2 files changed, 23 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb
index 477888228d..453615ba87 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb
@@ -80,10 +80,14 @@ module ActiveRecord
         end
 
         def update_counter(difference, reflection = reflection())
+          update_counter_in_database(difference, reflection)
+          update_counter_in_memory(difference, reflection)
+        end
+
+        def update_counter_in_database(difference, reflection = reflection())
           if has_cached_counter?(reflection)
             counter = cached_counter_attribute_name(reflection)
             owner.class.update_counters(owner.id, counter => difference)
-            update_counter_in_memory(difference, reflection)
           end
         end
 
@@ -107,6 +111,10 @@ module ActiveRecord
         # Hence this method.
         def inverse_updates_counter_cache?(reflection = reflection())
           counter_name = cached_counter_attribute_name(reflection)
+          inverse_updates_counter_named?(counter_name, reflection)
+        end
+
+        def inverse_updates_counter_named?(counter_name, reflection = reflection())
           reflection.klass._reflections.values.any? { |inverse_reflection|
             :belongs_to == inverse_reflection.macro &&
             inverse_reflection.counter_cache_column == counter_name
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb
index af38f2f6dd..007e3bc555 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,15 @@ module ActiveRecord
         end
 
         save_through_record(record)
+        if has_cached_counter? && !through_reflection_updates_counter_cache?
+          ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn(<<-MESSAGE.strip_heredoc)
+            Automatic updating of counter caches on through associations has been
+            deprecated, and will be removed in Rails 5.0. Instead, please set the
+            appropriate counter_cache options on the has_many and belongs_to for
+            your associations to #{through_reflection.name}.
+          MESSAGE
+          update_counter_in_database(1)
+        end
         record
       end
 
@@ -217,6 +226,11 @@ module ActiveRecord
         def invertible_for?(record)
           false
         end
+
+        def through_reflection_updates_counter_cache?
+          counter_name = cached_counter_attribute_name
+          inverse_updates_counter_named?(counter_name, through_reflection)
+        end
     end
   end
 end