diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5a2132ea8..9fb69d5d5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ BUG FIXES:
   - guests/ubuntu: "localhost" is preserved when changing hostnames.
     [GH-2383]
   - hosts/gentoo: Support systemd for NFS startup. [GH-2382]
+  - providers/virtualbox: Don't start new VM if VirtualBox has transient
+    failure during `up` from suspended. [GH-2479]
   - provisioners/salt: Bootstrap on FreeBSD systems work. [GH-2525]
 
 ## 1.3.5 (October 15, 2013)
diff --git a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/meta.rb b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/meta.rb
index 530eaefeb..4a4304668 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/meta.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/meta.rb
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ module VagrantPlugins
 
           if !driver_klass
             supported_versions = driver_map.keys.sort.join(", ")
-            raise Vagrant::Errors::VirtualBoxInvalidVersion, :supported_versions => supported_versions
+            raise Vagrant::Errors::VirtualBoxInvalidVersion,
+              supported_versions: supported_versions
           end
 
           @logger.info("Using VirtualBox driver: #{driver_klass}")
diff --git a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_1.rb b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_1.rb
index 2854e39ba..6d56c851c 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_1.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_1.rb
@@ -482,7 +482,23 @@ module VagrantPlugins
         end
 
         def vm_exists?(uuid)
-          raw("showvminfo", uuid).exit_code == 0
+          5.times do |i|
+            result = raw("showvminfo", uuid)
+            return true if result.exit_code == 0
+
+            # GH-2479: Sometimes this happens. In this case, retry. If
+            # we don't see this text, the VM really probably doesn't exist.
+            return false if !result.stderr.include?("CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE")
+
+            # Sleep a bit though to give VirtualBox time to fix itself
+            sleep 2
+          end
+
+          # If we reach this point, it means that we consistently got the
+          # failure, do a standard vboxmanage now. This will raise an
+          # exception if it fails again.
+          execute("showvminfo", uuid)
+          return true
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_2.rb b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_2.rb
index a537c4a60..75f9a664e 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_2.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_2.rb
@@ -491,7 +491,23 @@ module VagrantPlugins
         end
 
         def vm_exists?(uuid)
-          raw("showvminfo", uuid).exit_code == 0
+          5.times do |i|
+            result = raw("showvminfo", uuid)
+            return true if result.exit_code == 0
+
+            # GH-2479: Sometimes this happens. In this case, retry. If
+            # we don't see this text, the VM really probably doesn't exist.
+            return false if !result.stderr.include?("CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE")
+
+            # Sleep a bit though to give VirtualBox time to fix itself
+            sleep 2
+          end
+
+          # If we reach this point, it means that we consistently got the
+          # failure, do a standard vboxmanage now. This will raise an
+          # exception if it fails again.
+          execute("showvminfo", uuid)
+          return true
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_3.rb b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_3.rb
index 123906502..306328cb5 100644
--- a/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_3.rb
+++ b/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_3.rb
@@ -491,7 +491,23 @@ module VagrantPlugins
         end
 
         def vm_exists?(uuid)
-          raw("showvminfo", uuid).exit_code == 0
+          5.times do |i|
+            result = raw("showvminfo", uuid)
+            return true if result.exit_code == 0
+
+            # GH-2479: Sometimes this happens. In this case, retry. If
+            # we don't see this text, the VM really probably doesn't exist.
+            return false if !result.stderr.include?("CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE")
+
+            # Sleep a bit though to give VirtualBox time to fix itself
+            sleep 2
+          end
+
+          # If we reach this point, it means that we consistently got the
+          # failure, do a standard vboxmanage now. This will raise an
+          # exception if it fails again.
+          execute("showvminfo", uuid)
+          return true
         end
       end
     end