diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0fc8c3f73..d20ed7661 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   - Fix issue with unknown terminal type output for sudo commands.
   - Forwarded port protocol can now be set as UDP. [GH-311]
   - Chef server file cache path and file backup path can be configured. [GH-310]
+  - Setting hostname should work on Debian now. [GH-307]
 
 ## 0.7.2 (February 8, 2011)
 
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems.rb
index 57a689548..89a2f86ce 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/systems.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems.rb
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ require 'vagrant/systems/solaris'
 require 'vagrant/systems/debian'
 require 'vagrant/systems/gentoo'
 require 'vagrant/systems/redhat'
+require 'vagrant/systems/ubuntu'
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb
index 1914a28f6..19422a6eb 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ module Vagrant
       def change_host_name(name)
         vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
           if !ssh.test?("sudo hostname | grep '#{name}'")
-            ssh.exec!("sudo sed -i 's/.*$/#{name}/' /etc/hostname")
             ssh.exec!("sudo sed -i 's@^\\(127[.]0[.]1[.]1[[:space:]]\\+\\)@\\1#{name} #{name.split('.')[0]} @' /etc/hosts")
-            ssh.exec!("sudo service hostname start")
+            ssh.exec!("sudo sed -i 's/.*$/#{name}/' /etc/hostname")
+            ssh.exec!("sudo hostname -F /etc/hostname")
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb
index 48c7fb79e..fd747576c 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ module Vagrant
     class Linux < Base
       def distro_dispatch
         vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
-          return :debian if ssh.test?("cat /etc/debian_version")
+          if ssh.test?("cat /etc/debian_version")
+            return :debian if ssh.test?("cat /proc/version | grep 'Debian'")
+            return :ubuntu if ssh.test?("cat /proc/version | grep 'Ubuntu'")
+          end
+
           return :gentoo if ssh.test?("cat /etc/gentoo-release")
           return :redhat if ssh.test?("cat /etc/redhat-release")
         end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems/ubuntu.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems/ubuntu.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2aaad4814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems/ubuntu.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+require 'vagrant/systems/debian'
+
+module Vagrant
+  module Systems
+    class Ubuntu < Debian
+      def change_host_name(name)
+        vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
+          if !ssh.test?("sudo hostname | grep '#{name}'")
+            ssh.exec!("sudo sed -i 's/.*$/#{name}/' /etc/hostname")
+            ssh.exec!("sudo sed -i 's@^\\(127[.]0[.]1[.]1[[:space:]]\\+\\)@\\1#{name} #{name.split('.')[0]} @' /etc/hosts")
+            ssh.exec!("sudo service hostname start")
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/vm.rb b/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
index 397b29403..239922d7c 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ module Vagrant
         # Hard-coded internal systems
         mapping = {
           :debian  => Systems::Debian,
+          :ubuntu  => Systems::Ubuntu,
           :freebsd => Systems::FreeBSD,
           :gentoo  => Systems::Gentoo,
           :redhat  => Systems::Redhat,