diff --git a/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config.go b/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config.go
index 853b81333..12141cc23 100644
--- a/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config.go
+++ b/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package ovf
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
 	vboxcommon "github.com/mitchellh/packer/builder/virtualbox/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, c.VBoxVersionConfig.Prepare(c.tpl)...)
 
 	templates := map[string]*string{
+		"source_path": &c.SourcePath,
 		"vm_name": &c.VMName,
 	}
 
@@ -66,6 +69,15 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if c.SourcePath == "" {
+		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, fmt.Errorf("source_path is required"))
+	} else {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(c.SourcePath); err != nil {
+			errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+				fmt.Errorf("source_path is invalid: %s", err))
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Warnings
 	var warnings []string
 	if c.ShutdownCommand == "" {
diff --git a/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config_test.go b/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config_test.go
index 0981344e0..56cb088f5 100644
--- a/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config_test.go
+++ b/builder/virtualbox/ovf/config_test.go
@@ -2,8 +2,60 @@ package ovf
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 )
 
 func testConfig(t *testing.T) map[string]interface{} {
-	return map[string]interface{}{}
+	return map[string]interface{}{
+		"ssh_username": "foo",
+		"shutdown_command": "foo",
+	}
 }
+
+func testConfigErr(t *testing.T, warns []string, err error) {
+	if len(warns) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warns)
+	}
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("should error")
+	}
+}
+
+func testConfigOk(t *testing.T, warns []string, err error) {
+	if len(warns) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warns)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+
+func TestNewConfig_sourcePath(t *testing.T) {
+	// Bad
+	c := testConfig(t)
+	delete(c, "source_path")
+	_, warns, errs := NewConfig(c)
+	testConfigErr(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// Bad
+	c = testConfig(t)
+	c["source_path"] = "/i/dont/exist"
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(c)
+	testConfigErr(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// Good
+	tf, err := ioutil.TempFile("", "packer")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	tf.Close()
+	defer os.Remove(tf.Name())
+
+	c = testConfig(t)
+	c["source_path"] = tf.Name()
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(c)
+	testConfigOk(t, warns, errs)
+}
+