diff --git a/source_control/git b/source_control/git
index 41cf53133d5..86ae1043de7 100644
--- a/source_control/git
+++ b/source_control/git
@@ -49,6 +49,21 @@ options:
         version_added: "1.5"
         description:
             - Add the hostkey for the repo url if not already added.
+    sshopts:
+        required: false
+        default: None
+        version_added: "1.5"
+        description:
+            - Creates a wrapper script and exports the path as GIT_SSH
+              which git then automatically uses to override ssh arguments.
+              An example value could be "-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no"
+    keyfile:
+        requird: false
+        default: None
+        version_added: "1.5"
+        description:
+            - Uses the same wrapper method as sshopts to pass 
+              "-i <keyfile>" to the ssh arguments used by git
     reference:
         required: false
         default: null
@@ -124,6 +139,45 @@ EXAMPLES = '''
 import re
 import tempfile
 
+def write_ssh_wrapper():
+    fh = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+    wrapper_path = fh.name
+    template = """#!/bin/sh
+if [ -z "$GIT_SSH_OPTS" ]; then
+    BASEOPTS=""
+else
+    BASEOPTS=$GIT_SSH_OPTS
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$GIT_KEY" ]; then
+    ssh $BASEOPTS "$@"
+else
+    ssh -i "$GIT_KEY" $BASEOPTS "$@"
+fi
+"""
+    fh.write(template)
+    fh.close()
+    st = os.stat(wrapper_path)
+    os.chmod(wrapper_path, st.st_mode | stat.S_IEXEC)
+    return wrapper_path
+
+def set_git_ssh(ssh_wrapper, key_file, ssh_opts):
+
+    if os.environ.get("GIT_SSH"):
+        del os.environ["GIT_SSH"]
+    os.environ["GIT_SSH"] = ssh_wrapper
+
+    if os.environ.get("GIT_KEY"):
+        del os.environ["GIT_KEY"]
+
+    if key_file:
+        os.environ["GIT_KEY"] = key_file    
+
+    if os.environ.get("GIT_SSH_OPTS"):
+        del os.environ["GIT_SSH_OPTS"]
+
+    if ssh_opts:
+        os.environ["GIT_SSH_OPTS"] = ssh_opts
 
 def get_version(git_path, dest, ref="HEAD"):
     ''' samples the version of the git repo '''
@@ -199,7 +253,7 @@ def get_remote_head(git_path, module, dest, version, remote, bare):
         # appears to be a sha1.  return as-is since it appears
         # cannot check for a specific sha1 on remote
         return version
-    (rc, out, err) = module.run_command(cmd, check_rc=True)
+    (rc, out, err) = module.run_command(cmd, check_rc=True )
     if len(out) < 1:
         module.fail_json(msg="Could not determine remote revision for %s" % version)
     rev = out.split()[0]
@@ -360,6 +414,8 @@ def main():
             depth=dict(default=None, type='int'),
             update=dict(default='yes', type='bool'),
             accept_hostkey=dict(default='no', type='bool'),
+            keyfile=dict(default=None, required=False),
+            sshopts=dict(default=None, required=False),
             executable=dict(default=None),
             bare=dict(default='no', type='bool'),
         ),
@@ -376,6 +432,17 @@ def main():
     bare      = module.params['bare']
     reference = module.params['reference']
     git_path  = module.params['executable'] or module.get_bin_path('git', True)
+    
+    key_file   = module.params['keyfile']
+    ssh_opts   = module.params['sshopts']
+
+    # create a wrapper script and export
+    # GIT_SSH=<path> as an environment variable
+    # for git to use the wrapper script
+    ssh_wrapper = None
+    if key_file or ssh_opts:
+        ssh_wrapper = write_ssh_wrapper()
+        set_git_ssh(ssh_wrapper, key_file, ssh_opts)
 
     # add the git repo's hostkey 
     #if module.params['accept_hostkey']:
@@ -438,6 +505,10 @@ def main():
     if before != after or local_mods:
         changed = True
 
+    # cleanup the wrapper script
+    if ssh_wrapper:
+        os.remove(ssh_wrapper) 
+
     module.exit_json(changed=changed, before=before, after=after)
 
 # import module snippets