diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/sshkey/parsed.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/sshkey/parsed.rb
index f874683b7..29f345916 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/sshkey/parsed.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/sshkey/parsed.rb
@@ -1,35 +1,40 @@
 require 'puppet/provider/parsedfile'
 
 known = nil
 case Facter.value(:operatingsystem)
 when "Darwin"; known = "/etc/ssh_known_hosts"
 else
   known = "/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts"
 end
 
 
 Puppet::Type.type(:sshkey).provide(
   :parsed,
   :parent => Puppet::Provider::ParsedFile,
   :default_target => known,
   :filetype => :flat
 ) do
   desc "Parse and generate host-wide known hosts files for SSH."
 
   text_line :comment, :match => /^#/
   text_line :blank, :match => /^\s+/
 
   record_line :parsed, :fields => %w{name type key},
     :post_parse => proc { |hash|
       names = hash[:name].split(",", -1)
       hash[:name]  = names.shift
       hash[:host_aliases] = names
     },
     :pre_gen => proc { |hash|
       if hash[:host_aliases]
         hash[:name] = [hash[:name], hash[:host_aliases]].flatten.join(",")
         hash.delete(:host_aliases)
       end
     }
+
+  # Make sure to use mode 644 if ssh_known_hosts is newly created
+  def self.default_mode
+    0644
+  end
 end
 
diff --git a/spec/integration/type/sshkey_spec.rb b/spec/integration/type/sshkey_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1b1e01c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/integration/type/sshkey_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env ruby
+require 'spec_helper'
+require 'puppet_spec/files'
+require 'puppet_spec/compiler'
+
+describe Puppet::Type.type(:sshkey), '(integration)', :unless => Puppet.features.microsoft_windows? do
+  include PuppetSpec::Files
+  include PuppetSpec::Compiler
+
+  let(:target) { tmpfile('ssh_known_hosts') }
+  let(:manifest) { "sshkey { 'test':
+    ensure => 'present',
+    type => 'rsa',
+    key => 'TESTKEY',
+    target => '#{target}' }"
+  }
+
+  it "should create a new known_hosts file with mode 0644" do
+    apply_compiled_manifest(manifest)
+    expect_file_mode(target, "644")
+  end
+end