diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/config.go b/builder/googlecompute/config.go
index 803963eb3..52df02f3a 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/config.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/config.go
@@ -16,25 +16,26 @@ import (
 type Config struct {
 	common.PackerConfig `mapstructure:",squash"`
 
-	BucketName        string            `mapstructure:"bucket_name"`
-	ClientSecretsFile string            `mapstructure:"client_secrets_file"`
-	DiskSizeGb        int64             `mapstructure:"disk_size"`
-	ImageName         string            `mapstructure:"image_name"`
-	ImageDescription  string            `mapstructure:"image_description"`
-	InstanceName      string            `mapstructure:"instance_name"`
-	MachineType       string            `mapstructure:"machine_type"`
-	Metadata          map[string]string `mapstructure:"metadata"`
-	Network           string            `mapstructure:"network"`
-	Passphrase        string            `mapstructure:"passphrase"`
-	PrivateKeyFile    string            `mapstructure:"private_key_file"`
-	ProjectId         string            `mapstructure:"project_id"`
-	SourceImage       string            `mapstructure:"source_image"`
-	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"`
+	BucketName           string            `mapstructure:"bucket_name"`
+	ClientSecretsFile    string            `mapstructure:"client_secrets_file"`
+	DiskSizeGb           int64             `mapstructure:"disk_size"`
+	ImageName            string            `mapstructure:"image_name"`
+	ImageDescription     string            `mapstructure:"image_description"`
+	InstanceName         string            `mapstructure:"instance_name"`
+	MachineType          string            `mapstructure:"machine_type"`
+	Metadata             map[string]string `mapstructure:"metadata"`
+	Network              string            `mapstructure:"network"`
+	Passphrase           string            `mapstructure:"passphrase"`
+	PrivateKeyFile       string            `mapstructure:"private_key_file"`
+	ProjectId            string            `mapstructure:"project_id"`
+	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"`
 
 	clientSecrets   *clientSecrets
 	instanceName    string
@@ -103,21 +104,22 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 
 	// Process Templates
 	templates := map[string]*string{
-		"bucket_name":         &c.BucketName,
-		"client_secrets_file": &c.ClientSecretsFile,
-		"image_name":          &c.ImageName,
-		"image_description":   &c.ImageDescription,
-		"instance_name":       &c.InstanceName,
-		"machine_type":        &c.MachineType,
-		"network":             &c.Network,
-		"passphrase":          &c.Passphrase,
-		"private_key_file":    &c.PrivateKeyFile,
-		"project_id":          &c.ProjectId,
-		"source_image":        &c.SourceImage,
-		"ssh_username":        &c.SSHUsername,
-		"ssh_timeout":         &c.RawSSHTimeout,
-		"state_timeout":       &c.RawStateTimeout,
-		"zone":                &c.Zone,
+		"bucket_name":             &c.BucketName,
+		"client_secrets_file":     &c.ClientSecretsFile,
+		"image_name":              &c.ImageName,
+		"image_description":       &c.ImageDescription,
+		"instance_name":           &c.InstanceName,
+		"machine_type":            &c.MachineType,
+		"network":                 &c.Network,
+		"passphrase":              &c.Passphrase,
+		"private_key_file":        &c.PrivateKeyFile,
+		"project_id":              &c.ProjectId,
+		"source_image":            &c.SourceImage,
+		"source_image_project_id": &c.SourceImageProjectId,
+		"ssh_username":            &c.SSHUsername,
+		"ssh_timeout":             &c.RawSSHTimeout,
+		"state_timeout":           &c.RawStateTimeout,
+		"zone":                    &c.Zone,
 	}
 
 	for n, ptr := range templates {
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/driver.go b/builder/googlecompute/driver.go
index f4b6006a9..da1b52088 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/driver.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/driver.go
@@ -23,10 +23,15 @@ type Driver interface {
 	WaitForInstance(state, zone, name string) <-chan error
 }
 
+type Image struct {
+	Name      string
+	ProjectId string
+}
+
 type InstanceConfig struct {
 	Description string
 	DiskSizeGb  int64
-	Image       string
+	Image       Image
 	MachineType string
 	Metadata    map[string]string
 	Name        string
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go b/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go
index 65d7c7bcd..1439b7e3a 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/driver_gce.go
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (d *driverGCE) RunInstance(c *InstanceConfig) (<-chan error, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Get the image
-	d.ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Loading image: %s", c.Image))
+	d.ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Loading image: %s in project %s", c.Image.Name, c.Image.ProjectId))
 	image, err := d.getImage(c.Image)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -229,17 +229,17 @@ func (d *driverGCE) WaitForInstance(state, zone, name string) <-chan error {
 	return errCh
 }
 
-func (d *driverGCE) getImage(name string) (image *compute.Image, err error) {
-	projects := []string{d.projectId, "centos-cloud", "coreos-cloud", "debian-cloud", "google-containers", "opensuse-cloud", "rhel-cloud", "suse-cloud", "windows-cloud"}
+func (d *driverGCE) getImage(img Image) (image *compute.Image, err error) {
+	projects := []string{img.ProjectId, "centos-cloud", "coreos-cloud", "debian-cloud", "google-containers", "opensuse-cloud", "rhel-cloud", "suse-cloud", "windows-cloud"}
 	for _, project := range projects {
-		image, err = d.service.Images.Get(project, name).Do()
+		image, err = d.service.Images.Get(project, img.Name).Do()
 		if err == nil && image != nil && image.SelfLink != "" {
 			return
 		}
 		image = nil
 	}
 
-	err = fmt.Errorf("Image %s could not be found in any of these projects: %s", name, projects)
+	err = fmt.Errorf("Image %s could not be found in any of these projects: %s", img.Name, projects)
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
index 3eab82021..d35dc4157 100644
--- a/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
+++ b/builder/googlecompute/step_create_instance.go
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ type StepCreateInstance struct {
 	instanceName string
 }
 
+func (config *Config) getImage() (Image) {
+	project := config.ProjectId
+	if config.SourceImageProjectId != "" {
+		project = config.SourceImageProjectId
+	}
+	return Image{Name: config.SourceImage, ProjectId: project}
+}
+
 // Run executes the Packer build step that creates a GCE instance.
 func (s *StepCreateInstance) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	config := state.Get("config").(*Config)
@@ -29,7 +37,7 @@ func (s *StepCreateInstance) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction
 	errCh, err := driver.RunInstance(&InstanceConfig{
 		Description: "New instance created by Packer",
 		DiskSizeGb:  config.DiskSizeGb,
-		Image:       config.SourceImage,
+		Image:       config.getImage(),
 		MachineType: config.MachineType,
 		Metadata: map[string]string{
 			"sshKeys": fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", config.SSHUsername, sshPublicKey),