diff --git a/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/compute/VirtualBoxComputeServiceAdapter.java b/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/compute/VirtualBoxComputeServiceAdapter.java
index dcf9f3f4d0..771ce60b61 100644
--- a/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/compute/VirtualBoxComputeServiceAdapter.java
+++ b/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/compute/VirtualBoxComputeServiceAdapter.java
@@ -41,12 +41,13 @@ import org.jclouds.logging.Logger;
 import org.jclouds.virtualbox.domain.Master;
 import org.jclouds.virtualbox.domain.NodeSpec;
 import org.jclouds.virtualbox.domain.YamlImage;
-import org.virtualbox_4_1.CleanupMode;
+import org.jclouds.virtualbox.functions.admin.UnregisterMachineIfExistsAndForceDeleteItsMedia;
 import org.virtualbox_4_1.IMachine;
 import org.virtualbox_4_1.IProgress;
 import org.virtualbox_4_1.ISession;
 import org.virtualbox_4_1.MachineState;
 import org.virtualbox_4_1.SessionState;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.VBoxException;
 import org.virtualbox_4_1.VirtualBoxManager;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
@@ -138,14 +139,21 @@ public class VirtualBoxComputeServiceAdapter implements ComputeServiceAdapter<IM
 
    @Override
    public IMachine getNode(String vmName) {
-      return manager.get().getVBox().findMachine(vmName);
+      try {
+         return manager.get().getVBox().findMachine(vmName);
+      } catch (VBoxException e) {
+         if (e.getMessage().contains("Could not find a registered machine named")){
+            return null;
+         }
+         throw Throwables.propagate(e);
+      }
    }
 
    @Override
    public void destroyNode(String vmName) {
       IMachine machine = manager.get().getVBox().findMachine(vmName);
       powerDownMachine(machine);
-      machine.unregister(CleanupMode.Full);
+      new UnregisterMachineIfExistsAndForceDeleteItsMedia().apply(machine);
    }
 
    @Override
@@ -201,7 +209,7 @@ public class VirtualBoxComputeServiceAdapter implements ComputeServiceAdapter<IM
 
          while (!machine.getSessionState().equals(SessionState.Unlocked)) {
             try {
-               System.out.println("waiting for unlocking session - session state: " + machine.getSessionState());
+               logger.info("waiting for unlocking session - session state: " + machine.getSessionState());
                Thread.sleep(1000);
             } catch (InterruptedException e) {
             }
diff --git a/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/functions/admin/UnregisterMachineIfExistsAndForceDeleteItsMedia.java b/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/functions/admin/UnregisterMachineIfExistsAndForceDeleteItsMedia.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b4d2e7c92c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/labs/virtualbox/src/main/java/org/jclouds/virtualbox/functions/admin/UnregisterMachineIfExistsAndForceDeleteItsMedia.java
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to jclouds, Inc. (jclouds) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  jclouds licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+/*
+ U * Licensed to jclouds, Inc. (jclouds) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  jclouds licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.jclouds.virtualbox.functions.admin;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static com.google.common.collect.Iterables.transform;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import javax.annotation.Resource;
+import javax.inject.Named;
+import javax.inject.Singleton;
+
+import org.jclouds.compute.reference.ComputeServiceConstants;
+import org.jclouds.logging.Logger;
+import org.jclouds.virtualbox.domain.ErrorCode;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.CleanupMode;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.DeviceType;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.IMachine;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.IMedium;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.IProgress;
+import org.virtualbox_4_1.VBoxException;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Function;
+import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+
+@Singleton
+public class UnregisterMachineIfExistsAndForceDeleteItsMedia implements Function<IMachine, Void> {
+
+   @Resource
+   @Named(ComputeServiceConstants.COMPUTE_LOGGER)
+   protected Logger logger = Logger.NULL;
+
+   @Override
+   public Void apply(IMachine machine) {
+      List<IMedium> mediaToBeDeleted = Collections.emptyList();
+      try {
+         mediaToBeDeleted = machine.unregister(CleanupMode.Full);
+      } catch (VBoxException e) {
+         ErrorCode errorCode = ErrorCode.valueOf(e);
+         switch (errorCode) {
+            case VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND:
+               logger.debug("Machine %s does not exists, cannot unregister", machine.getName());
+               break;
+            default:
+               throw e;
+         }
+      }
+
+      List<IMedium> filteredMediaToBeDeleted = Lists.newArrayList(transform(mediaToBeDeleted,
+               new DeleteChildrenOfMedium()));
+      if (!filteredMediaToBeDeleted.isEmpty()) {
+         try {
+            IProgress deletion = machine.delete(filteredMediaToBeDeleted);
+            deletion.waitForCompletion(-1);
+         } catch (Exception e) {
+            logger.error(e, "Problem in deleting the media attached to %s", machine.getName());
+            Throwables.propagate(e);
+         }
+      }
+
+      return null;
+   }
+
+   private class DeleteChildrenOfMedium implements Function<IMedium, IMedium> {
+      @Override
+      public IMedium apply(IMedium medium) {
+         checkNotNull(medium.getChildren());
+         if (medium.getDeviceType().equals(DeviceType.HardDisk)) {
+            for (IMedium child : medium.getChildren()) {
+               IProgress deletion = child.deleteStorage();
+               deletion.waitForCompletion(-1);
+            }
+         }
+         return medium;
+      }
+
+   };
+
+}