diff --git a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
index 02804b5b0..b705b362e 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
@@ -764,6 +764,10 @@ module Vagrant
       error_key(:virtualbox_name_exists)
     end
 
+    class VirtualBoxUserMismatch < VagrantError
+      error_key(:virtualbox_user_mismatch)
+    end
+
     class VirtualBoxVersionEmpty < VagrantError
       error_key(:virtualbox_version_empty)
     end
diff --git a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/provider.rb b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/provider.rb
index 9428fe6d7..270286341 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/provider.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/provider.rb
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ module VagrantPlugins
       #
       # @return [Symbol]
       def state
+        # We have to check if the UID matches to avoid issues with
+        # VirtualBox.
+        uid = @machine.uid
+        if uid && uid.to_s == Process.uid.to_s
+          raise Vagrant::Errors::VirtualBoxUserMismatch, uid: uid.to_s
+        end
+
         # Determine the ID of the state here.
         state_id = nil
         state_id = :not_created if !@driver.uuid
diff --git a/templates/locales/en.yml b/templates/locales/en.yml
index a6abe138c..285960f39 100644
--- a/templates/locales/en.yml
+++ b/templates/locales/en.yml
@@ -1317,6 +1317,13 @@ en:
         Vagrant uses the `VBoxManage` binary that ships with VirtualBox, and requires
         this to be available on the PATH. If VirtualBox is installed, please find the
         `VBoxManage` binary and add it to the PATH environmental variable.
+      virtualbox_user_mismatch: |-
+        The VirtualBox VM was created with a user that doesn't match the
+        current user running Vagrant. VirtualBox requires that the same user
+        be used to manage the VM that was created. Please re-run Vagrant with
+        that user.
+
+        The UID used to create the VM was: %{uid}
       virtualbox_version_empty: |-
         Vagrant detected that VirtualBox appears installed on your system,
         but calls to detect the version are returning empty. This is often