diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 3edb68ef..218fda06 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -3,13 +3,12 @@ package google
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
-	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/pathorcontents"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
 	"golang.org/x/oauth2"
 	"golang.org/x/oauth2/google"
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ import (
 // Config is the configuration structure used to instantiate the Google
 // provider.
 type Config struct {
-	AccountFile string
+	Credentials string
 	Project     string
 	Region      string
 
@@ -44,46 +43,17 @@ func (c *Config) loadAndValidate() error {
 		"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.full_control",
 	}
 
-	if c.AccountFile == "" {
-		c.AccountFile = os.Getenv("GOOGLE_ACCOUNT_FILE")
-	}
-	if c.Project == "" {
-		c.Project = os.Getenv("GOOGLE_PROJECT")
-	}
-	if c.Region == "" {
-		c.Region = os.Getenv("GOOGLE_REGION")
-	}
-
 	var client *http.Client
 
-	if c.AccountFile != "" {
-		contents := c.AccountFile
+	if c.Credentials != "" {
+		contents, _, err := pathorcontents.Read(c.Credentials)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Error loading credentials: %s", err)
+		}
 
 		// Assume account_file is a JSON string
 		if err := parseJSON(&account, contents); err != nil {
-			// If account_file was not JSON, assume it is a file path instead
-			if _, err := os.Stat(c.AccountFile); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-				return fmt.Errorf(
-					"account_file path does not exist: %s",
-					c.AccountFile)
-			}
-
-			b, err := ioutil.ReadFile(c.AccountFile)
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf(
-					"Error reading account_file from path '%s': %s",
-					c.AccountFile,
-					err)
-			}
-
-			contents = string(b)
-
-			if err := parseJSON(&account, contents); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf(
-					"Error parsing account file '%s': %s",
-					contents,
-					err)
-			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("Error parsing credentials '%s': %s", contents, err)
 		}
 
 		// Get the token for use in our requests
diff --git a/config_test.go b/config_test.go
index cc1b6213..648f93a6 100644
--- a/config_test.go
+++ b/config_test.go
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
-const testFakeAccountFilePath = "./test-fixtures/fake_account.json"
+const testFakeCredentialsPath = "./test-fixtures/fake_account.json"
 
 func TestConfigLoadAndValidate_accountFilePath(t *testing.T) {
 	config := Config{
-		AccountFile: testFakeAccountFilePath,
+		Credentials: testFakeCredentialsPath,
 		Project:     "my-gce-project",
 		Region:      "us-central1",
 	}
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@ func TestConfigLoadAndValidate_accountFilePath(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestConfigLoadAndValidate_accountFileJSON(t *testing.T) {
-	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(testFakeAccountFilePath)
+	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(testFakeCredentialsPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("error: %v", err)
 	}
 	config := Config{
-		AccountFile: string(contents),
+		Credentials: string(contents),
 		Project:     "my-gce-project",
 		Region:      "us-central1",
 	}
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func TestConfigLoadAndValidate_accountFileJSON(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestConfigLoadAndValidate_accountFileJSONInvalid(t *testing.T) {
 	config := Config{
-		AccountFile: "{this is not json}",
+		Credentials: "{this is not json}",
 		Project:     "my-gce-project",
 		Region:      "us-central1",
 	}
diff --git a/provider.go b/provider.go
index 3cfc363d..b2d083bc 100644
--- a/provider.go
+++ b/provider.go
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ package google
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/pathorcontents"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
 )
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ func Provider() terraform.ResourceProvider {
 				Optional:     true,
 				DefaultFunc:  schema.EnvDefaultFunc("GOOGLE_ACCOUNT_FILE", nil),
 				ValidateFunc: validateAccountFile,
+				Deprecated:   "Use the credentials field instead",
+			},
+
+			"credentials": &schema.Schema{
+				Type:         schema.TypeString,
+				Optional:     true,
+				DefaultFunc:  schema.EnvDefaultFunc("GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS", nil),
+				ValidateFunc: validateCredentials,
 			},
 
 			"project": &schema.Schema{
@@ -73,8 +81,12 @@ func Provider() terraform.ResourceProvider {
 }
 
 func providerConfigure(d *schema.ResourceData) (interface{}, error) {
+	credentials := d.Get("credentials").(string)
+	if credentials == "" {
+		credentials = d.Get("account_file").(string)
+	}
 	config := Config{
-		AccountFile: d.Get("account_file").(string),
+		Credentials: credentials,
 		Project:     d.Get("project").(string),
 		Region:      d.Get("region").(string),
 	}
@@ -97,22 +109,34 @@ func validateAccountFile(v interface{}, k string) (warnings []string, errors []e
 		return
 	}
 
-	var account accountFile
-	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(value), &account); err != nil {
-		warnings = append(warnings, `
-account_file is not valid JSON, so we are assuming it is a file path. This
-support will be removed in the future. Please update your configuration to use
-${file("filename.json")} instead.`)
-	} else {
-		return
+	contents, wasPath, err := pathorcontents.Read(value)
+	if err != nil {
+		errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("Error loading Account File: %s", err))
+	}
+	if wasPath {
+		warnings = append(warnings, `account_file was provided as a path instead of 
+as file contents. This support will be removed in the future. Please update
+your configuration to use ${file("filename.json")} instead.`)
 	}
 
-	if _, err := os.Stat(value); err != nil {
+	var account accountFile
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(contents), &account); err != nil {
 		errors = append(errors,
-			fmt.Errorf(
-				"account_file path could not be read from '%s': %s",
-				value,
-				err))
+			fmt.Errorf("account_file not valid JSON '%s': %s", contents, err))
+	}
+
+	return
+}
+
+func validateCredentials(v interface{}, k string) (warnings []string, errors []error) {
+	if v == nil || v.(string) == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	creds := v.(string)
+	var account accountFile
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(creds), &account); err != nil {
+		errors = append(errors,
+			fmt.Errorf("credentials are not valid JSON '%s': %s", creds, err))
 	}
 
 	return
diff --git a/provider_test.go b/provider_test.go
index 2275e188..827a7f57 100644
--- a/provider_test.go
+++ b/provider_test.go
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ func TestProvider_impl(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func testAccPreCheck(t *testing.T) {
-	if v := os.Getenv("GOOGLE_ACCOUNT_FILE"); v == "" {
-		t.Fatal("GOOGLE_ACCOUNT_FILE must be set for acceptance tests")
+	if v := os.Getenv("GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS"); v == "" {
+		t.Fatal("GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS must be set for acceptance tests")
 	}
 
 	if v := os.Getenv("GOOGLE_PROJECT"); v == "" {