diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9e484cad2..71641293e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ BUG FIXES:
   - core: Can add boxes with spaces in their path. [GH-3306]
   - core: Prerelease plugins installed are locked to that prerelease
       version. [GH-3301]
+  - core: Better error message when adding a box with a malformed version. [GH-3332]
   - commands/box: Show versions when listing. [GH-3316]
   - commands/status: Machine readable output contains the target. [GH-3218]
   - guests/arch: Reload udev rules after network change. [GH-3322]
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb b/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb
index 81c040e4b..fe8e62cea 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb
@@ -31,12 +31,14 @@ module Vagrant
       @name = @raw["name"]
       @description = @raw["description"]
       @version_map = (@raw["versions"] || []).map do |v|
-        [Gem::Version.new(v["version"]), v]
+        begin
+          [Gem::Version.new(v["version"]), v]
+        rescue ArgumentError
+          raise Errors::BoxMetadataMalformedVersion,
+            version: v["version"].to_s
+        end
       end
       @version_map = Hash[@version_map]
-
-      # TODO: check for corruption:
-      #   - malformed version
     end
 
     # Returns data about a single version that is included in this
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
index 1aa277b05..03c6578fa 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
@@ -172,6 +172,10 @@ module Vagrant
       error_key(:box_metadata_malformed)
     end
 
+    class BoxMetadataMalformedVersion < VagrantError
+      error_key(:box_metadata_malformed_version)
+    end
+
     class BoxNotFound < VagrantError
       error_key(:box_not_found)
     end
diff --git a/templates/locales/en.yml b/templates/locales/en.yml
index f84bb7580..bcf2b24d1 100644
--- a/templates/locales/en.yml
+++ b/templates/locales/en.yml
@@ -392,6 +392,11 @@ en:
         that this issue can be fixed.
 
         %{error}
+      box_metadata_malformed_version: |-
+        A version of the box you're loading is formatted in a way that
+        Vagrant cannot parse: '%{version}'. Please reformat the version
+        to be properly formatted. It should be in the format of
+        X.Y.Z.
       box_not_found: |-
         The box '%{name}' does not exist. Please double check and
         try again. You can see the boxes that are installed with
diff --git a/test/unit/vagrant/box_metadata_test.rb b/test/unit/vagrant/box_metadata_test.rb
index 0acb0ad48..de3950c3b 100644
--- a/test/unit/vagrant/box_metadata_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/vagrant/box_metadata_test.rb
@@ -61,6 +61,25 @@ describe Vagrant::BoxMetadata do
     end
   end
 
+  context "with poorly formatted version" do
+    let(:raw) {
+      <<-RAW
+      { "name": "foo",
+        "versions": [
+          {
+            "version": "I AM NOT VALID"
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+      RAW
+    }
+
+    it "raises an exception" do
+      expect { subject }.
+        to raise_error(Vagrant::Errors::BoxMetadataMalformedVersion)
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "#version" do
     it "matches an exact version" do
       result = subject.version("1.0.0")