diff --git a/scripts/vagrant/Vagrantfile b/scripts/vagrant/Vagrantfile
index 2988f6f1d..81c80ea5f 100644
--- a/scripts/vagrant/Vagrantfile
+++ b/scripts/vagrant/Vagrantfile
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
   end
 
   # rsync the spdk directory if provision hasn't happened yet
-  if spdk_dir != "none"
+  if ENV['COPY_SPDK_DIR'] == "1" && spdk_dir != "none"
     config.vm.synced_folder "#{spdk_dir}", "/home/vagrant/spdk_repo/spdk", type: "rsync", rsync__auto: false
   end
 
diff --git a/scripts/vagrant/create_vbox.sh b/scripts/vagrant/create_vbox.sh
index 869a46e90..048094a96 100755
--- a/scripts/vagrant/create_vbox.sh
+++ b/scripts/vagrant/create_vbox.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ SPDK_DIR="$( cd "${DIR}/../../" && pwd )"
 # The command line help
 display_help() {
 	echo
-	echo " Usage: ${0##*/} [-n <num-cpus>] [-s <ram-size>] [-x <http-proxy>] [-hvr] <distro>"
+	echo " Usage: ${0##*/} [-n <num-cpus>] [-s <ram-size>] [-x <http-proxy>] [-hvrl] <distro>"
 	echo
 	echo "  distro = <centos7 | ubuntu16 | ubuntu18 | fedora26 | fedora27 | freebsd11> "
 	echo
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ display_help() {
 	echo "                            (test VM qcow image, fio binary, ssh keys)"
 	echo "  --vhost-vm-dir=<path>     directory where to put vhost dependencies in VM"
 	echo "  -r dry-run"
+	echo "  -l use a local copy of spdk, don't try to rsync from the host."
 	echo "  -h help"
 	echo "  -v verbose"
 	echo
@@ -45,13 +46,14 @@ SPDK_VAGRANT_HTTP_PROXY=""
 
 VERBOSE=0
 HELP=0
+COPY_SPDK_DIR=1
 DRY_RUN=0
 SPDK_VAGRANT_DISTRO="distro"
 SPDK_VAGRANT_VMCPU=4
 SPDK_VAGRANT_VMRAM=4096
 OPTIND=1
 
-while getopts ":n:s:x:p:vrh-:" opt; do
+while getopts ":n:s:x:p:vrlh-:" opt; do
 	case "${opt}" in
 		-)
 		case "${OPTARG}" in
@@ -84,6 +86,9 @@ while getopts ":n:s:x:p:vrh-:" opt; do
 			display_help >&2
 			exit 0
 		;;
+		l)
+			COPY_SPDK_DIR=0
+		;;
 		*)
 			echo "  Invalid argument: -$OPTARG" >&2
 			echo "  Try: \"$0 -h\"" >&2
@@ -142,6 +147,7 @@ export SPDK_VAGRANT_HTTP_PROXY
 export SPDK_VAGRANT_VMCPU
 export SPDK_VAGRANT_VMRAM
 export SPDK_DIR
+export COPY_SPDK_DIR
 
 if [ -n "$PROVIDER" ]; then
     provider="--provider=${PROVIDER}"