diff --git a/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb b/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb
index 0366246f1..20562452a 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/box_metadata.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ module Vagrant
           error: e.to_s
       end
 
+      @raw ||= {}
       @name = @raw["name"]
       @description = @raw["description"]
       @version_map = (@raw["versions"] || []).map do |v|
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
index f336cafd3..654621337 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
@@ -172,6 +172,14 @@ module Vagrant
       error_key(:box_metadata_malformed)
     end
 
+    class BoxNotFound < VagrantError
+      error_key(:box_not_found)
+    end
+
+    class BoxNotFoundWithProvider < VagrantError
+      error_key(:box_not_found_with_provider)
+    end
+
     class BoxOutdatedNoBox < VagrantError
       error_key(:box_outdated_no_box)
     end
@@ -200,6 +208,10 @@ module Vagrant
       error_key(:untar_failure, "vagrant.actions.box.unpackage")
     end
 
+    class BoxUpdateMultiProvider < VagrantError
+      error_key(:box_update_multi_provider)
+    end
+
     class BoxUpdateNoMetadata < VagrantError
       error_key(:box_update_no_metadata)
     end
diff --git a/plugins/commands/box/command/update.rb b/plugins/commands/box/command/update.rb
index 6cfb85458..5a204647c 100644
--- a/plugins/commands/box/command/update.rb
+++ b/plugins/commands/box/command/update.rb
@@ -23,11 +23,62 @@ module VagrantPlugins
             o.on("--box VALUE", String, "Update a specific box") do |b|
               options[:box] = b
             end
+
+            o.on("--provider VALUE", String, "Update box with specific provider.") do |p|
+              options[:provider] = p.to_sym
+            end
           end
 
           argv = parse_options(opts)
           return if !argv
 
+          if options[:box]
+            update_specific(options[:box], options[:provider])
+          else
+            update_vms(argv)
+          end
+
+          0
+        end
+
+        def update_specific(name, provider)
+          boxes = {}
+          @env.boxes.all.each do |n, v, p|
+            boxes[n] ||= {}
+            boxes[n][p] ||= []
+            boxes[n][p] << v
+          end
+
+          if !boxes[name]
+            raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFound, name: name.to_s
+          end
+
+          if !provider
+            if boxes[name].length > 1
+              raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxUpdateMultiProvider,
+                name: name.to_s,
+                providers: boxes[name].keys.map(&:to_s).sort.join(", ")
+            end
+
+            provider = boxes[name].keys.first
+          elsif !boxes[name][provider]
+            raise Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFoundWithProvider,
+              name: name.to_s,
+              provider: provider.to_s,
+              providers: boxes[name].keys.map(&:to_s).sort.join(", ")
+          end
+
+          to_update = [
+            [name, provider, boxes[name][provider].last],
+          ]
+
+          to_update.each do |n, p, v|
+            box = @env.boxes.find(n, p, v)
+            box_update(box, "> #{v}", @env.ui)
+          end
+        end
+
+        def update_vms(argv)
           with_target_vms(argv) do |machine|
             if !machine.box
               machine.ui.output(I18n.t(
@@ -38,33 +89,36 @@ module VagrantPlugins
 
             box = machine.box
             version = machine.config.vm.box_version
-
-            machine.ui.output(I18n.t("vagrant.box_update_checking", name: box.name))
-            machine.ui.detail("Version constraints: #{version}")
-            machine.ui.detail("Provider: #{box.provider}")
-
-            update = box.has_update?(version)
-            if !update
-              machine.ui.success(I18n.t(
-                "vagrant.box_up_to_date_single",
-                name: box.name, version: box.version))
-              next
-            end
-
-            machine.ui.output(I18n.t(
-              "vagrant.box_updating",
-              name: update[0].name,
-              provider: update[2].name,
-              old: box.version,
-              new: update[1].version))
-            @env.action_runner.run(Vagrant::Action.action_box_add, {
-              box_url: box.metadata_url,
-              box_provider: update[2].name,
-              box_version: update[1].version,
-              ui: machine.ui,
-            })
+            box_update(box, version, machine.ui)
           end
         end
+
+        def box_update(box, version, ui)
+          ui.output(I18n.t("vagrant.box_update_checking", name: box.name))
+          ui.detail("Version constraints: #{version}")
+          ui.detail("Provider: #{box.provider}")
+
+          update = box.has_update?(version)
+          if !update
+            ui.success(I18n.t(
+              "vagrant.box_up_to_date_single",
+              name: box.name, version: box.version))
+            return
+          end
+
+          ui.output(I18n.t(
+            "vagrant.box_updating",
+            name: update[0].name,
+            provider: update[2].name,
+            old: box.version,
+            new: update[1].version))
+          @env.action_runner.run(Vagrant::Action.action_box_add, {
+            box_url: box.metadata_url,
+            box_provider: update[2].name,
+            box_version: update[1].version,
+            ui: ui,
+          })
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/templates/locales/en.yml b/templates/locales/en.yml
index c48c3ec07..0981aaaa7 100644
--- a/templates/locales/en.yml
+++ b/templates/locales/en.yml
@@ -378,6 +378,16 @@ en:
         that this issue can be fixed.
 
