diff --git a/plugins/providers/docker/plugin.rb b/plugins/providers/docker/plugin.rb
index 76abce9bb..fc6760c52 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/docker/plugin.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/docker/plugin.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ module VagrantPlugins
       Docker containers.
       EOF
 
-      provider(:docker, parallel: true) do
+      provider(:docker, box_optional: true, parallel: true) do
         require_relative 'provider'
         init!
         Provider