diff --git a/lib/vagrant/active_list.rb b/lib/vagrant/active_list.rb
index 334ef7c8a..66874f4c9 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/active_list.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/active_list.rb
@@ -26,7 +26,11 @@ module Vagrant
       @list ||= {}
       return @list unless File.file?(path)
       File.open(path, "r") do |f|
-        @list = JSON.parse(f.read)
+        begin
+          @list = JSON.parse(f.read)
+        rescue Exception
+          @list = {}
+        end
 
         # This forces earlier versions of Vagrant to use the new hash
         # format. Clearing out the old data isn't a big deal since it
diff --git a/test/vagrant/active_list_test.rb b/test/vagrant/active_list_test.rb
index 29d90b1ad..da579d765 100644
--- a/test/vagrant/active_list_test.rb
+++ b/test/vagrant/active_list_test.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,18 @@ class ActiveListTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       assert result.equal?(@list.list)
       assert result.equal?(@list.list)
     end
+
+    should "be an empty hash if JSON parsing raises an exception" do
+      file = mock("file")
+      file.stubs(:read)
+      File.expects(:file?).returns(true)
+      File.expects(:open).with(@list.path, 'r').once.yields(file)
+      JSON.expects(:parse).raises(Exception)
+
+      assert_nothing_raised do
+        assert_equal Hash.new, @list.list(true)
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   context "filter list" do