diff --git a/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider.rb b/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider.rb
index df974cfd8..09fe39962 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ module Vagrant
       # is responsible for creating compute resources to match the needs
       # of a Vagrant-configured system.
       class Provider
+        # Initialize the provider to represent the given machine.
+        #
+        # @param [Vagrant::Machine] machine The machine that this provider
+        #   is responsible for.
+        def initialize(machine)
+        end
+
         # This should return an action callable for the given name.
         #
         # @param [Symbol] name Name of the action.
@@ -13,6 +20,14 @@ module Vagrant
         def action(name)
           nil
         end
+
+        # This should return the state of the machine within this provider.
+        # The state can be any symbol.
+        #
+        # @return [Symbol]
+        def state
+          nil
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider_test.rb b/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider_test.rb
index 578715e49..b92bd3385 100644
--- a/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/vagrant/plugin/v1/provider_test.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 require File.expand_path("../../../../base", __FILE__)
 
 describe Vagrant::Plugin::V1::Provider do
-  let(:instance) { described_class.new }
+  let(:machine)  { Object.new }
+  let(:instance) { described_class.new(machine) }
 
   it "should return nil by default for actions" do
     instance.action(:whatever).should be_nil