diff --git a/state/remote/consul.go b/state/remote/consul.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca98633d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/state/remote/consul.go
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package remote
+
+import (
+	"crypto/md5"
+	"fmt"
+
+	consulapi "github.com/hashicorp/consul/api"
+)
+
+func consulFactory(conf map[string]string) (Client, error) {
+	path, ok := conf["path"]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("missing 'path' configuration")
+	}
+
+	config := consulapi.DefaultConfig()
+	if token, ok := conf["access_token"]; ok && token != "" {
+		config.Token = token
+	}
+	if addr, ok := conf["address"]; ok && addr != "" {
+		config.Address = addr
+	}
+
+	client, err := consulapi.NewClient(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &ConsulClient{
+		Client: client,
+		Path:   path,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+type ConsulClient struct {
+	Client *consulapi.Client
+	Path   string
+}
+
+func (c *ConsulClient) Get() (*Payload, error) {
+	pair, _, err := c.Client.KV().Get(c.Path, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if pair == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	md5 := md5.Sum(pair.Value)
+	return &Payload{
+		Data: pair.Value,
+		MD5:  md5[:],
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (c *ConsulClient) Put(data []byte) error {
+	kv := c.Client.KV()
+	_, err := kv.Put(&consulapi.KVPair{
+		Key:   c.Path,
+		Value: data,
+	}, nil)
+	return err
+}
+
+func (c *ConsulClient) Delete() error {
+	kv := c.Client.KV()
+	_, err := kv.Delete(c.Path, nil)
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/state/remote/consul_test.go b/state/remote/consul_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d478c1264
--- /dev/null
+++ b/state/remote/consul_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package remote
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestConsulClient_impl(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ Client = new(ConsulClient)
+}
+
+func TestConsulClient(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, err := http.Get("http://google.com"); err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("skipping, internet seems to not be available: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	client, err := consulFactory(map[string]string{
+		"address": "demo.consul.io:80",
+		"path":    fmt.Sprintf("tf-unit/%s", time.Now().String()),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	testClient(t, client)
+}
diff --git a/state/remote/remote.go b/state/remote/remote.go
index 28cba741b..73020c66c 100644
--- a/state/remote/remote.go
+++ b/state/remote/remote.go
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package remote
 
+import (
+	"fmt"
+)
+
 // Client is the interface that must be implemented for a remote state
 // driver. It supports dumb put/get/delete, and the higher level structs
 // handle persisting the state properly here.
@@ -17,3 +21,20 @@ type Payload struct {
 
 // Factory is the factory function to create a remote client.
 type Factory func(map[string]string) (Client, error)
+
+// NewClient returns a new Client with the given type and configuration.
+// The client is looked up in the BuiltinClients variable.
+func NewClient(t string, conf map[string]string) (Client, error) {
+	f, ok := BuiltinClients[t]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown remote client type: %s", t)
+	}
+
+	return f(conf)
+}
+
+// BuiltinClients is the list of built-in clients that can be used with
+// NewClient.
+var BuiltinClients = map[string]Factory{
+	"consul": consulFactory,
+}
diff --git a/state/remote/remote_test.go b/state/remote/remote_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa25c8aed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/state/remote/remote_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package remote
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// testClient is a generic function to test any client.
+func testClient(t *testing.T, c Client) {
+	data := []byte("foo")
+
+	if err := c.Put(data); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("put: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	p, err := c.Get()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("get: %s", err)
+	}
+	if !bytes.Equal(p.Data, data) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", p)
+	}
+
+	if err := c.Delete(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("delete: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	p, err = c.Get()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("get: %s", err)
+	}
+	if p != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", p)
+	}
+}