diff --git a/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/base.rb b/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/base.rb
index b3cd8597f..924af3a32 100644
--- a/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/base.rb
+++ b/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/base.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ module VagrantPlugins
         def chown_provisioning_folder
           @machine.communicate.tap do |comm|
             comm.sudo("mkdir -p #{@config.provisioning_path}")
-            comm.sudo("chown -R #{@machine.ssh_info[:username]} #{@config.provisioning_path}")
+            comm.sudo("chown #{@machine.ssh_info[:username]} #{@config.provisioning_path}")
           end
         end