diff --git a/state/remote/swift.go b/state/remote/swift.go
index 92d21948d..a73861147 100644
--- a/state/remote/swift.go
+++ b/state/remote/swift.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gophercloud/gophercloud"
 	"github.com/gophercloud/gophercloud/openstack"
@@ -22,21 +24,24 @@ const TFSTATE_NAME = "tfstate.tf"
 
 // SwiftClient implements the Client interface for an Openstack Swift server.
 type SwiftClient struct {
-	client     *gophercloud.ServiceClient
-	authurl    string
-	cacert     string
-	cert       string
-	domainid   string
-	domainname string
-	insecure   bool
-	key        string
-	password   string
-	path       string
-	region     string
-	tenantid   string
-	tenantname string
-	userid     string
-	username   string
+	client      *gophercloud.ServiceClient
+	authurl     string
+	cacert      string
+	cert        string
+	domainid    string
+	domainname  string
+	insecure    bool
+	key         string
+	password    string
+	path        string
+	region      string
+	tenantid    string
+	tenantname  string
+	userid      string
+	username    string
+	archive     bool
+	archivepath string
+	expireSecs  int
 }
 
 func swiftFactory(conf map[string]string) (Client, error) {
@@ -131,6 +136,35 @@ func (c *SwiftClient) validateConfig(conf map[string]string) (err error) {
 	}
 	c.path = path
 
+	if archivepath, ok := conf["archive_path"]; ok {
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Archivepath set, enabling object versioning")
+		c.archive = true
+		c.archivepath = archivepath
+	}
+
+	if expire, ok := conf["expire_after"]; ok {
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Requested that remote state expires after %s", expire)
+
+		if strings.HasSuffix(expire, "d") {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Got a days expire after duration. Converting to hours")
+			days, err := strconv.Atoi(expire[:len(expire)-1])
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("Error converting expire_after value %s to int: %s", expire, err)
+			}
+
+			expire = fmt.Sprintf("%dh", days*24)
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Expire after %s hours", expire)
+		}
+
+		expireDur, err := time.ParseDuration(expire)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Error parsing duration %s: %s", expire, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("Error parsing expire_after duration '%s': %s", expire, err)
+		}
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Seconds duration = %d", int(expireDur.Seconds()))
+		c.expireSecs = int(expireDur.Seconds())
+	}
+
 	c.insecure = false
 	raw, ok := conf["insecure"]
 	if !ok {
@@ -252,10 +286,17 @@ func (c *SwiftClient) Put(data []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Creating object %s at path %s", TFSTATE_NAME, c.path)
 	reader := bytes.NewReader(data)
 	createOpts := objects.CreateOpts{
 		Content: reader,
 	}
+
+	if c.expireSecs != 0 {
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] ExpireSecs = %d", c.expireSecs)
+		createOpts.DeleteAfter = c.expireSecs
+	}
+
 	result := objects.Create(c.client, c.path, TFSTATE_NAME, createOpts)
 
 	return result.Err
@@ -267,7 +308,22 @@ func (c *SwiftClient) Delete() error {
 }
 
 func (c *SwiftClient) ensureContainerExists() error {
-	result := containers.Create(c.client, c.path, nil)
+	containerOpts := &containers.CreateOpts{}
+
+	if c.archive {
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Creating container %s", c.archivepath)
+		result := containers.Create(c.client, c.archivepath, nil)
+		if result.Err != nil {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Error creating container %s: %s", c.archivepath, result.Err)
+			return result.Err
+		}
+
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Enabling Versioning on container %s", c.path)
+		containerOpts.VersionsLocation = c.archivepath
+	}
+
+	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Creating container %s", c.path)
+	result := containers.Create(c.client, c.path, containerOpts)
 	if result.Err != nil {
 		return result.Err
 	}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/state/remote/swift.html.md b/website/source/docs/state/remote/swift.html.md
index 8cbbe672b..e9fe7753f 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/state/remote/swift.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/state/remote/swift.html.md
@@ -80,4 +80,10 @@ The following configuration options are supported:
    authentication. If omitted the `OS_CERT` environment variable is used.
 
  * `key` - (Optional) Specify client private key file for SSL client
-   authentication. If omitted the `OS_KEY` environment variable is used.
\ No newline at end of file
+   authentication. If omitted the `OS_KEY` environment variable is used.
+
+ * `archive_path` - (Optional) The path to store archived copied of `terraform.tfstate`.
+   If specified, Swift object versioning is enabled on the container created at `path`.
+
+ * `expire_after` - (Optional) How long should the `terraform.tfstate` created at `path`
+   be retained for? Supported durations: `m` - Minutes, `h` - Hours, `d` - Days.