diff --git a/builtin/providers/vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine.go b/builtin/providers/vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine.go
index e2fc3cb6f..62fa85e4e 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine.go
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ type virtualMachine struct {
 	dnsServers            []string
 	bootableVmdk          bool
 	linkedClone           bool
+	skipCustomization     bool
 	windowsOptionalConfig windowsOptConfig
 	customConfigurations  map[string](types.AnyType)
 }
@@ -196,6 +197,13 @@ func resourceVSphereVirtualMachine() *schema.Resource {
 				ForceNew: true,
 			},
 
+			"skip_customization": &schema.Schema{
+				Type:     schema.TypeBool,
+				Optional: true,
+				ForceNew: true,
+				Default:  false,
+			},
+
 			"custom_configuration_parameters": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:     schema.TypeMap,
 				Optional: true,
@@ -437,6 +445,10 @@ func resourceVSphereVirtualMachineCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{
 		vm.linkedClone = v.(bool)
 	}
 
+	if v, ok := d.GetOk("skip_customization"); ok {
+		vm.skipCustomization = v.(bool)
+	}
+
 	if raw, ok := d.GetOk("dns_suffixes"); ok {
 		for _, v := range raw.([]interface{}) {
 			vm.dnsSuffixes = append(vm.dnsSuffixes, v.(string))
@@ -1575,17 +1587,21 @@ func (vm *virtualMachine) deployVirtualMachine(c *govmomi.Client) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	taskb, err := newVM.Customize(context.TODO(), customSpec)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	if vm.skipCustomization {
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] VM customization skipped")
+	} else {
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] VM customization starting")
+		taskb, err := newVM.Customize(context.TODO(), customSpec)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		_, err = taskb.WaitForResult(context.TODO(), nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] VM customization finished")
 	}
 
-	_, err = taskb.WaitForResult(context.TODO(), nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	log.Printf("[DEBUG] VM customization finished")
-
 	for i := 1; i < len(vm.hardDisks); i++ {
 		err = addHardDisk(newVM, vm.hardDisks[i].size, vm.hardDisks[i].iops, vm.hardDisks[i].initType, datastore, vm.hardDisks[i].vmdkPath)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/vsphere/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/vsphere/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown
index 9027bbc36..1de12ddcd 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/vsphere/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/vsphere/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `windows_opt_config` - (Optional) Extra options for clones of Windows machines.
 * `linked_clone` - (Optional) Specifies if the new machine is a [linked clone](https://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/ws_clone_overview.html#wp1036396) of another machine or not.
 * `custom_configuration_parameters` - (Optional) Map of values that is set as virtual machine custom configurations.
+* `skip_customization` - (Optional) skip virtual machine customization (useful if OS is not in the guest OS support matrix of VMware like "other3xLinux64Guest").
 
 The `network_interface` block supports: