diff --git a/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance.go b/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance.go
index 255718e5c..956f27457 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance.go
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ func resourceComputeInstance() *schema.Resource {
 							ForceNew: true,
 						},
 
+						"scratch": &schema.Schema{
+							Type:     schema.TypeBool,
+							Optional: true,
+							ForceNew: true,
+						},
+
 						"auto_delete": &schema.Schema{
 							Type:     schema.TypeBool,
 							Optional: true,
@@ -319,6 +325,15 @@ func resourceComputeInstanceCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) err
 			}
 
 			disk.Source = diskData.SelfLink
+		} else {
+			// Create a new disk
+			disk.InitializeParams = &compute.AttachedDiskInitializeParams{ }
+		}
+
+		if v, ok := d.GetOk(prefix + ".scratch"); ok {
+			if v.(bool) {
+				disk.Type = "SCRATCH"
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Load up the image for this disk if specified
@@ -332,9 +347,7 @@ func resourceComputeInstanceCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) err
 					imageName, err)
 			}
 
-			disk.InitializeParams = &compute.AttachedDiskInitializeParams{
-				SourceImage: imageUrl,
-			}
+			disk.InitializeParams.SourceImage = imageUrl
 		}
 
 		if v, ok := d.GetOk(prefix + ".type"); ok {
diff --git a/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance_test.go b/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance_test.go
index 9dabc2fb7..70d0c5f2f 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/google/resource_compute_instance_test.go
@@ -140,6 +140,26 @@ func TestAccComputeInstance_disks(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccComputeInstance_local_ssd(t *testing.T) {
+	var instance compute.Instance
+
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckComputeInstanceDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			resource.TestStep{
+				Config: testAccComputeInstance_local_ssd,
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckComputeInstanceExists(
+						"google_compute_instance.local-ssd", &instance),
+					testAccCheckComputeInstanceDisk(&instance, "terraform-test", true, true),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccComputeInstance_update_deprecated_network(t *testing.T) {
 	var instance compute.Instance
 
@@ -609,6 +629,27 @@ resource "google_compute_instance" "foobar" {
 	}
 }`
 
+const testAccComputeInstance_local_ssd = `
+resource "google_compute_instance" "local-ssd" {
+	name = "terraform-test"
+	machine_type = "n1-standard-1"
+	zone = "us-central1-a"
+
+	disk {
+		image = "debian-7-wheezy-v20140814"
+	}
+
+	disk {
+        type = "local-ssd"
+        scratch = true
+	}
+
+	network_interface {
+		network = "default"
+	}
+
+}`
+
 const testAccComputeInstance_service_account = `
 resource "google_compute_instance" "foobar" {
 	name = "terraform-test"
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/google/r/compute_instance.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/google/r/compute_instance.html.markdown
index a0361c5a5..ae231a8c4 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/google/r/compute_instance.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/google/r/compute_instance.html.markdown
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ resource "google_compute_instance" "default" {
 		image = "debian-7-wheezy-v20140814"
 	}
 
+	// Local SSD disk
+	disk {
+		type = "local-ssd"
+		scratch = true
+	}
+
 	network_interface {
 		network = "default"
         access_config {
@@ -79,22 +85,27 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 * `tags` - (Optional) Tags to attach to the instance.
 
-The `disk` block supports:
+The `disk` block supports: (Note that either disk or image is required, unless
+the type is "local-ssd", in which case scratch must be true).
 
-* `disk` - (Required if image not set) The name of the disk (such as
-     those managed by `google_compute_disk`) to attach.
+* `disk` - The name of the existing disk (such as those managed by
+  `google_compute_disk`) to attach.
 
-* `image` - (Required if disk not set) The image from which to initialize this
-  disk.  Either the full URL, a contraction of the form "project/name", or just
-  a name (in which case the current project is used).
+* `image` - The image from which to initialize this
+    disk.  Either the full URL, a contraction of the form "project/name", or just
+    a name (in which case the current project is used).
 
 * `auto_delete` - (Optional) Whether or not the disk should be auto-deleted.
-    This defaults to true.
+    This defaults to true.  Leave true for local SSDs.
 
-* `type` - (Optional) The GCE disk type.
+* `type` - (Optional) The GCE disk type, e.g. pd-standard, pd-ssd, or local-ssd.
 
-* `size` - (Optional) The size of the image in gigabytes. If not specified,
-    it will inherit the size of its base image.
+* `scratch` - (Optional) Whether the disk is a scratch disk as opposed to a
+    persistent disk (required for local-ssd).
+
+* `size` - (Optional) The size of the image in gigabytes. If not specified, it
+    will inherit the size of its base image.  Do not specify for local SSDs as
+    their size is fixed.
 
 * `device_name` - (Optional) Name with which attached disk will be accessible
     under `/dev/disk/by-id/`