diff --git a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/config.rb b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/config.rb
index f7a62f64b..40ff19997 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/config.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/config.rb
@@ -93,6 +93,12 @@ module VagrantPlugins
           end
         end
 
+        @customizations.each do |event, command|
+          if event == "pre-import" && command.index(:id)
+            errors << I18n.t("vagrant.virtualbox.config.id_in_pre_import")
+          end
+        end
+
         { "VitualBox Provider" => errors }
       end
 
diff --git a/templates/locales/en.yml b/templates/locales/en.yml
index d9b5fed08..429a3bffe 100644
--- a/templates/locales/en.yml
+++ b/templates/locales/en.yml
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ en:
 
     virtualbox:
       config:
+        id_in_pre_import: |-
+          The ':id' parameter is not available in "pre-import" customizations.
         invalid_event: |-
           %{event} is not a valid event for customization. Valid events
           are: %{valid_events}