diff --git a/bin/nova-manage b/bin/nova-manage
index 92c5f3b9195..c68ff73c6d0 100755
--- a/bin/nova-manage
+++ b/bin/nova-manage
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ class InstanceTypeCommands(object):
             help='rxtx_factor')
     @args('--is_public', dest="is_public", metavar='<is_public>',
             help='Make flavor accessible to the public')
-    def create(self, name, memory, vcpus, root_gb, ephemeral_gb, flavorid=None,
+    def create(self, name, memory, vcpus, root_gb, ephemeral_gb=0, flavorid=None,
                swap=0, rxtx_factor=1, is_public=True):
         """Creates instance types / flavors"""
         try:
diff --git a/nova/compute/instance_types.py b/nova/compute/instance_types.py
index eb8ac706d0c..d89e6409a2a 100644
--- a/nova/compute/instance_types.py
+++ b/nova/compute/instance_types.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 INVALID_NAME_REGEX = re.compile("[^\w\.\- ]")
 
 
-def create(name, memory, vcpus, root_gb, ephemeral_gb, flavorid=None,
+def create(name, memory, vcpus, root_gb, ephemeral_gb=None, flavorid=None,
            swap=None, rxtx_factor=None, is_public=True):
     """Creates instance types."""
 
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ def create(name, memory, vcpus, root_gb, ephemeral_gb, flavorid=None,
         swap = 0
     if rxtx_factor is None:
         rxtx_factor = 1
+    if ephemeral_gb is None:
+        ephemeral_gb = 0
 
     kwargs = {
         'memory_mb': memory,
diff --git a/nova/tests/test_instance_types.py b/nova/tests/test_instance_types.py
index 5059b155a2a..43d698374df 100644
--- a/nova/tests/test_instance_types.py
+++ b/nova/tests/test_instance_types.py
@@ -56,6 +56,30 @@ def _existing_flavor(self):
         """return first instance type name"""
         return instance_types.get_all_types().keys()[0]
 
+    def test_instance_type_create(self):
+        """Ensure instance types can be created"""
+        name = 'Instance create test'
+        flavor_id = '512'
+
+        original_list = instance_types.get_all_types()
+
+        # create new type and make sure values stick
+        inst_type = instance_types.create(name, 256, 1, 120,
+                                          flavorid=flavor_id)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['flavorid'], flavor_id)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['name'], name)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['memory_mb'], 256)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['vcpus'], 1)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['root_gb'], 120)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['ephemeral_gb'], 0)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['swap'], 0)
+        self.assertEqual(inst_type['rxtx_factor'], 1)
+
+        # make sure new type shows up in list
+        new_list = instance_types.get_all_types()
+        self.assertNotEqual(len(original_list), len(new_list),
+                            'instance type was not created')
+
     def test_instance_type_create_then_delete(self):
         """Ensure instance types can be created"""
         name = 'Small Flavor'