diff --git a/plotly/tools.py b/plotly/tools.py
index ebb9a5fbdd8..10ae7838a20 100644
--- a/plotly/tools.py
+++ b/plotly/tools.py
@@ -6051,7 +6051,8 @@ def create_distplot(hist_data, group_labels,
 
     @staticmethod
     def create_dendrogram(X, orientation="bottom", labels=None,
-                          colorscale=None):
+                          colorscale=None, distfun=scs.distance.pdist,
+                          linkagefun=lambda x: sch.linkage(x, 'complete')):
         """
         BETA function that returns a dendrogram Plotly figure object.
 
@@ -6059,6 +6060,9 @@ def create_dendrogram(X, orientation="bottom", labels=None,
         :param (str) orientation: 'top', 'right', 'bottom', or 'left'
         :param (list) labels: List of axis category labels(observation labels)
         :param (list) colorscale: Optional colorscale for dendrogram tree
+        :param (function) distfun: Function to compute the pairwise distance from the observations
+        :param (function) linkagefun: Function to compute the linkage matrix from the pairwise distances
+
             clusters
 
         Example 1: Simple bottom oriented dendrogram
@@ -6114,7 +6118,8 @@ def create_dendrogram(X, orientation="bottom", labels=None,
         if len(s) != 2:
             exceptions.PlotlyError("X should be 2-dimensional array.")
 
-        dendrogram = _Dendrogram(X, orientation, labels, colorscale)
+        dendrogram = _Dendrogram(X, orientation, labels, colorscale,
+                                 distfun=distfun, linkagefun=linkagefun)
 
         return {'layout': dendrogram.layout,
                 'data': dendrogram.data}
@@ -7041,7 +7046,8 @@ class _Dendrogram(FigureFactory):
     """Refer to FigureFactory.create_dendrogram() for docstring."""
 
     def __init__(self, X, orientation='bottom', labels=None, colorscale=None,
-                 width="100%", height="100%", xaxis='xaxis', yaxis='yaxis'):
+                 width="100%", height="100%", xaxis='xaxis', yaxis='yaxis',
+                 distfun=scs.distance.pdist, linkagefun=lambda x: sch.linkage(x, 'complete')):
         # TODO: protected until #282
         from plotly.graph_objs import graph_objs
         self.orientation = orientation
@@ -7064,7 +7070,7 @@ def __init__(self, X, orientation='bottom', labels=None, colorscale=None,
             self.sign[self.yaxis] = -1
 
         (dd_traces, xvals, yvals,
-            ordered_labels, leaves) = self.get_dendrogram_traces(X, colorscale)
+            ordered_labels, leaves) = self.get_dendrogram_traces(X, colorscale, distfun, linkagefun)
 
         self.labels = ordered_labels
         self.leaves = leaves
@@ -7173,12 +7179,14 @@ def set_figure_layout(self, width, height):
 
         return self.layout
 
-    def get_dendrogram_traces(self, X, colorscale):
+    def get_dendrogram_traces(self, X, colorscale, distfun, linkagefun):
         """
         Calculates all the elements needed for plotting a dendrogram.
 
         :param (ndarray) X: Matrix of observations as array of arrays
         :param (list) colorscale: Color scale for dendrogram tree clusters
+        :param (function) distfun: Function to compute the pairwise distance from the observations
+        :param (function) linkagefun: Function to compute the linkage matrix from the pairwise distances
         :rtype (tuple): Contains all the traces in the following order:
             (a) trace_list: List of Plotly trace objects for dendrogram tree
             (b) icoord: All X points of the dendrogram tree as array of arrays
@@ -7192,8 +7200,8 @@ def get_dendrogram_traces(self, X, colorscale):
         """
         # TODO: protected until #282
         from plotly.graph_objs import graph_objs
-        d = scs.distance.pdist(X)
-        Z = sch.linkage(d, method='complete')
+        d = distfun(X)
+        Z = linkagefun(d)
         P = sch.dendrogram(Z, orientation=self.orientation,
                            labels=self.labels, no_plot=True)