diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/gcp_utils.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/gcp_utils.py
index 35800386616468..c29e9339222f4c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/gcp_utils.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/gcp_utils.py
@@ -158,6 +158,9 @@ def _credentials(self):
         elif cred_type == 'serviceaccount' and self.module.params.get('service_account_file'):
             path = os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser(self.module.params['service_account_file']))
             return service_account.Credentials.from_service_account_file(path).with_scopes(self.module.params['scopes'])
+        elif cred_type == 'serviceaccount' and self.module.params.get('service_account_contents'):
+            cred = json.loads(self.module.params.get('service_account_contents'))
+            return service_account.Credentials.from_service_account_info(cred).with_scopes(self.module.params['scopes'])
         elif cred_type == 'machineaccount':
             return google.auth.compute_engine.Credentials(
                 self.module.params['service_account_email'])
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/doc_fragments/gcp.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/doc_fragments/gcp.py
index 110d2795958379..84cf9e24483555 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/doc_fragments/gcp.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/doc_fragments/gcp.py
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ class ModuleDocFragment(object):
     service_account_file:
         description:
             - The path of a Service Account JSON file if serviceaccount is selected as type.
-        type: path
+    service_account_contents:
+        description:
+            - A string representing the contents of a Service Account JSON file.
+            - This should not be passed in as a dictionary, but a string has
+              the exact contents of a service account json file (valid JSON).
     service_account_email:
         description:
             - An optional service account email address if machineaccount is selected
@@ -38,8 +42,10 @@ class ModuleDocFragment(object):
             - Array of scopes to be used.
         type: list
 notes:
-  - For authentication, you can set service_account_file using the
-    C(GCP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE) env variable.
+  - for authentication, you can set service_account_file using the
+    c(gcp_service_account_file) env variable.
+  - for authentication, you can set service_account_contents using the
+    c(GCP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_CONTENTS) env variable.
   - For authentication, you can set service_account_email using the
     C(GCP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL) env variable.
   - For authentication, you can set service_account_contents using the