diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7614b472..6d00fecc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ dist/
 dev/
 .pytest_cache
 pytestdebug.log
+.vscode/
diff --git a/juju/machine.py b/juju/machine.py
index a46135cd..1dfe72cf 100644
--- a/juju/machine.py
+++ b/juju/machine.py
@@ -146,7 +146,8 @@ async def scp_to(self, source, destination, user='ubuntu', proxy=False,
         :param str destination: Remote destination of transferred files
         :param str user: Remote username
         :param bool proxy: Proxy through the Juju API server
-        :param str scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :param scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :type scp_opts: str or list
         """
         if proxy:
             raise NotImplementedError('proxy option is not implemented')
@@ -163,7 +164,8 @@ async def scp_from(self, source, destination, user='ubuntu', proxy=False,
         :param str destination: Local destination of transferred files
         :param str user: Remote username
         :param bool proxy: Proxy through the Juju API server
-        :param str scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :param scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :type scp_opts: str or list
         """
         if proxy:
             raise NotImplementedError('proxy option is not implemented')
@@ -181,10 +183,10 @@ async def _scp(self, source, destination, scp_opts):
             '-i', os.path.expanduser('~/.local/share/juju/ssh/juju_id_rsa'),
             '-o', 'StrictHostKeyChecking=no',
             '-q',
-            '-B',
-            source, destination
+            '-B'
         ]
-        cmd += scp_opts.split()
+        cmd.extend(scp_opts.split() if isinstance(scp_opts, str) else scp_opts)
+        cmd.extend([source, destination])
         loop = self.model.loop
         process = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(*cmd, loop=loop)
         await process.wait()
diff --git a/juju/unit.py b/juju/unit.py
index 3be27f2e..79ad9e18 100644
--- a/juju/unit.py
+++ b/juju/unit.py
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ async def scp_to(self, source, destination, user='ubuntu', proxy=False,
         :param str destination: Remote destination of transferred files
         :param str user: Remote username
         :param bool proxy: Proxy through the Juju API server
-        :param str scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :param scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :type scp_opts: str or list
         """
         await self.machine.scp_to(source, destination, user=user, proxy=proxy,
                                   scp_opts=scp_opts)
@@ -199,7 +200,8 @@ async def scp_from(self, source, destination, user='ubuntu', proxy=False,
         :param str destination: Local destination of transferred files
         :param str user: Remote username
         :param bool proxy: Proxy through the Juju API server
-        :param str scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :param scp_opts: Additional options to the `scp` command
+        :type scp_opts: str or list
         """
         await self.machine.scp_from(source, destination, user=user,
                                     proxy=proxy, scp_opts=scp_opts)
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_machine.py b/tests/integration/test_machine.py
index 9a5f0758..070208a5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_machine.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_machine.py
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ async def test_scp(event_loop):
         with NamedTemporaryFile() as f:
             f.write(b'testcontents')
             f.flush()
-            await machine.scp_to(f.name, 'testfile')
+            await machine.scp_to(f.name, 'testfile', scp_opts='-p')
 
         with NamedTemporaryFile() as f:
-            await machine.scp_from('testfile', f.name)
+            await machine.scp_from('testfile', f.name, scp_opts='-p')
             assert f.read() == b'testcontents'