diff --git a/lib/vagrant/ssh/session.rb b/lib/vagrant/ssh/session.rb
index 2cf5ffe3e..f4d97b67b 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/ssh/session.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/ssh/session.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,16 @@ module Vagrant
         @session = session
       end
 
+      # Executes a given command and simply returns true/false if the
+      # command succeeded or not.
+      def test?(command)
+        exec!(command) do |ch, type, data|
+          return true if type == :exit_status && data == 0
+        end
+
+        false
+      end
+
       # Executes a given command on the SSH session and blocks until
       # the command completes. This is an almost line for line copy of
       # the actual `exec!` implementation, except that this
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems.rb
index 22f5ef686..bd759f737 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/systems.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems.rb
@@ -3,4 +3,6 @@
 require 'vagrant/systems/base'
 require 'vagrant/systems/linux'
 require 'vagrant/systems/solaris'
+
+require 'vagrant/systems/debian'
 require 'vagrant/systems/gentoo'
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..660db7cdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems/debian.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+module Vagrant
+  module Systems
+    class Debian < Linux
+      def prepare_host_only_network
+        # Remove any previous host only network additions to the
+        # interface file.
+        vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
+          # Clear out any previous entries
+          ssh.exec!("sudo sed -e '/^#VAGRANT-BEGIN/,/^#VAGRANT-END/ d' /etc/network/interfaces > /tmp/vagrant-network-interfaces")
+          ssh.exec!("sudo su -c 'cat /tmp/vagrant-network-interfaces > /etc/network/interfaces'")
+        end
+      end
+
+      def enable_host_only_network(net_options)
+        entry = TemplateRenderer.render('network_entry_debian', :net_options => net_options)
+        vm.ssh.upload!(StringIO.new(entry), "/tmp/vagrant-network-entry")
+
+        vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
+          ssh.exec!("sudo /sbin/ifdown eth#{net_options[:adapter]} 2> /dev/null")
+          ssh.exec!("sudo su -c 'cat /tmp/vagrant-network-entry >> /etc/network/interfaces'")
+          ssh.exec!("sudo /sbin/ifup eth#{net_options[:adapter]}")
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems/gentoo.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems/gentoo.rb
index 609bc83f5..878bb90b3 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/systems/gentoo.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems/gentoo.rb
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ module Vagrant
         # Remove any previous host only network additions to the
         # interface file.
         vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
-          # Verify gentoo
-          # ssh.exec!("cat /etc/gentoo-release", :error_class => GentooError, :_key => :network_not_gentoo)
-
           # Clear out any previous entries
           ssh.exec!("sudo sed -e '/^#VAGRANT-BEGIN/,/^#VAGRANT-END/ d' /etc/conf.d/net > /tmp/vagrant-network-interfaces")
           ssh.exec!("sudo su -c 'cat /tmp/vagrant-network-interfaces > /etc/conf.d/net'")
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb b/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb
index bf090a52d..ade6abc8b 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/systems/linux.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,16 @@ require 'vagrant/systems/linux/config'
 module Vagrant
   module Systems
     class Linux < Base
+      def distro_dispatch
+        vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
+          return :debian if ssh.test?("cat /etc/debian_version")
+          return :gentoo if ssh.test?("cat /etc/gentoo-release")
+        end
+
+        # Can't detect the distro, assume vanilla linux
+        nil
+      end
+
       def halt
         vm.env.ui.info I18n.t("vagrant.systems.linux.attempting_halt")
         vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
@@ -39,30 +49,6 @@ module Vagrant
         end
       end
 
-      def prepare_host_only_network
-        # Remove any previous host only network additions to the
-        # interface file.
-        vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
-          # Verify debian/ubuntu
-          ssh.exec!("cat /etc/debian_version", :error_class => LinuxError, :_key => :network_not_debian)
-
-          # Clear out any previous entries
-          ssh.exec!("sudo sed -e '/^#VAGRANT-BEGIN/,/^#VAGRANT-END/ d' /etc/network/interfaces > /tmp/vagrant-network-interfaces")
-          ssh.exec!("sudo su -c 'cat /tmp/vagrant-network-interfaces > /etc/network/interfaces'")
-        end
-      end
-
-      def enable_host_only_network(net_options)
-        entry = TemplateRenderer.render('network_entry', :net_options => net_options)
-        vm.ssh.upload!(StringIO.new(entry), "/tmp/vagrant-network-entry")
-
-        vm.ssh.execute do |ssh|
-          ssh.exec!("sudo /sbin/ifdown eth#{net_options[:adapter]} 2> /dev/null")
-          ssh.exec!("sudo su -c 'cat /tmp/vagrant-network-entry >> /etc/network/interfaces'")
-          ssh.exec!("sudo /sbin/ifup eth#{net_options[:adapter]}")
-        end
-      end
-
       #-------------------------------------------------------------------
       # "Private" methods which assist above methods
       #-------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/vm.rb b/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
index 60c8bea47..b192c4ce6 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/vm.rb
@@ -58,9 +58,10 @@ module Vagrant
       elsif system.is_a?(Symbol)
         # Hard-coded internal systems
         mapping = {
+          :debian => Systems::Debian,
+          :gentoo => Systems::Gentoo,
           :linux => Systems::Linux,
-          :solaris => Systems::Solaris,
-          :gentoo => Systems::Gentoo
+          :solaris => Systems::Solaris
         }
 
         raise Errors::VMSystemError, :_key => :unknown_type, :system => system.to_s if !mapping.has_key?(system)
diff --git a/templates/network_entry.erb b/templates/network_entry_debian.erb
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/network_entry.erb
rename to templates/network_entry_debian.erb