diff --git a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
index 73d8c8cd6..4ec04fab1 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/errors.rb
@@ -242,5 +242,10 @@ module Vagrant
       status_code(24)
       error_key(:power_off, "vagrant.actions.vm.export")
     end
+
+    class VMSystemError < VagrantError
+      status_code(39)
+      error_namespace("vagrant.errors.system")
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/vm.rb b/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
index 61830deb8..41c38a62b 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
@@ -54,19 +54,15 @@ module Vagrant
 
       if system.is_a?(Class)
         @system = system.new(self)
-        error_and_exit(:system_invalid_class, :system => system.to_s) unless @system.is_a?(Systems::Base)
+        raise Errors::VMSystemError.new(:_key => :invalid_class, :system => system.to_s) if !@system.is_a?(Systems::Base)
       elsif system.is_a?(Symbol)
         # Hard-coded internal systems
         mapping = { :linux => Systems::Linux }
 
-        if !mapping.has_key?(system)
-          error_and_exit(:system_unknown_type, :system => system.to_s)
-          return # for tests
-        end
-
+        raise Errors::VMSystemError.new(:_key => :unknown_type, :system => system.to_s) if !mapping.has_key?(system)
         @system = mapping[system].new(self)
       else
-        error_and_exit(:system_unspecified)
+        raise Errors::VMSystemError.new(:unspecified)
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/templates/locales/en.yml b/templates/locales/en.yml
index f5ce9c357..15634afee 100644
--- a/templates/locales/en.yml
+++ b/templates/locales/en.yml
@@ -43,6 +43,18 @@ en:
 
           http://vagrantup.com/docs/getting-started/windows.
 
+      system:
+        invalid_class: |-
+          The specified system does not inherit from `Vagrant::Systems::Base`. The
+          specified system class must inherit from this class.
+
+          The specified system class was: %{system}
+        unknown_type: |-
+          The specified system type is unknown: %{system}. Please change this
+          to a proper value.
+        unspecified: |-
+          A VM system type must be specified! This is done via the `config.vm.system`
+          configuration value. Please read the documentation online for more information.
       virtualbox_invalid_ose: |-
         Vagrant has detected you're using an OSE ("Open Source Edition") of VirtualBox.
         Vagrant currently doesn't support any of the OSE editions due to slight API
diff --git a/templates/strings.yml b/templates/strings.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index d4107c9c5..000000000
--- a/templates/strings.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-
-# Using YAMLs Block Literals to preserve new lines
-# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML#Newlines_preserved
-# In short, |  means keep new lines, trim whitespace left and right
-# The |- does the above, but trims the new line at the end of all text
-
-#---------------------------------------------------------------------
-# CATEGORY: Error Messages
-#---------------------------------------------------------------------
-:system_invalid_class: |-
-  The specified system does not inherit from `Vagrant::Systems::Base`. The
-  specified system class must inherit from this class.
-
-  The specified system class was: <%= system %>
-:system_unknown_type: |-
-  The specified system type is unknown: <%= system %>. Please change this
-  to a proper value.
-:system_unspecified: |-
-  A VM system type must be specified! This is done via the `config.vm.system`
-  configuration value. Please read the documentation online for more information.
diff --git a/test/vagrant/vm_test.rb b/test/vagrant/vm_test.rb
index c9af61d14..7ce96ff76 100644
--- a/test/vagrant/vm_test.rb
+++ b/test/vagrant/vm_test.rb
@@ -73,8 +73,9 @@ class VMTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       should "error and exit if system is not specified" do
         @vm.env.config.vm.system = nil
 
-        @vm.expects(:error_and_exit).with(:system_unspecified).once
-        @vm.load_system!
+        assert_raises(Vagrant::Errors::VMSystemError) {
+          @vm.load_system!
+        }
       end
 
       context "with a class" do
@@ -93,8 +94,9 @@ class VMTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
         should "error and exit if class has invalid parent" do
           @vm.env.config.vm.system = FakeSystemClass
-          @vm.expects(:error_and_exit).with(:system_invalid_class, :system => @vm.env.config.vm.system.to_s).once
-          @vm.load_system!
+          assert_raises(Vagrant::Errors::VMSystemError) {
+            @vm.load_system!
+          }
         end
       end
 
@@ -116,8 +118,10 @@ class VMTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
         should "error and exit with invalid symbol" do
           @vm.env.config.vm.system = :shall_never_exist
-          @vm.expects(:error_and_exit).with(:system_unknown_type, :system => @vm.env.config.vm.system.to_s).once
-          @vm.load_system!
+
+          assert_raises(Vagrant::Errors::VMSystemError) {
+            @vm.load_system!
+          }
         end
       end
     end