diff --git a/library/cloud/nova_compute b/library/cloud/nova_compute
index df612c80bb8..55f9e5dccb9 100644
--- a/library/cloud/nova_compute
+++ b/library/cloud/nova_compute
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ options:
         - The amount of time the module should wait for the VM to get into active state
      required: false
      default: 180
+   user_data:
+     description:
+        - Opaque blob of data which is made available to the instance
+     required: false
+     default: None
 requirements: ["novaclient"]
 '''
 
@@ -157,6 +162,8 @@ def _create_server(module, nova):
                 'meta' : module.params['meta'],
                 'key_name': module.params['key_name'],
                 'security_groups': module.params['security_groups'].split(','),
+                #userdata is unhyphenated in novaclient, but hyphenated here for consistency with the ec2 module:
+                'userdata': module.params['user_data'],
     }
     if not module.params['key_name']:
         del bootkwargs['key_name']
@@ -232,7 +239,8 @@ def main():
         meta                            = dict(default=None),
         wait                            = dict(default='yes', choices=['yes', 'no']),
         wait_for                        = dict(default=180),
-        state                           = dict(default='present', choices=['absent', 'present'])
+        state                           = dict(default='present', choices=['absent', 'present']),
+        user_data                       = dict(default=None)
         ),
     )