diff --git a/lib/puppet/interface.rb b/lib/puppet/interface.rb
index 70484adfc..07e27efa8 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/interface.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/interface.rb
@@ -1,106 +1,115 @@
 require 'puppet'
 require 'puppet/util/autoload'
 
 class Puppet::Interface
   require 'puppet/interface/face_collection'
 
   require 'puppet/interface/action_manager'
   include Puppet::Interface::ActionManager
   extend Puppet::Interface::ActionManager
 
   require 'puppet/interface/option_manager'
   include Puppet::Interface::OptionManager
   extend Puppet::Interface::OptionManager
 
   include Puppet::Util
 
   class << self
     # This is just so we can search for actions.  We only use its
     # list of directories to search.
     # Can't we utilize an external autoloader, or simply use the $LOAD_PATH? -pvb
     def autoloader
       @autoloader ||= Puppet::Util::Autoload.new(:application, "puppet/faces")
     end
 
     def faces
       Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection.faces
     end
 
     def face?(name, version)
       Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection.face?(name, version)
     end
 
     def register(instance)
       Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection.register(instance)
     end
 
     def define(name, version, &block)
       if face?(name, version)
         face = Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection[name, version]
       else
         face = self.new(name, version)
         Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection.register(face)
         # REVISIT: Shouldn't this be delayed until *after* we evaluate the
         # current block, not done before? --daniel 2011-04-07
         face.load_actions
       end
 
       face.instance_eval(&block) if block_given?
 
       return face
     end
 
-    alias :[] :define
+    def [](name, version)
+      unless face = Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection[name, version]
+        if current = Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection[name, :current]
+          raise Puppet::Error, "Could not find version #{version} of #{current}"
+        else
+          raise Puppet::Error, "Could not find Puppet Face #{name.inspect}"
+        end
+      end
+      face
+    end
   end
 
   attr_accessor :default_format
 
   def set_default_format(format)
     self.default_format = format.to_sym
   end
 
   attr_accessor :type, :verb, :version, :arguments
   attr_reader :name
 
   def initialize(name, version, &block)
     unless Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection.validate_version(version)
       raise ArgumentError, "Cannot create face #{name.inspect} with invalid version number '#{version}'!"
     end
 
     @name = Puppet::Interface::FaceCollection.underscorize(name)
     @version = version
     @default_format = :pson
 
     instance_eval(&block) if block_given?
   end
 
   # Try to find actions defined in other files.
   def load_actions
     path = "puppet/faces/#{name}"
 
     loaded = []
     [path, "#{name}@#{version}/#{path}"].each do |path|
       Puppet::Interface.autoloader.search_directories.each do |dir|
         fdir = ::File.join(dir, path)
         next unless FileTest.directory?(fdir)
 
         Dir.chdir(fdir) do
           Dir.glob("*.rb").each do |file|
             aname = file.sub(/\.rb/, '')
             if loaded.include?(aname)
               Puppet.debug "Not loading duplicate action '#{aname}' for '#{name}' from '#{fdir}/#{file}'"
               next
             end
             loaded << aname
             Puppet.debug "Loading action '#{aname}' for '#{name}' from '#{fdir}/#{file}'"
             require "#{Dir.pwd}/#{aname}"
           end
         end
       end
     end
   end
 
   def to_s
     "Puppet::Faces[#{name.inspect}, #{version.inspect}]"
   end
 end