diff --git a/lib/fog/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone.rb b/lib/fog/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone.rb
index 8ea9f6577..bd75147e5 100644
--- a/lib/fog/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone.rb
+++ b/lib/fog/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@ module Fog
       module Shared
         private
         def vm_clone_check_options(options)
-          options = { 'force' => false }.merge(options)
+          default_options = {
+            'force'        => false,
+            'linked_clone' => false,
+          }
+          options = default_options.merge(options)
           required_options = %w{ path name }
           required_options.each do |param|
             raise ArgumentError, "#{required_options.join(', ')} are required" unless options.has_key? param
@@ -70,16 +74,47 @@ module Fog
           esx_host = vm_mob_ref.collect!('runtime.host')['runtime.host']
           # The parent of the ESX host itself is a ComputeResource which has a resourcePool
           resource_pool = esx_host.parent.resourcePool
-
-          # Next, create a Relocation Spec instance
-          relocation_spec = RbVmomi::VIM.VirtualMachineRelocateSpec(:pool => resource_pool,
-                                                                    :transform => options['transform'] || 'sparse')
+          relocation_spec=nil
+          if ( options['linked_clone'] )
+            # cribbed heavily from the rbvmomi clone_vm.rb
+            # this chunk of code reconfigures the disk of the clone source to be read only,
+            # and then creates a delta disk on top of that, this is required by the API in order to create
+            # linked clondes
+            disks = vm_mob_ref.config.hardware.device.select do |vm_device|
+              vm_device.class == RbVmomi::VIM::VirtualDisk
+            end
+            disks.select{|vm_device| vm_device.backing.parent == nil}.each do |disk|
+              disk_spec = {
+                :deviceChange => [
+                  {
+                    :operation => :remove,
+                    :device => disk
+                  },
+                  {
+                    :operation => :add,
+                    :fileOperation => :create,
+                    :device => disk.dup.tap{|disk_backing|
+                      disk_backing.backing = disk_backing.backing.dup;
+                      disk_backing.backing.fileName = "[#{disk.backing.datastore.name}]";
+                      disk_backing.backing.parent = disk.backing
+                    }
+                  },
+                ]
+              }
+              vm_mob_ref.ReconfigVM_Task(:spec => disk_spec).wait_for_completion
+            end
+            # Next, create a Relocation Spec instance
+            relocation_spec = RbVmomi::VIM.VirtualMachineRelocateSpec(:pool => resource_pool,
+                                                                      :diskMoveType => :moveChildMostDiskBacking)
+          else
+            relocation_spec = RbVmomi::VIM.VirtualMachineRelocateSpec(:pool => resource_pool,
+                                                                      :transform => options['transform'] || 'sparse')
+          end
           # And the clone specification
           clone_spec = RbVmomi::VIM.VirtualMachineCloneSpec(:location => relocation_spec,
                                                             :powerOn  => options['power_on'] || true,
                                                             :template => false)
           task = vm_mob_ref.CloneVM_Task(:folder => vm_mob_ref.parent, :name => options['name'], :spec => clone_spec)
-
           # Waiting for the VM to complete allows us to get the VirtulMachine
           # object of the new machine when it's done.  It is HIGHLY recommended
           # to set 'wait' => true if your app wants to wait.  Otherwise, you're
@@ -126,7 +161,7 @@ module Fog
           end
           {
             'vm_ref'   => 'vm-123',
-            'task_ref' => 'task-1234'
+            'task_ref' => 'task-1234',
           }
         end
 
diff --git a/tests/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone_tests.rb b/tests/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone_tests.rb
index 28cc73d0e..14b3fcb94 100644
--- a/tests/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone_tests.rb
+++ b/tests/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone_tests.rb
@@ -1,15 +1,27 @@
 Shindo.tests("Fog::Compute[:vsphere] | vm_clone request", 'vsphere') do
-  #require 'guid'
-  template = "/Datacenters/Solutions/vm/Jeff/Templates/centos56gm2"
+  # require 'guid'
   compute = Fog::Compute[:vsphere]
+  response = nil
+  response_linked = nil
 
-  tests("The return value should") do
-    response = compute.vm_clone('path' => template, 'name' => 'cloning_vm')
+  template = "/Datacenters/Solutions/vm/Jeff/Templates/centos56gm2"
+  tests("Standard Clone | The return value should") do
+    response = compute.vm_clone('path' => template, 'name' => 'cloning_vm', 'wait' => 1)
     test("be a kind of Hash") { response.kind_of? Hash }
     %w{ vm_ref task_ref }.each do |key|
       test("have a #{key} key") { response.has_key? key }
     end
   end
+
+  template = "/Datacenters/Solutions/vm/Jeff/Templates/centos56gm2"
+  tests("Linked Clone | The return value should") do
+    response = compute.vm_clone('path' => template, 'name' => 'cloning_vm_linked', 'wait' => 1, 'linked_clone' => true)
+    test("be a kind of Hash") { response.kind_of? Hash }
+    %w{ vm_ref task_ref }.each do |key|
+      test("have a #{key} key") { response.has_key? key }
+    end
+  end
+
   tests("When invalid input is presented") do
     raises(ArgumentError, 'it should raise ArgumentError') { compute.vm_clone(:foo => 1) }
     raises(Fog::Compute::Vsphere::NotFound, 'it should raise Fog::Compute::Vsphere::NotFound when the UUID is not a string') do