diff --git a/pssh/ssh_client.py b/pssh/ssh_client.py
index 3c22e338..ad271ffe 100644
--- a/pssh/ssh_client.py
+++ b/pssh/ssh_client.py
@@ -285,7 +285,16 @@ def mkdir(self, sftp, directory):
             return self.mkdir(sftp, sub_dirs)
         return True
 
-    def copy_file(self, local_file, remote_file):
+    def _copy_dir(self, local_dir, remote_dir):
+        """Call copy_file on every file in the specified directory, copying
+        them to the specified remote directory."""
+        file_list = os.listdir(local_dir)
+        for file_name in file_list:
+            local_path = os.path.join(local_dir, file_name)
+            remote_path = os.path.join(remote_dir, file_name)
+            self.copy_file(local_path, remote_path, recurse=True)
+
+    def copy_file(self, local_file, remote_file, recurse=False):
         """Copy local file to host via SFTP/SCP
         
         Copy is done natively using SFTP/SCP version 2 protocol, no scp command \
@@ -295,7 +304,17 @@ def copy_file(self, local_file, remote_file):
         :type local_file: str
         :param remote_file: Remote filepath on remote host to copy file to
         :type remote_file: str
+        :param recurse: Whether or not to descend into directories recursively.
+        :type recurse: bool
+
+        :raises: :mod:'ValueError' when a directory is supplied to local_file \
+        and recurse is not set
         """
+        if os.path.isdir(local_file) and recurse:
+            return self._copy_dir(local_file, remote_file)
+        elif os.path.isdir(local_file) and not recurse:
+            raise ValueError("Recurse must be true if local_file is a "
+                             "directory.")
         sftp = self._make_sftp()
         destination = [_dir for _dir in remote_file.split(os.path.sep)
                        if _dir][:-1][0]
diff --git a/tests/test_ssh_client.py b/tests/test_ssh_client.py
index 6f5e5977..7db46b87 100644
--- a/tests/test_ssh_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_ssh_client.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import gevent
 import socket
 import time
+import shutil
 import unittest
 from pssh import SSHClient, ParallelSSHClient, UnknownHostException, AuthenticationException,\
      logger, ConnectionErrorException, UnknownHostException, SSHException
@@ -141,6 +142,49 @@ def test_ssh_client_sftp(self):
             os.rmdir(dirpath)
         del client
 
+    def test_ssh_client_directory(self):
+        """Tests copying directories with SSH client. Copy all the files from
+        local directory to server, then make sure they are all present."""
+        test_file_data = 'test'
+        local_test_path = 'directory_test'
+        remote_test_path = 'directory_test_copied'
+        os.mkdir(local_test_path)
+        remote_file_paths = []
+        for i in range(0, 10):
+            local_file_path = os.path.join(local_test_path, 'foo' + str(i))
+            remote_file_path = os.path.join(remote_test_path, 'foo' + str(i))
+            remote_file_paths.append(remote_file_path)
+            test_file = open(local_file_path, 'w')
+            test_file.write(test_file_data)
+            test_file.close()
+        client = SSHClient(self.host, port=self.listen_port,
+                           pkey=self.user_key)
+        client.copy_file(local_test_path, remote_test_path, recurse=True)
+        for path in remote_file_paths:
+            self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(path))
+        shutil.rmtree(local_test_path)
+        shutil.rmtree(remote_test_path)
+
+    def test_ssh_client_directory_no_recurse(self):
+        """Tests copying directories with SSH client. Copy all the files from
+        local directory to server, then make sure they are all present."""
+        test_file_data = 'test'
+        local_test_path = 'directory_test'
+        remote_test_path = 'directory_test_copied'
+        os.mkdir(local_test_path)
+        remote_file_paths = []
+        for i in range(0, 10):
+            local_file_path = os.path.join(local_test_path, 'foo' + str(i))
+            remote_file_path = os.path.join(remote_test_path, 'foo' + str(i))
+            remote_file_paths.append(remote_file_path)
+            test_file = open(local_file_path, 'w')
+            test_file.write(test_file_data)
+            test_file.close()
+        client = SSHClient(self.host, port=self.listen_port,
+                           pkey=self.user_key)
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, client.copy_file, local_test_path, remote_test_path)
+        shutil.rmtree(local_test_path)
+
     def test_ssh_agent_authentication(self):
         """Test authentication via SSH agent.
         Do not provide public key to use when creating SSHClient,