diff --git a/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_config.rb b/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_config.rb
index a23f0ffbe..b35b0d2a0 100644
--- a/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_config.rb
+++ b/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_config.rb
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ def pci_passthroughs
       vm_type.pci_passthroughs || []
     end
 
+    def root_disk_size_gb
+      vm_type.root_disk_size_gb.to_i
+    end
+
     def storage_policy_name
       @manifest_params[:storage_policy]
     end
diff --git a/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator.rb b/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator.rb
index ba2d71f49..7c9f4f93f 100644
--- a/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator.rb
+++ b/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator.rb
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ def create(vm_config)
 
           # Clone VM
           logger.info("Cloning vm: #{replicated_stemcell_vm} to #{vm_config.name}")
+          # Don't link clone if expanding root disk, otherwise "Invalid operation for device '0'. Disks with parents cannot be expanded."
+          linked = vm_config.root_disk_size_gb > 0 ? false : true
           created_vm_mob = @client.wait_for_task do
             @cpi.clone_vm(
               replicated_stemcell_vm.mob,
@@ -191,7 +193,7 @@ def create(vm_config)
               cluster.resource_pool.mob,
               datastore: datastore.mob,
               host:,
-              linked: true,
+              linked: linked,
               snapshot: snapshot.current_snapshot,
               config: config_spec,
               datastore_cluster:
@@ -251,7 +253,6 @@ def create(vm_config)
             # Jammy stemcell at hardware version 13 only allows 1 vGPU; we want to be able to add more
             unless vm_config.vgpus.empty?
               config_spec = VimSdk::Vim::Vm::ConfigSpec.new
-              config_spec.device_change = []
               vm_config.vgpus.each do |vgpu|
                 vgpu = Resources::PCIPassthrough.create_vgpu(vgpu)
                 vgpu_config = Resources::VM.create_add_device_spec(vgpu)
@@ -261,7 +262,6 @@ def create(vm_config)
             end
             unless vm_config.pci_passthroughs.empty?
               config_spec = VimSdk::Vim::Vm::ConfigSpec.new
-              config_spec.device_change = []
               vm_config.pci_passthroughs.each do |pci_passthrough|
                 virtual_pci_passthrough = Resources::PCIPassthrough.create_pci_passthrough(
                   vendor_id: pci_passthrough['vendor_id'],
@@ -271,6 +271,15 @@ def create(vm_config)
               end
               @client.reconfig_vm(created_vm_mob, config_spec)
             end
+
+            if vm_config.root_disk_size_gb > 0
+              device_spec = Resources::VM.create_edit_device_spec(created_vm.system_disk)
+              device_spec.device.capacity_in_kb = vm_config.root_disk_size_gb * 2 ** 20 # GiB → kiB
+              config_spec = VimSdk::Vim::Vm::ConfigSpec.new
+              config_spec.device_change << device_spec
+              @client.reconfig_vm(created_vm_mob, config_spec)
+            end
+
             # DRS Rules
             create_drs_rules(vm_config, created_vm.mob, cluster)
 