         %{error}
+      box_not_found: |-
+        The box '%{name}' does not exist. Please double check and
+        try again. You can see the boxes that are installed with
+        `vagrant box list`.
+      box_not_found_with_provider: |-
+        The box '%{name}' isn't installed for the provider '%{provider}'.
+        Please double-check and try again. The installed providers for
+        the box are shown below:
+
+        %{providers}
       box_outdated_no_box: |-
         The box '%{name}' isn't downloaded or added yet, so we can't
         check if it is outdated. Run a `vagrant up` or add the box
@@ -409,6 +419,12 @@ en:
         the provider specified. Please double-check and try again.
 
         The providers for this are: %{providers}
+      box_update_multi_provider: |-
+        You requested to update the box '%{name}'. This box has
+        multiple providers. You must explicitly select a single
+        provider to remove with `--provider`.
+
+        Available providers: %{providers}
       box_update_no_metadata: |-
         The box '%{name}' is not a versioned box. The box was added
         directly instead of from a box catalog. Vagrant can only
diff --git a/test/unit/plugins/commands/box/command/update_test.rb b/test/unit/plugins/commands/box/command/update_test.rb
index 3f2c5cd46..8571d6ba3 100644
--- a/test/unit/plugins/commands/box/command/update_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/plugins/commands/box/command/update_test.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+require "pathname"
+require "tmpdir"
+
 require File.expand_path("../../../../../base", __FILE__)
 
 require Vagrant.source_root.join("plugins/commands/box/command/update")
@@ -23,6 +26,126 @@ describe VagrantPlugins::CommandBox::Command::Update do
   end
 
   describe "execute" do
+    context "updating specific box" do
+      let(:argv) { ["--box", "foo"] }
+
+      let(:metadata_url) { Pathname.new(Dir.mktmpdir).join("metadata.json") }
+
+      before do
+        metadata_url.open("w") do |f|
+          f.write("")
+        end
+
+        test_iso_env.box3(
+          "foo", "1.0", :virtualbox, metadata_url: metadata_url.to_s)
+      end
+
+      it "doesn't update if they're up to date" do
+        action_runner.should_receive(:run).never
+
+        subject.execute
+      end
+
+      it "does update if there is an update" do
+        metadata_url.open("w") do |f|
+          f.write(<<-RAW)
+      {
+        "name": "foo",
+        "versions": [
+          {
+            "version": "1.0"
+          },
+          {
+            "version": "1.1",
+            "providers": [
+              {
+                "name": "virtualbox",
+                "url": "bar"
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+          RAW
+        end
+
+        action_runner.should_receive(:run).with do |action, opts|
+          expect(opts[:box_url]).to eq(metadata_url.to_s)
+          expect(opts[:box_provider]).to eq("virtualbox")
+          expect(opts[:box_version]).to eq("1.1")
+          true
+        end
+
+        subject.execute
+      end
+
+      it "raises an error if there are multiple providers" do
+        test_iso_env.box3("foo", "1.0", :vmware)
+
+        action_runner.should_receive(:run).never
+
+        expect { subject.execute }.
+          to raise_error(Vagrant::Errors::BoxUpdateMultiProvider)
+      end
+
+      context "with multiple providers and specifying the provider" do
+        let(:argv) { ["--box", "foo", "--provider", "vmware"] }
+
+        it "updates the proper box" do
+          metadata_url.open("w") do |f|
+            f.write(<<-RAW)
+      {
+        "name": "foo",
+        "versions": [
+          {
+            "version": "1.0"
+          },
+          {
+            "version": "1.1",
+            "providers": [
+              {
+                "name": "vmware",
+                "url": "bar"
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+            RAW
+          end
+
+          test_iso_env.box3("foo", "1.0", :vmware)
+
+          action_runner.should_receive(:run).with do |action, opts|
+            expect(opts[:box_url]).to eq(metadata_url.to_s)
+            expect(opts[:box_provider]).to eq("vmware")
+            expect(opts[:box_version]).to eq("1.1")
+            true
+          end
+
+          subject.execute
+        end
+
+        it "raises an error if that provider doesn't exist" do
+          action_runner.should_receive(:run).never
+
+          expect { subject.execute }.
+            to raise_error(Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFoundWithProvider)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context "with a box that doesn't exist" do
+        let(:argv) { ["--box", "nope"] }
+
+        it "raises an exception" do
+          action_runner.should_receive(:run).never
+
+          expect { subject.execute }.
+            to raise_error(Vagrant::Errors::BoxNotFound)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
     context "updating environment machines" do
       before do
         subject.stub(:with_target_vms) { |&block| block.call machine }
diff --git a/test/unit/support/isolated_environment.rb b/test/unit/support/isolated_environment.rb
index 0ea9bb9a8..94fb907bd 100644
--- a/test/unit/support/isolated_environment.rb
+++ b/test/unit/support/isolated_environment.rb
@@ -117,6 +117,13 @@ module Unit
         end
       end
 
+      # Create the metadata URL
+      if opts[:metadata_url]
+        boxes_dir.join(name, "metadata_url").open("w") do |f|
+          f.write(opts[:metadata_url])
+        end
+      end
+
       box_dir
     end