diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66a4a5e62..bf71dd86f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ## 0.8.7 (unreleased)
 
   - Fix regression with remote paths from chef-solo. [GH-431]
+  - Fix issue where Vagrant crashes if `.vagrant` file becomes invalid. [GH-496]
 
 ## 0.8.6 (August 28, 2011)
 
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb b/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb
index 400c070e8..e98b5796d 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,12 @@ module Vagrant
 
       if File.exist?(file_path)
         File.open(file_path, "r") do |f|
-          merge!(JSON.parse(f.read))
+          begin
+            merge!(JSON.parse(f.read))
+          rescue JSON::ParserError
+            # Ignore if the data is invalid in the file.
+            # TODO: Log here.
+          end
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/test/unit/vagrant/data_store_test.rb b/test/unit/vagrant/data_store_test.rb
index 51c06b82b..424244749 100644
--- a/test/unit/vagrant/data_store_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/vagrant/data_store_test.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@ class DataStoreTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     }
   end
 
+  should "initialize just fine if the db file contains invalid data" do
+    file = tmp_path.join("data_store_empty_test")
+    File.open(file, "w") { |f| f.write("") }
+
+    instance = @klass.new(file)
+    assert instance.length == 0
+  end
+
   should "be a hash with indifferent access" do
     assert @instance.is_a?(Vagrant::Util::HashWithIndifferentAccess)
   end