageFamily)
+	}
 	if driver.CreateImageZone != config.Zone {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", driver.CreateImageZone)
 	}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/builders/googlecompute.html.md b/website/source/docs/builders/googlecompute.html.md
index 0d264bc97..24f33b8cb 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/builders/googlecompute.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/builders/googlecompute.html.md
@@ -126,11 +126,13 @@ builder.
 
 -   `disk_type` (string) - Type of disk used to back your instance, like `pd-ssd` or `pd-standard`. Defaults to `pd-standard`.
 
+-   `image_description` (string) - The description of the resulting image.
+
+-   `image_family` (string) - The name of the image family to which the resulting image belongs. You can create disks by specifying an image family instead of a specific image name. The image family always returns its latest image that is not deprecated.
+
 -   `image_name` (string) - The unique name of the resulting image. Defaults to
     `"packer-{{timestamp}}"`.
 
--   `image_description` (string) - The description of the resulting image.
-
 -   `instance_name` (string) - A name to give the launched instance. Beware that
     this must be unique. Defaults to `"packer-{{uuid}}"`.