diff --git a/config/default.rb b/config/default.rb
index cd5b74ccf..f9cd934e9 100644
--- a/config/default.rb
+++ b/config/default.rb
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Vagrant::Config.run do |config|
   config.vm.box_ovf = "box.ovf"
   config.vm.base_mac = "0800279C2E42"
   config.vm.project_directory = "/vagrant"
+  config.vm.rsync_project_directory = false
   config.vm.forward_port("ssh", 22, 2222)
   config.vm.disk_image_format = 'VMDK'
   config.vm.provisioner = nil
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/actions/vm/boot.rb b/lib/vagrant/actions/vm/boot.rb
index d7f035bb3..9d840c079 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/actions/vm/boot.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/actions/vm/boot.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ module Vagrant
     module VM
       class Boot < Base
         def prepare
-          @runner.env.config.vm.share_folder("v-root", @runner.env.config.vm.project_directory, @runner.env.root_path)
+          @runner.env.config.vm.share_folder("v-root",
+                                             @runner.env.config.vm.project_directory,
+                                             @runner.env.root_path,
+                                             :rsync => @runner.env.config.vm.rsync_project_directory)
         end
 
         def execute!
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/config.rb b/lib/vagrant/config.rb
index 9cd8c32a2..da8829a34 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/config.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/config.rb
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ module Vagrant
       attr_accessor :base_mac
       attr_accessor :boot_mode
       attr_accessor :project_directory
+      attr_accessor :rsync_project_directory
       attr_reader :forwarded_ports
       attr_reader :shared_folders
       attr_accessor :hd_location
@@ -104,8 +105,16 @@ module Vagrant
         }
       end
 
-      def share_folder(name, guestpath, hostpath)
+      def share_folder(name, guestpath, hostpath = nil, opts = {})
+        guestpath, opts[:rsync] = shift(guestpath, opts[:rsync])
+
+        # TODO if both are nil the exception information will be unusable
+        if opts[:rsync] == guestpath
+          raise Exception.new("The rsync directory #{opts[:rsync]} is identical to the shifted shared folder mount point #{guestpath}")
+        end
+
         @shared_folders[name] = {
+          :rsyncpath => opts[:rsync],
           :guestpath => guestpath,
           :hostpath => hostpath
         }
@@ -139,6 +148,14 @@ module Vagrant
       def define(name, &block)
         defined_vms[name.to_sym] = block
       end
+
+      def shift(orig, rsync)
+        if rsync
+          [orig + '-rsync', rsync == true ? orig : rsync]
+        else
+          [orig, rsync]
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     class PackageConfig < Base
@@ -159,7 +176,7 @@ module Vagrant
     class Top < Base
       @@configures = []
 
-      class <<self
+      class << self
         def configures_list
           @@configures ||= []
         end
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index 6058edc1a..d5491dfdc 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ class Test::Unit::TestCase
       config.vm.box_ovf = "box.ovf"
       config.vm.base_mac = "42"
       config.vm.project_directory = "/vagrant"
+      config.vm.rsync_project_directory = false
       config.vm.disk_image_format = 'VMDK'
       config.vm.forward_port("ssh", 22, 2222)
       config.vm.shared_folder_uid = nil
diff --git a/test/vagrant/actions/vm/boot_test.rb b/test/vagrant/actions/vm/boot_test.rb
index 82034acb3..19ca5dba0 100644
--- a/test/vagrant/actions/vm/boot_test.rb
+++ b/test/vagrant/actions/vm/boot_test.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ class BootActionTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
   context "preparing" do
     should "add the root shared folder" do
-      @runner.env.config.vm.expects(:share_folder).with("v-root", @runner.env.config.vm.project_directory, @runner.env.root_path).once
+      @runner.env.config.vm.expects(:share_folder).with("v-root",
+                                                        @runner.env.config.vm.project_directory,
+                                                        @runner.env.root_path,
+                                                        :rsync => @runner.env.config.vm.rsync_project_directory).once
       @action.prepare
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/vagrant/config_test.rb b/test/vagrant/config_test.rb
index d9d338212..3fa56aabe 100644
--- a/test/vagrant/config_test.rb
+++ b/test/vagrant/config_test.rb
@@ -257,6 +257,34 @@ class ConfigTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       end
     end
 
+    context "shared folders" do
+      should "set the rsyncpath to nil by default" do
+        share_with_opts
+        assert !@config.shared_folders['foo'][:rsyncpath]
+      end
+
+      should "append rsync to directory name when boolean" do
+        share_with_opts(:rsync => true)
+        assert_equal @config.shared_folders['foo'][:rsyncpath], 'foo-dir'
+        assert_equal @config.shared_folders['foo'][:guestpath], 'foo-dir-rsync'
+      end
+
+      should "use the specified rsync directory" do
+        share_with_opts(:rsync => 'bar-baz')
+        assert_equal @config.shared_folders['foo'][:rsyncpath], 'bar-baz'
+      end
+
+      should "raise an exception an exception if the guestpath and rsyncpath are the same" do
+        assert_raise Exception do
+          share_with_opts(:rsync => 'foo-dir-rsync')
+        end
+      end
+
+      def share_with_opts(opts={})
+        @config.share_folder('foo', 'foo-dir', '', opts)
+      end
+    end
+
     context "uid/gid" do
       should "return the shared folder UID if set" do
         @config.shared_folder_uid = "foo"