diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/mailalias/aliases.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/mailalias/aliases.rb
index 87ee5b465..025c2a752 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/mailalias/aliases.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/mailalias/aliases.rb
@@ -1,39 +1,50 @@
 require 'puppet/provider/parsedfile'
 
 Puppet::Type.type(:mailalias).provide(
   :aliases,
   :parent => Puppet::Provider::ParsedFile,
   :default_target => "/etc/aliases",
   :filetype => :flat
 ) do
   text_line :comment, :match => /^#/
   text_line :blank, :match => /^\s*$/
 
   record_line :aliases, :fields => %w{name recipient}, :separator => /\s*:\s*/, :block_eval => :instance do
     def post_parse(record)
-      record[:recipient] = record[:recipient].split(/\s*,\s*/).collect { |d| d.gsub(/^['"]|['"]$/, '') }
+      if record[:recipient]
+	record[:recipient] = record[:recipient].split(/\s*,\s*/).collect { |d| d.gsub(/^['"]|['"]$/, '') }
+      end
       record
     end
 
     def process(line)
       ret = {}
-      records = line.split(':',2)
+      records = line.split(':',4)
       ret[:name] = records[0].strip
-      ret[:recipient] = records[1].strip
+      if records.length == 4 and records[2].strip == 'include'
+	ret[:file] = records[3].strip
+      else
+	records = line.split(':',2)
+	ret[:recipient] = records[1].strip
+      end
       ret
     end
 
     def to_line(record)
-      dest = record[:recipient].collect do |d|
-        # Quote aliases that have non-alpha chars
-        if d =~ /[^-\w@.]/
-          '"%s"' % d
-        else
-          d
-        end
-      end.join(",")
-      "#{record[:name]}: #{dest}"
+      if record[:recipient]
+	dest = record[:recipient].collect do |d|
+	  # Quote aliases that have non-alpha chars
+	  if d =~ /[^-\w@.]/
+	    '"%s"' % d
+	  else
+	    d
+	  end
+	end.join(",")
+	"#{record[:name]}: #{dest}"
+      elsif record[:file]
+	"#{record[:name]}: :include: #{record[:file]}"
+      end
     end
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/mailalias.rb b/lib/puppet/type/mailalias.rb
index 0a8f03af1..624f293a7 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/mailalias.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/mailalias.rb
@@ -1,48 +1,62 @@
 module Puppet
   Type.newtype(:mailalias) do
     @doc = "Creates an email alias in the local alias database."
 
     ensurable
 
     newparam(:name, :namevar => true) do
       desc "The alias name."
     end
 
     newproperty(:recipient, :array_matching => :all) do
       desc "Where email should be sent.  Multiple values
-        should be specified as an array."
+        should be specified as an array.  The file and the
+        recipient entries are mutually exclusive."
 
       def is_to_s(value)
         if value.include?(:absent)
           super
         else
           value.join(",")
         end
       end
 
-      def should
-        @should
-      end
-
       def should_to_s(value)
         if value.include?(:absent)
           super
         else
           value.join(",")
         end
       end
     end
 
+    newproperty(:file) do
+      desc "A file containing the alias's contents.  The file and the
+        recipient entries are mutually exclusive."
+
+      validate do |value|
+	unless Puppet::Util.absolute_path?(value)
+	  fail Puppet::Error, "File paths must be fully qualified, not '#{value}'"
+	end
+      end
+    end
+
     newproperty(:target) do
       desc "The file in which to store the aliases.  Only used by
         those providers that write to disk."
 
       defaultto { if @resource.class.defaultprovider.ancestors.include?(Puppet::Provider::ParsedFile)
           @resource.class.defaultprovider.default_target
         else
           nil
         end
       }
     end
+
+    validate do
+      if self[:recipient] && self[:file]
+	self.fail "You cannot specify both a recipient and a file"
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/integration/provider/mailalias/aliases/test1 b/spec/fixtures/integration/provider/mailalias/aliases/test1
index ecf532213..a69be8a2f 100644
--- a/spec/fixtures/integration/provider/mailalias/aliases/test1
+++ b/spec/fixtures/integration/provider/mailalias/aliases/test1
@@ -1,28 +1,31 @@
 # Basic system aliases -- these MUST be present
 MAILER-DAEMON:  postmaster
 postmaster: root
 
 # General redirections for pseudo accounts
 bin:        root
 daemon:     root
 named:      root
 nobody:     root
 uucp:       root
 www:        root
 ftp-bugs:   root
 postfix:    root
 
 # Put your local aliases here.
 
 # Well-known aliases
 manager:    root
 dumper:     root
 operator:   root
 abuse:      postmaster
 
 # trap decode to catch security attacks
 decode:     root
 
 # Other tests
 anothertest: "|/path/to/rt-mailgate --queue 'another test' --action correspond --url http://my.com/"
 test: "|/path/to/rt-mailgate --queue 'test' --action correspond --url http://my.com/"
+
+# Included file
+incfile: :include: /tmp/somefile
diff --git a/spec/unit/type/mailalias_spec.rb b/spec/unit/type/mailalias_spec.rb
index 0ba60ce52..abb8f32b0 100755
--- a/spec/unit/type/mailalias_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/type/mailalias_spec.rb
@@ -1,21 +1,48 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env ruby
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe Puppet::Type.type(:mailalias) do
   include PuppetSpec::Files
 
   let :target do tmpfile('mailalias') end
-  let :resource do
+  let :recipient_resource do
     described_class.new(:name => "luke", :recipient => "yay", :target => target)
   end
 
-  it "should be initially absent" do
-    resource.retrieve_resource[:recipient].should == :absent
+  let :file_resource do
+    described_class.new(:name => "lukefile", :file => "/tmp/afile", :target => target)
+  end
+
+  it "should be initially absent as a recipient" do
+    recipient_resource.retrieve_resource[:recipient].should == :absent
+  end
+
+  it "should be initially absent as an included file" do
+    file_resource.retrieve_resource[:file].should == :absent
   end
 
   it "should try and set the recipient when it does the sync" do
-    resource.retrieve_resource[:recipient].should == :absent
-    resource.property(:recipient).expects(:set).with(["yay"])
-    resource.property(:recipient).sync
+    recipient_resource.retrieve_resource[:recipient].should == :absent
+    recipient_resource.property(:recipient).expects(:set).with(["yay"])
+    recipient_resource.property(:recipient).sync
+  end
+
+  it "should try and set the included file when it does the sync" do
+    file_resource.retrieve_resource[:file].should == :absent
+    file_resource.property(:file).expects(:set).with("/tmp/afile")
+    file_resource.property(:file).sync
+  end
+
+  it "should fail when file is not an absolute path" do
+    expect {
+      Puppet::Type.type(:mailalias).new(:name => 'x', :file => 'afile')
+    }.to raise_error Puppet::Error, /File paths must be fully qualified/
+  end
+
+  it "should fail when both file and recipient are specified" do
+    expect {
+      Puppet::Type.type(:mailalias).new(:name => 'x', :file => '/tmp/afile',
+					:recipient => 'foo@example.com')
+    }.to raise_error Puppet::Error, /cannot specify both a recipient and a file/
   end
 end