diff --git a/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb b/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb
index c21ef539d..ce9ed7b00 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/data_store.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ module Vagrant
       return if !file_path
 
       File.open(file_path, "r") do |f|
-        merge!(JSON.parse(f.read))
+        merge!(JSON.parse(f.read, :symbolize_names => true))
       end
     rescue Errno::ENOENT
       clear
diff --git a/test/vagrant/data_store_test.rb b/test/vagrant/data_store_test.rb
index 79ac1d333..59860ad47 100644
--- a/test/vagrant/data_store_test.rb
+++ b/test/vagrant/data_store_test.rb
@@ -19,19 +19,19 @@ class DataStoreTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   end
 
   should "read the data" do
-    assert_equal @initial_data["foo"], @instance["foo"]
+    assert_equal @initial_data[:foo], @instance["foo"]
   end
 
   should "write the data, but not save it right away" do
-    @instance["foo"] = "changed"
-    assert_equal "changed", @instance["foo"]
-    assert_equal @initial_data["foo"], @klass.new(@db_file)["foo"]
+    @instance[:foo] = "changed"
+    assert_equal "changed", @instance[:foo]
+    assert_equal @initial_data[:foo], @klass.new(@db_file)["foo"]
   end
 
   should "write the data if commit is called" do
-    @instance["foo"] = "changed"
+    @instance[:foo] = "changed"
     @instance.commit
 
-    assert_equal "changed", @klass.new(@db_file)["foo"]
+    assert_equal "changed", @klass.new(@db_file)[:foo]
   end
 end