diff --git a/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_type.rb b/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_type.rb
index 0d278b42e..57ef70beb 100644
--- a/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_type.rb
+++ b/src/vsphere_cpi/lib/cloud/vsphere/vm_type.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ def initialize(datacenter, cloud_properties, pbm)
       nsxt
       pci_passthroughs
       ram
+      root_disk_size_gb
       storage_policy
       tags
       upgrade_hw_version
diff --git a/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/integration/root_size_disk_gb_spec.rb b/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/integration/root_size_disk_gb_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee3a3609c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/integration/root_size_disk_gb_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+require 'integration/spec_helper'
+
+describe 'root_disk_size_gb property' do
+
+  let(:vm_type) do
+    {
+      'ram' => 512,
+      'disk' => 2048,
+      'cpu' => 1,
+    }
+  end
+
+  context 'when "root_disk_size_gb" is not set' do
+    it 'creates a VM whose system disk is a linked-clone to the stemcell' do
+      simple_vm_lifecycle(@cpi, @vlan, vm_type) do |vm_id|
+        vm = @cpi.vm_provider.find(vm_id)
+        stemcell = @cpi.vm_provider.find(@stemcell_id)
+        system_disk = vm.system_disk
+        stemcell_disk = stemcell.system_disk
+        expect(system_disk.backing.parent.uuid).to eq(stemcell_disk.backing.parent.uuid)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'when "root_disk_size_gb" is set' do
+    let(:root_disk_size_gb) { 15 }
+    it 'creates a VM whose system disk is a linked-clone to the stemcell' do
+      vm_type['root_disk_size_gb'] = root_disk_size_gb
+      simple_vm_lifecycle(@cpi, @vlan, vm_type) do |vm_id|
+        vm = @cpi.vm_provider.find(vm_id)
+        system_disk = vm.system_disk
+        expect(system_disk.backing.parent).to be_nil # no parent disk, not a linked-clone
+        expect(system_disk.capacity_in_kb / 1024 / 1024).to eq(root_disk_size_gb) # convert kiB → GiB
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/unit/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator_spec.rb b/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/unit/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator_spec.rb
index 580db7e8b..0fddc89cc 100644
--- a/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/unit/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator_spec.rb
+++ b/src/vsphere_cpi/spec/unit/cloud/vsphere/vm_creator_spec.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,15 @@ module VSphereCloud
       )
     }
     let(:agent_env) { instance_double('VSphereCloud::AgentEnv')  }
-    let(:config) {  [ 'default_disk_type'=> default_disk_type, 'resource_pool' => 'test',  'datacenters'=> [ datacenter ],'host' => 'localhost', 'user' => 'admin', 'password' => 'password' ] }
+    let(:config) {
+      [
+        default_disk_type: default_disk_type,
+        resource_pool: 'test',
+        datacenters: [datacenter],
+        host: 'localhost',
+        user: 'admin',
+        password: 'password'
+      ] }
     let(:cpi_config) do
       instance_double(
         'VSphereCloud::Config',
@@ -36,6 +44,13 @@ module VSphereCloud
     let(:custom_fields_manager) { instance_double('VimSdk::Vim::CustomFieldsManager') }
     let(:datacenter) { {  mob: datacenter_mob , name: 'dc-1', 'name' => 'dc-1', 'persistent_datastore_pattern' => 'ds-ps-*', 'datastore_pattern'=> 'ds-*', 'vm_folder'=> 'bosh_vms', 'template_folder'=> 'stemcells', 'disk_path' => 'disks', 'clusters' => [] } }
     let(:datacenter_mob) { instance_double('VimSdk::Vim::Datacenter', name: 'dc-1') }
+    let(:cluster) { instance_double(Resources::Cluster, mob: cluster_mob,
+                                    resource_pool: resource_pool, host_group: nil, accessible_datastores: { "ds-1": {}, "ds-2": {} }) }
+    let(:cluster_mob) { instance_double('VimSdk::Vim::ClusterComputeResource') }
+    let(:resource_pool) { instance_double(Resources::ResourcePool, mob: resource_pool_mob) }
+    let(:resource_pool_mob) { instance_double(VimSdk::Vim::ResourcePool) }
+    let(:datastore) { instance_double(Resources::Datastore, name: 'ds-1', mob: datastore_mob) }
+    let(:datastore_mob) { instance_double(VimSdk::Vim::Datastore) }
     let(:default_disk_type) { 'preallocated' }
     let(:ip_conflict_detector) { instance_double(IPConflictDetector, ensure_no_conflicts: nil) }
     let(:ensure_no_ip_conflicts) { true }
@@ -162,13 +177,13 @@ module VSphereCloud
 
                                       cluster_placements: [
                                         instance_double(VmPlacement,
-                                                                                 cluster: instance_double(Resources::Cluster, host_group: nil, mob: nil,  accessible_datastores: {"ds-1": {}, "ds-2": {}}),
-                                                        fallback_disk_placements: [instance_double(Resources::Datastore, name: "ds-2")],
-                                                        disk_placement: instance_double(Resources::Datastore, name: "ds-1")
+                                                        cluster: cluster,
+                                                        disk_placement: datastore,
+                                                        fallback_disk_placements: [instance_double(Resources::Datastore, name: "ds-2")]
                                                        )
                                       ],
-                                      stemcell_cid: 'here-stemcell-cid'
-
+                                      stemcell_cid: 'here-stemcell-cid',
+                                      root_disk_size_gb: 0
                                      )
     }
 
@@ -199,7 +214,21 @@ module VSphereCloud
         expect(client).to receive(:upgrade_vm_virtual_hardware).with(cloned_vm_mob)
         expect(client).to receive(:reconfig_vm).with(cloned_vm_mob, anything)
         subject.create(vm_config)
-        # expect{subject.create(vm_config)}.not_to raise_exception
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with root_disk_size_gb set to 15 GiB' do
+      let(:system_disk) { instance_double('VimSdk::Vim::Vm::Device::VirtualDisk') }
+      let(:device_spec) { instance_double(VimSdk::Vim::Vm::Device::VirtualDeviceSpec, device: system_disk) }
+      let(:new_disk_size_gb) { 15 }
+      before do
+        allow(vm_config).to receive(:root_disk_size_gb).and_return(new_disk_size_gb)
+        allow(Resources::VM).to receive(:create_edit_device_spec).and_return(device_spec)
+      end
+      it "reconfigures the VM with a larger root disk and we don't check linked clones because the mocking is already too much" do
+        expect(system_disk).to receive(:capacity_in_kb=).with(new_disk_size_gb * 2 ** 20) # convert kiB → GiB
+        expect(client).to receive(:reconfig_vm).with(cloned_vm_mob, anything)
+        subject.create(vm_config)
       end
     end
 
@@ -243,13 +272,13 @@ module VSphereCloud
 
                                           cluster_placements: [
                                             instance_double(VmPlacement,
-                                                            cluster: instance_double(Resources::Cluster, host_group: nil, mob: nil,  accessible_datastores: {"ds-1": {}, "ds-2": {}}),
+                                                            cluster: cluster,
                                                             fallback_disk_placements: [],
                                                             disk_placement: instance_double(Resources::Datastore, name: "ds-1")
                                                            )
                                           ],
-                                          stemcell_cid: 'here-stemcell-cid'
-
+                                          stemcell_cid: 'here-stemcell-cid',
+                                          root_disk_size_gb: 0
                                          )
         }
         it 'still fails if there are no viable fallback_disk_placements' do