diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIO.java b/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIO.java
index c75e501c97..1ac67eff55 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIO.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIO.java
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.values.PDone;
 import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.values.PInput;
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 
 import org.joda.time.Duration;
@@ -200,6 +201,23 @@ private static void populateCommonDisplayData(DisplayData.Builder builder,
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Creates the name of a new subscription based on the specified topic and dataflow options.
+   * If a project is specified in the options, the subscription will be created in that project.
+   * Otherwise, it will be created in the same project as the topic.
+   * @param topic the topic to base the subscription name on
+   * @param options the options to base the subscription name on
+   * @return the name of the subscription
+   */
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  protected static String createSubscriptionName(String topic, DataflowPipelineOptions options) {
+    String[] split = topic.split("/");
+    String project =
+        Strings.isNullOrEmpty(options.getProject()) ? split[1] : options.getProject();
+    return String.format("projects/%s/subscriptions/%s_dataflow_%d",
+                         project, split[3], new Random().nextLong());
+  }
+
   /**
    * Class representing a Cloud Pub/Sub Subscription.
    */
@@ -760,17 +778,15 @@ private class PubsubReader extends DoFn<Void, T> {
 
         @Override
         public void processElement(ProcessContext c) throws IOException {
-          Pubsub pubsubClient =
-              Transport.newPubsubClient(c.getPipelineOptions().as(DataflowPipelineOptions.class))
-                  .build();
+          DataflowPipelineOptions options =
+              c.getPipelineOptions().as(DataflowPipelineOptions.class);
+
+          Pubsub pubsubClient = Transport.newPubsubClient(options).build();
 
           String subscription;
           if (getSubscription() == null) {
             String topic = getTopic().asPath();
-            String[] split = topic.split("/");
-            subscription =
-                "projects/" + split[1] + "/subscriptions/" + split[3] + "_dataflow_"
-                + new Random().nextLong();
+            subscription = createSubscriptionName(topic, options);
             Subscription subInfo = new Subscription().setAckDeadlineSeconds(60).setTopic(topic);
             try {
               pubsubClient.projects().subscriptions().create(subscription, subInfo).execute();
diff --git a/sdk/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIOTest.java b/sdk/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIOTest.java
index dfe5da3457..4c9c02e3be 100644
--- a/sdk/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIOTest.java
+++ b/sdk/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/io/PubsubIOTest.java
@@ -25,10 +25,13 @@
 import com.google.api.client.testing.http.FixedClock;
 import com.google.api.client.util.Clock;
 import com.google.api.services.pubsub.model.PubsubMessage;
+import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.options.DataflowPipelineOptions;
+import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.options.PipelineOptionsFactory;
 import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.transforms.display.DataflowDisplayDataEvaluator;
 import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.transforms.display.DisplayData;
 import com.google.cloud.dataflow.sdk.transforms.display.DisplayDataEvaluator;
 
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 import org.joda.time.Duration;
 import org.joda.time.Instant;
 import org.junit.Rule;
@@ -298,4 +301,26 @@ public void testPrimitiveReadDisplayData() {
     assertThat("PubsubIO.Read should include the topic in its primitive display data",
         displayData, hasItem(hasDisplayItem("topic")));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCreateSubscriptionNameFromProject() {
+    DataflowPipelineOptions options = PipelineOptionsFactory.as(DataflowPipelineOptions.class);
+    options.setProject("subscriptionProject");
+    String subscriptionName =
+        PubsubIO.createSubscriptionName("projects/topicProject/topics/foo", options);
+    // the subscription should be in 'subscriptionProject' because that is specified in the options
+    assertThat(subscriptionName,
+               Matchers.startsWith("projects/subscriptionProject/subscriptions/foo_dataflow_"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCreateSubscriptionNameFromTopic() {
+    DataflowPipelineOptions options = PipelineOptionsFactory.as(DataflowPipelineOptions.class);
+    options.setProject(null);
+    String subscriptionName =
+        PubsubIO.createSubscriptionName("projects/topicProject/topics/foo", options);
+    // the subscription should be in 'topicProject' because no project was specified
+    assertThat(subscriptionName,
+               Matchers.startsWith("projects/topicProject/subscriptions/foo_dataflow_"));
+  }
 }