diff --git a/salt/renderers/cheetah.py b/salt/renderers/cheetah.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..35f6c4754b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/renderers/cheetah.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Cheetah Renderer for Salt
+'''
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+# Import 3rd party libs
+try:
+    from Cheetah.Template import Template
+    HAS_LIBS = True
+except ImportError:
+    HAS_LIBS = False
+
+# Import salt libs
+from salt._compat import string_types
+
+
+def render(cheetah_data, saltenv='base', sls='', method='xml', **kws):
+    '''
+    Render a Cheetah template.
+
+    :rtype: A Python data structure
+    '''
+    if not HAS_LIBS:
+        return {}
+
+    if not isinstance(cheetah_data, string_types):
+        cheetah_data = cheetah_data.read()
+
+    if cheetah_data.startswith('#!'):
+        cheetah_data = cheetah_data[(cheetah_data.find('\n') + 1):]
+    if not cheetah_data.strip():
+        return {}
+
+    return str(Template(cheetah_data, searchList=[kws]))
diff --git a/salt/utils/templates.py b/salt/utils/templates.py
index 70df1e1222..ae8031b848 100644
--- a/salt/utils/templates.py
+++ b/salt/utils/templates.py
@@ -383,6 +383,14 @@ def render_genshi_tmpl(tmplstr, context, tmplpath=None):
     return tmpl.generate(**context).render(method)
 
 
+def render_cheetah_tmpl(tmplstr, context, tmplpath=None):
+    '''
+    Render a Cheetah template.
+    '''
+    from Cheetah.Template import Template
+    return str(Template(tmplstr, searchList=[context]))
+
+
 def py(sfn, string=False, **kwargs):  # pylint: disable=C0103
     '''
     Render a template from a python source file
@@ -430,6 +438,7 @@ JINJA = wrap_tmpl_func(render_jinja_tmpl)
 MAKO = wrap_tmpl_func(render_mako_tmpl)
 WEMPY = wrap_tmpl_func(render_wempy_tmpl)
 GENSHI = wrap_tmpl_func(render_genshi_tmpl)
+CHEETAH = wrap_tmpl_func(render_cheetah_tmpl)
 
 TEMPLATE_REGISTRY = {
     'jinja': JINJA,
@@ -437,4 +446,5 @@ TEMPLATE_REGISTRY = {
     'py': py,
     'wempy': WEMPY,
     'genshi': GENSHI,
+    'cheetah': CHEETAH,
 }