diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6f615a3e..8008e91f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -322,6 +322,10 @@ To set environment variables for other hooks, add a file to environment.d.
 This directory contains bash script snippets that are sourced before running
 scripts in each phase.
 
+DIB exposes an internal IMAGE\_ELEMENT variable which provides elements access
+to the full set of elements that are included in the image build. This can
+be used to process local in-element files across all the elements
+(pkg-map for example).
 
 ### Dependencies ###
 
diff --git a/elements/pkg-map/README.md b/elements/pkg-map/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..298fca86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pkg-map/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+Map package names to distro specific packages.
+
+Provides the following:
+
+ * bin/pkg-map
+
+   usage: pkg-map [-h] [--element ELEMENT] [--distro DISTRO]
+
+   Translate package name to distro specific name.
+
+   optional arguments:
+     -h, --help         show this help message and exit
+     --element ELEMENT  The element (namespace) to use for translation.
+     --distro DISTRO    The distro name to use for translation. Defaults to
+                        DISTRO_NAME
+
+ * Any element may create its own pkg-map JSON config file using
+   the one of 3 sections for the distro/family/ and or default.
+   The family is set automatically within pkg-map based on
+   the supplied distro name. Families include:
+     + redhat: includes centos, fedora, and rhel distros
+     + debian: includes debian and ubuntu distros
+     + suse: includes the opensuse distro
+
+   The most specific section takes priority.
+   Example for Nova and Glance (NOTE: using fictitious package names
+   for Fedora to provide a good example!)
+
+   Example format:
+    {
+      "distro": {
+        "fedora": {
+          "nova_package": "openstack-compute",
+          "glance_package": "openstack-image"
+        }
+      },
+      "family": {
+        "redhat": {
+          "nova_package": "openstack-nova",
+          "glance_package": "openstack-glance"
+        }
+      },
+      "default": {
+        "nova_package": "nova",
+        "glance_package": "glance"
+      }
+    }
+
+   Example commands using this format:
+
+   pkg-map --element nova-compute --distro fedora nova_package
+
+   Returns: openstack-compute
+
+   pkg-map --element nova-compute --distro rhel nova_package
+
+   Returns: openstack-nova
+
+   pkg-map --element nova-compute --distro ubuntu nova_package
+
+   Returns: nova
+
+ * This output can be used to filter what other tools actually install
+   (install-packages can be modified to use this for example)
+
+ * Individual pkg-map files live within each element. For example
+   if you are created an Apache element your pkg-map JSON file
+   should be created at elements/apache/pkg-map.
diff --git a/elements/pkg-map/bin/pkg-map b/elements/pkg-map/bin/pkg-map
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..1849d511
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pkg-map/bin/pkg-map
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+# Copyright 2014 Red Hat Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+
+
+def os_family(distro):
+    family = None
+    if distro in ['centos', 'fedora', 'rhel']:
+        family = 'redhat'
+    elif distro in ['debian', 'ubuntu']:
+        family = 'debian'
+    elif distro == 'opensuse':
+        family = 'suse'
+
+    return family
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Translate package name to distro specific name.")
+    parser.add_argument('--element', default='',
+                        help='The element (namespace) to use for translation.')
+    parser.add_argument('--distro', default=os.environ.get('DISTRO_NAME'),
+                        help='The distro name to use for translation.'
+                        ' Defaults to DISTRO_NAME')
+    args, extra = parser.parse_known_args()
+
+    if not args.element:
+        print('Please specify an --element argument.')
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    if not args.distro:
+        print('Please specify a --distro argument or set DISTRO_NAME.')
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    map_file = '/usr/share/pkg-map/%s' % args.element
+    if not os.path.exists(map_file):
+        print('Map file for %s element does not exist.' % args.element)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    with open(map_file) as fd:
+        package_names = json.loads(fd.read())
+
+    # Parse mapping data in this form using distro/family/default
+    # Most specific takes priority (distro is most specific).
+    # Example for Nova and Glance (using fictitious name for Fedora)
+    # {
+    #   "distro": {
+    #     "fedora": {
+    #       "nova_package": "openstack-compute",
+    #       "glance_package": "openstack-image"
+    #     }
+    #   },
+    #   "family": {
+    #     "redhat": {
+    #       "nova_package": "openstack-nova",
+    #       "glance_package": "openstack-glance"
+    #     }
+    #   },
+    #   "default": {
+    #     "nova_package": "nova",
+    #     "glance_package": "glance"
+    #   }
+    # }
+    name_map = package_names.get('default', {})
+    if 'family' in package_names:
+        family_map = package_names['family'].get(os_family(args.distro))
+        if family_map:
+            name_map.update(family_map)
+    if 'distro' in package_names:
+        distro_map = package_names['distro'].get(args.distro)
+        if distro_map:
+            name_map.update(distro_map)
+    for name in extra:
+        pkg_name = None
+        if name in name_map:
+            pkg_name = name_map.get(name)
+        if pkg_name:
+            print(pkg_name)
+        else:
+            err_msg = 'Missing package name for distro/element: %s/%s'
+            print(err_msg % (args.distro, args.element))
+            sys.exit(1)
+
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/elements/pkg-map/extra-data.d/10-create-pkg-map-dir b/elements/pkg-map/extra-data.d/10-create-pkg-map-dir
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..bfd93aa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pkg-map/extra-data.d/10-create-pkg-map-dir
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -eux
+set -o pipefail
+
+sudo mkdir -p $TMP_MOUNT_PATH/usr/share/pkg-map/
+
+for ELEMENT in $IMAGE_ELEMENT ; do
+    for DIR in ${ELEMENTS_PATH//:/ }; do
+        if [ -f "$DIR/$ELEMENT/pkg-map" ]; then
+            sudo cp $DIR/$ELEMENT/pkg-map $TMP_MOUNT_PATH/usr/share/pkg-map/$ELEMENT
+        fi
+    done
+done
diff --git a/lib/common-functions b/lib/common-functions
index 42b6bd9c..f3f73c74 100644
--- a/lib/common-functions
+++ b/lib/common-functions
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ function arg_to_elements() {
   fi
   echo "Building elements: $IMAGE_ELEMENT"
 
-  IMAGE_ELEMENT=$($SCRIPT_HOME/element-info --expand-dependencies $IMAGE_ELEMENT)
+  export IMAGE_ELEMENT=$($SCRIPT_HOME/element-info --expand-dependencies $IMAGE_ELEMENT)
 
   echo "Expanded element dependencies to: $IMAGE_ELEMENT"
 }