1 files changed, 7 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations.rb
index 860e76fa18..4abe2ad0a0 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ require 'active_support/core_ext/module/remove_method'
 require 'active_record/errors'
 
 module ActiveRecord
+  class AssociationNotFoundError < ConfigurationError #:nodoc:
+    def initialize(record, association_name)
+      super("Association named '#{association_name}' was not found on #{record.class.name}; perhaps you misspelled it?")
+    end
+  end
+
   class InverseOfAssociationNotFoundError < ActiveRecordError #:nodoc:
     def initialize(reflection, associated_class = nil)
       super("Could not find the inverse association for #{reflection.name} (#{reflection.options[:inverse_of].inspect} in #{associated_class.nil? ? reflection.class_name : associated_class.name})")
@@ -145,7 +151,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       association = association_instance_get(name)
 
       if association.nil?
-        reflection  = self.class.reflect_on_association(name)
+        raise AssociationNotFoundError.new(self, name) unless reflection = self.class.reflect_on_association(name)
         association = reflection.association_class.new(self, reflection)
         association_instance_set(name, association)
       end