diff --git a/provisioners/factory.go b/provisioners/factory.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..590b97a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/provisioners/factory.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package provisioners
+
+// Factory is a function type that creates a new instance of a resource
+// provisioner, or returns an error if that is impossible.
+type Factory func() (Interface, error)
+
+// FactoryFixed is a helper that creates a Factory that just returns some given
+// single provisioner.
+//
+// Unlike usual factories, the exact same instance is returned for each call
+// to the factory and so this must be used in only specialized situations where
+// the caller can take care to either not mutate the given provider at all
+// or to mutate it in ways that will not cause unexpected behavior for others
+// holding the same reference.
+func FactoryFixed(p Interface) Factory {
+	return func() (Interface, error) {
+		return p, nil
+	}
+}
diff --git a/terraform/resource_provisioner.go b/terraform/resource_provisioner.go
index d40262aeb..2743dd7e9 100644
--- a/terraform/resource_provisioner.go
+++ b/terraform/resource_provisioner.go
@@ -67,4 +67,4 @@ type ResourceProvisionerFactory func() (ResourceProvisioner, error)
 
 // ProvisionerFactory is a function type that creates a new instance
 // of a provisioners.Interface.
-type ProvisionerFactory func() (provisioners.Interface, error)
+type ProvisionerFactory = provisioners.Factory