diff --git a/actionpack/CHANGELOG b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
index bc925e9c70..74adda0f54 100644
--- a/actionpack/CHANGELOG
+++ b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Added assert_vaild. Reports the proper AR error messages as fail message when the passed record is invalid [Tobias Luetke]
+
 * Add temporary support for passing locals to render using string keys [Nicholas Seckar]
 
 * Clean up error pages by providing better backtraces [Nicholas Seckar]
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions.rb
index e5f03fd71a..b29a2864a7 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions.rb
@@ -283,6 +283,13 @@ module Test #:nodoc:
           assert_block(full_message) { expected_dom != actual_dom }
         end
       end
+
+      # ensures that the passed record is valid by active record standards. returns the error messages if not
+      def assert_valid(record)                                   
+        clean_backtrace do
+          assert record.valid?, record.errors.full_messages        
+        end
+      end             
       
       def clean_backtrace(&block)
         begin
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/action_pack_assertions_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/action_pack_assertions_test.rb
index 917ae330b6..6d5ade98bf 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/action_pack_assertions_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/action_pack_assertions_test.rb
@@ -77,6 +77,41 @@ class ActionPackAssertionsController < ActionController::Base
   def raise_on_post
     raise "post" if @request.post?
     render_text "request method: #{@request.env['REQUEST_METHOD']}"
+  end       
+  
+  def get_valid_record
+    @record = Class.new do       
+      def valid?
+        true
+      end
+
+      def errors
+        Class.new do 
+           def full_messages; '...stuff...'; end          
+        end.new
+      end    
+    
+    end.new
+        
+    render :nothing => true    
+  end
+
+
+  def get_invalid_record
+    @record = Class.new do 
+      
+      def valid?
+        false
+      end
+      
+      def errors
+        Class.new do 
+           def full_messages; '...stuff...'; end          
+        end.new
+      end
+    end.new                
+    
+    render :nothing => true    
   end
 
   # 911
@@ -420,6 +455,21 @@ class ActionPackAssertionsControllerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     
     get :redirect_to_fellow_controller
     assert_redirected_to :controller => 'admin/user'
+  end                 
+  
+  def test_assert_valid
+    get :get_valid_record
+    assert_valid assigns('record')    
+  end                
+  
+  def test_assert_valid_failing
+    get :get_invalid_record
+    
+    begin
+      assert_valid assigns('record')    
+      assert false
+    rescue Test::Unit::AssertionFailedError => e             
+    end
   end
 end
 
@@ -437,4 +487,4 @@ class ActionPackHeaderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     process :hello_xml_world
     assert_equal('application/pdf', @controller.headers['Content-Type'])
   end
-end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb
index d4cbda80e9..a60df5a668 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ class ActiveRecordAssertionsController < ActionController::Base
   # the safety dance......
   def rescue_action(e) raise; end
 end
-
-
+                    
 class ActiveRecordAssertionsControllerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def setup
     @request = ActionController::TestRequest.new