diff --git a/cloudinit/distros/__init__.py b/cloudinit/distros/__init__.py
index f56c0cf..1fd48a7 100755
--- a/cloudinit/distros/__init__.py
+++ b/cloudinit/distros/__init__.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ from cloudinit.distros.parsers import hosts
 
 OSFAMILIES = {
     'debian': ['debian', 'ubuntu'],
-    'redhat': ['fedora', 'rhel'],
+    'redhat': ['centos', 'fedora', 'rhel'],
     'gentoo': ['gentoo'],
     'freebsd': ['freebsd'],
     'suse': ['sles'],
diff --git a/cloudinit/distros/centos.py b/cloudinit/distros/centos.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b803d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cloudinit/distros/centos.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# This file is part of cloud-init. See LICENSE file for license information.
+
+from cloudinit.distros import rhel
+from cloudinit import log as logging
+
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class Distro(rhel.Distro):
+    pass
+
+# vi: ts=4 expandtab