diff --git a/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/chef_zero.rb b/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/chef_zero.rb
index 70fff6854..43bdf648e 100644
--- a/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/chef_zero.rb
+++ b/plugins/provisioners/chef/provisioner/chef_zero.rb
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ module VagrantPlugins
           upload_encrypted_data_bag_secret
           setup_json
           setup_zero_config
+          verify_chef_nodes_folder
           run_chef_zero
           delete_encrypted_data_bag_secret
         end
@@ -101,6 +102,12 @@ module VagrantPlugins
           end
         end
 
+        def verify_chef_nodes_folder
+          if not File.exists? @config.nodes_path[0][1]
+            raise ChefError, :missing_chef_node_folder
+          end
+        end
+
         protected
 
         # Extracts only the remote paths from a list of folders
diff --git a/templates/locales/en.yml b/templates/locales/en.yml
index deae43256..a05c267c2 100644
--- a/templates/locales/en.yml
+++ b/templates/locales/en.yml
@@ -2192,6 +2192,8 @@ en:
         running_solo_again: "Running chef-solo again (failed to converge)..."
         running_zero: "Running chef-client (local-mode)..."
         running_zero_again: "Running chef-client (local-mode) again (failed to converge)..."
+        missing_chef_node_folder: |-
+          Nodes folder that Chef requires is missing in this Vagrant project
         missing_shared_folders: |-
           Shared folders that Chef requires are missing on the virtual machine.
           This is usually due to configuration changing after already booting the