diff --git a/builtin/provisioners/puppet/resource_provisioner.go b/builtin/provisioners/puppet/resource_provisioner.go
index 13e8d160caa7..e3413e8085ac 100644
--- a/builtin/provisioners/puppet/resource_provisioner.go
+++ b/builtin/provisioners/puppet/resource_provisioner.go
@@ -261,8 +261,13 @@ func (p *provisioner) generateAutosignToken(certname string) (string, error) {
 func (p *provisioner) installPuppetAgentOpenSource() error {
 	task := "puppet_agent::install"
 
+	connType := p.instanceState.Ephemeral.ConnInfo["type"]
+	if connType == "" {
+		connType = "ssh"
+	}
+
 	agentConnInfo := map[string]string{
-		"type": "ssh",
+		"type": connType,
 		"host": p.instanceState.Ephemeral.ConnInfo["host"],
 		"user": p.instanceState.Ephemeral.ConnInfo["user"],
 	}