diff --git a/lib/vagrant-lxc/container.rb b/lib/vagrant-lxc/container.rb
index cec7cdd..40ae6d0 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-lxc/container.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-lxc/container.rb
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ module Vagrant
       # Include this so we can use `Subprocess` more easily.
       include Vagrant::Util::Retryable
 
-      CONTAINER_STATE_FILE_PATH = '/tmp/vagrant-lxc-container-state-%<id>s'
-
       def initialize(machine)
         @machine = machine
         @logger  = Log4r::Logger.new("vagrant::provider::lxc::container")
@@ -54,18 +52,14 @@ module Vagrant
         File.open(state_file_path, 'w') { |f| f.print state }
       end
 
-      def read_state_from_file
-        if File.exists?(state_file_path)
-          File.read(state_file_path).to_sym
+      def state
+        if lxc(:info, '--name', @machine.id) =~ /^state:[^A-Z]+([A-Z]+)$/
+          $1.downcase.to_sym
         elsif @machine.id
           :unknown
         end
       end
 
-      def state_file_path
-        CONTAINER_STATE_FILE_PATH % {id: @machine.id}
-      end
-
       # TODO: Review code below this line, it was pretty much a copy and paste from VirtualBox base driver
       def execute(*command, &block)
         # Get the options hash if it exists
diff --git a/spec/unit/container_spec.rb b/spec/unit/container_spec.rb
index 0308d5e..7503119 100644
--- a/spec/unit/container_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/container_spec.rb
@@ -89,4 +89,25 @@ describe Vagrant::LXC::Container do
       subject.should have_received(:wait_until).with(:running)
     end
   end
+
+  describe 'state' do
+    let(:machine_id) { 'random-machine-id' }
+    let(:machine)    { fire_double('Vagrant::Machine', id: machine_id) }
+
+    before do
+      subject.stub(lxc: "state: STOPPED\npid: 2")
+    end
+
+    it 'calls lxc-info with the right arguments' do
+      subject.state
+      subject.should have_received(:lxc).with(
+        :info,
+        '--name', machine_id
+      )
+    end
+
+    it 'maps the output of lxc-info status out to a symbol' do
+      subject.state.should == :stopped
+    end
+  end
 end