diff --git a/lib/vagrant/action/builtin.rb b/lib/vagrant/action/builtin.rb
index 9a6003aa2..2ffc4b007 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/action/builtin.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/action/builtin.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,12 @@ module Vagrant
         use VM::Boot
       end
 
+      down = Builder.new do
+        use VM::Halt
+      end
+
       register :up, up
+      register :down, down
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/action/vm/halt.rb b/lib/vagrant/action/vm/halt.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4958a3e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/action/vm/halt.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+module Vagrant
+  class Action
+    module VM
+      class Halt
+        def initialize(app, env)
+          @app = app
+        end
+
+        def call(env)
+          return env.error!(:vm_not_running) unless env["vm"].vm.running?
+
+          env["vm"].system.halt if !env["force"]
+
+          if env["vm"].vm.state(true) != :powered_off
+            env.logger.info "Forcing shutdown of VM..."
+            env["vm"].vm.stop
+          end
+
+          @app.call(env)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/vagrant/action/vm/halt_test.rb b/test/vagrant/action/vm/halt_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4abb92ea9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vagrant/action/vm/halt_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', '..', 'test_helper')
+
+class HaltVMActionTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  setup do
+    @klass = Vagrant::Action::VM::Halt
+    @app, @env = mock_action_data
+
+    @vm = mock("vm")
+    @vm.stubs(:name).returns("foo")
+    @vm.stubs(:ssh).returns(mock("ssh"))
+    @vm.stubs(:system).returns(mock("system"))
+    @env["vm"] = @vm
+
+    @internal_vm = mock("internal")
+    @vm.stubs(:vm).returns(@internal_vm)
+
+    @instance = @klass.new(@app, @env)
+  end
+
+  context "calling" do
+    setup do
+      @internal_vm.stubs(:running?).returns(true)
+
+      @vm.system.stubs(:halt)
+      @internal_vm.stubs(:stop)
+      @internal_vm.stubs(:state).returns(:powered_off)
+    end
+
+    should "halt with the system and NOT force VM to stop if powered off" do
+      @internal_vm.expects(:state).with(true).returns(:powered_off)
+      @vm.system.expects(:halt).once
+      @internal_vm.expects(:stop).never
+      @app.expects(:call).once
+
+      @instance.call(@env)
+    end
+
+    should "halt with the system and force VM to stop if NOT powered off" do
+      @internal_vm.expects(:state).with(true).returns(:running)
+      @vm.system.expects(:halt).once
+      @internal_vm.expects(:stop).once
+      @app.expects(:call).once
+
+      @instance.call(@env)
+    end
+
+    should "not call halt on the system if forcing" do
+      @env["force"] = true
+      @vm.system.expects(:halt).never
+      @instance.call(@env)
+    end
+
+    should "raise an ActionException if VM is not running" do
+      @internal_vm.stubs(:running?).returns(false)
+      @internal_vm.expects(:stop).never
+      @app.expects(:call).never
+      @instance.call(@env)
+      assert @env.error?
+      assert_equal :vm_not_running, @env.error.first
+    end
+  end
+end