diff --git a/lib/vagrant.rb b/lib/vagrant.rb
index c26475201..1c2f38080 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ PROJECT_ROOT = File.join(libdir, '..') unless defined?(PROJECT_ROOT)
 
 # The libs which must be loaded prior to the rest
 %w{tempfile open-uri json pathname logger uri net/http virtualbox net/ssh archive/tar/minitar
-  net/scp fileutils vagrant/util vagrant/actions/base vagrant/downloaders/base vagrant/actions/runner}.each do |f|
+  net/scp fileutils vagrant/util vagrant/actions/base vagrant/downloaders/base vagrant/actions/runner
+  vagrant/provisioners/base}.each do |f|
   require f
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/provisioners/base.rb b/lib/vagrant/provisioners/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26394086c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/provisioners/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+module Vagrant
+  module Provisioners
+    # The base class for a "provisioner." A provisioner is responsible for
+    # provisioning a Vagrant system. This has been abstracted out to provide
+    # support for multiple solutions such as Chef Solo, Chef Client, and
+    # Puppet.
+    class Base
+      include Vagrant::Util
+
+      # This is the single method called to provision the system. This method
+      # is expected to do whatever necessary to provision the system (create files,
+      # SSH, etc.)
+      def provision!; end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/vagrant/provisioners/base_test.rb b/test/vagrant/provisioners/base_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6473fcf77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vagrant/provisioners/base_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'test_helper')
+
+class BaseProvisionerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  should "include the util class so subclasses have access to it" do
+    assert Vagrant::Provisioners::Base.include?(Vagrant::Util)
+  end
+
+  context "base instance" do
+    setup do
+      @base = Vagrant::Provisioners::Base.new
+    end
+
+    should "implement provision! which does nothing" do
+      assert_nothing_raised do
+        assert @base.respond_to?(:provision!)
+        @base.provision!
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end