diff --git a/template/datasource_template_file_list.go b/template/datasource_template_file_list.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7cce06c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/datasource_template_file_list.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package template
+
+import (
+	"crypto/sha1"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/pathorcontents"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
+)
+
+func dataSourceFileList() *schema.Resource {
+	return &schema.Resource{
+		Read: dataSourceFileListRead,
+
+		Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
+			"source_dir": {
+				Type:        schema.TypeString,
+				Description: "Path to the directory where the files reside",
+				Required:    true,
+				ForceNew:    true,
+			},
+			"files": {
+				Type:     schema.TypeList,
+				Computed: true,
+				Elem: &schema.Resource{
+					Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
+						"id": {
+							Type:     schema.TypeString,
+							Computed: true,
+						},
+						"name": {
+							Type:     schema.TypeString,
+							Computed: true,
+						},
+						"content": {
+							Type:     schema.TypeString,
+							Computed: true,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func dataSourceFileListRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
+	sourceDir := d.Get("source_dir").(string)
+
+	files := make([]map[string]interface{}, 0)
+
+	err := filepath.Walk(sourceDir, func(p string, f os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if f.IsDir() {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		fileContent, _, inputErr := pathorcontents.Read(p)
+		if inputErr != nil {
+			return inputErr
+		}
+
+		checksum := sha1.Sum([]byte(f.Name() + fileContent))
+		fileHash := hex.EncodeToString(checksum[:])
+
+		file := make(map[string]interface{})
+		file["id"] = fileHash
+		file["name"] = f.Name()
+		file["content"] = fileContent
+
+		files = append(files, file)
+
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := d.Set("files", files); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	hash, err := generateDirHash(sourceDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	d.SetId(hash)
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/template/datasource_template_file_list_test.go b/template/datasource_template_file_list_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6248391e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/datasource_template_file_list_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package template
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	r "github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/resource"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+)
+
+type testTemplateFilelist struct {
+	name    string
+	content string
+}
+
+func testTemplateFilelistWriteFiles(testCase string, files map[string]testTemplateFilelist) (in string, err error) {
+	in, err = ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), testCase)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	for name, file := range files {
+		path := filepath.Join(in, name)
+
+		err = os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(path), 0777)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		err = ioutil.WriteFile(path, []byte(file.content), 0777)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+func TestTemplateFileListOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	var cases = []struct {
+		testCase string
+		files    map[string]testTemplateFilelist
+	}{
+		{
+			testCase: "terraform_template_file_list_1",
+			files: map[string]testTemplateFilelist{
+				"foo.txt": {"foo.txt", "bar"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			testCase: "terraform_template_file_list_2",
+			files: map[string]testTemplateFilelist{
+				"foo.txt":           {"foo.txt", "bar"},
+				"nested/monkey.txt": {"monkey.txt", "ooh-ooh-ooh-eee-eee"},
+				"cheese.txt":        {"cheese.txt", "cheddar"},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range cases {
+		// Write the desired templates in a temporary directory.
+		in, err := testTemplateFilelistWriteFiles(tt.testCase, tt.files)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Skipf("could not write templates to temporary directory: %s", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		defer os.RemoveAll(in)
+
+		// Run test case.
+		r.UnitTest(t, r.TestCase{
+			Providers: testProviders,
+			Steps: []r.TestStep{
+				{
+					Config: testTemplateFileListConfig(in),
+					Check: func(s *terraform.State) error {
+						got := s.RootModule().Outputs["files"].Value.([]interface{})
+
+						if len(got) != len(tt.files) {
+							return fmt.Errorf("\ntest case:\n%s\ngot:\n%d files\nwant:\n%d files\n", tt.testCase, len(got), len(tt.files))
+						}
+
+						output := make(map[string]string)
+						for _, v := range got {
+							f := v.(map[string]interface{})
+							output[f["name"].(string)] = f["content"].(string)
+						}
+
+						for _, file := range tt.files {
+							content, ok := output[file.name]
+							if !ok {
+								return fmt.Errorf("\ntest case:\n%s\nfile missing:\n%s\n", tt.testCase, file.name)
+							}
+
+							if content != file.content {
+								return fmt.Errorf("\ntest case:\n%s\ncontent mis-match for file:\n%s\ngot:\n%s\nwant:\n%s\n", tt.testCase, file.name, content, file.content)
+							}
+						}
+						return nil
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func testTemplateFileListConfig(sourceDir string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+		data "template_file_list" "list" {
+			source_dir = "%s"
+		}
+		output "files" {
+			value = "${data.template_file_list.list.files}"
+		}`, sourceDir)
+}
diff --git a/template/provider.go b/template/provider.go
index fb340754..be30b308 100644
--- a/template/provider.go
+++ b/template/provider.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ func Provider() terraform.ResourceProvider {
 	return &schema.Provider{
 		DataSourcesMap: map[string]*schema.Resource{
 			"template_file":             dataSourceFile(),
+			"template_file_list":        dataSourceFileList(),
 			"template_cloudinit_config": dataSourceCloudinitConfig(),
 		},
 		ResourcesMap: map[string]*schema.Resource{
@@ -16,6 +17,10 @@ func Provider() terraform.ResourceProvider {
 				"template_file",
 				dataSourceFile(),
 			),
+			"template_file_list": schema.DataSourceResourceShim(
+				"template_file_list",
+				dataSourceFileList(),
+			),
 			"template_cloudinit_config": schema.DataSourceResourceShim(
 				"template_cloudinit_config",
 				dataSourceCloudinitConfig(),