diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/active_record/migration/migration_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/active_record/migration/migration_generator.rb
index 95cc34ba42..7939977f72 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/active_record/migration/migration_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/active_record/migration/migration_generator.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ require 'generators/active_record'
 module ActiveRecord
   module Generators
     class MigrationGenerator < Base
-      argument :attributes, :type => :hash, :default => {}, :banner => "field:type field:type"
+      argument :attributes, :type => :array, :default => [], :banner => "field:type field:type"
 
       def create_migration_file
         set_local_assigns!
diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/active_record/model/model_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/active_record/model/model_generator.rb
index d337ca4eec..54187aede0 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/active_record/model/model_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/active_record/model/model_generator.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ require 'generators/active_record'
 module ActiveRecord
   module Generators
     class ModelGenerator < Base
-      argument :attributes, :type => :hash, :default => {}, :banner => "field:type field:type"
+      argument :attributes, :type => :array, :default => [], :banner => "field:type field:type"
 
       check_class_collision
 
diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/erb/scaffold/scaffold_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/erb/scaffold/scaffold_generator.rb
index 946c5a0abc..955f22192a 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/erb/scaffold/scaffold_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/erb/scaffold/scaffold_generator.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ module Erb
     class ScaffoldGenerator < Base
       include Rails::Generators::ScaffoldBase
 
-      argument :attributes, :type => :hash, :default => {}, :banner => "field:type field:type"
+      argument :attributes, :type => :array, :default => [], :banner => "field:type field:type"
 
       class_option :form,      :type => :boolean
       class_option :layout,    :type => :boolean
diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/named_base.rb b/railties/lib/generators/named_base.rb
index 0d399c876c..699b8ed651 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/named_base.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/named_base.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ module Rails
         # Convert attributes hash into an array with GeneratedAttribute objects.
         #
         def parse_attributes! #:nodoc:
-          self.attributes = (attributes || {}).map do |name, type|
+          self.attributes = (attributes || []).map do |key_value|
+            name, type = key_value.split(':')
             Rails::Generators::GeneratedAttribute.new(name, type)
           end
         end
diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/rails/migration/migration_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/rails/migration/migration_generator.rb
index 4e2db5e441..39fa5b63b1 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/rails/migration/migration_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/rails/migration/migration_generator.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module Rails
   module Generators
     class MigrationGenerator < NamedBase #metagenerator
-      argument :attributes, :type => :hash, :default => {}, :banner => "field:type field:type"
+      argument :attributes, :type => :array, :default => [], :banner => "field:type field:type"
       hook_for :orm, :required => true
     end
   end
diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/rails/model/model_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/rails/model/model_generator.rb
index 189f072365..629d5eed3f 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/rails/model/model_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/rails/model/model_generator.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module Rails
   module Generators
     class ModelGenerator < NamedBase #metagenerator
-      argument :attributes, :type => :hash, :default => {}, :banner => "field:type field:type"
+      argument :attributes, :type => :array, :default => [], :banner => "field:type field:type"
       hook_for :orm, :required => true
     end
   end
diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/test_unit/model/model_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/test_unit/model/model_generator.rb
index 92fd75a2d5..469306e6c5 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/test_unit/model/model_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/test_unit/model/model_generator.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ require 'generators/test_unit'
 module TestUnit
   module Generators
     class ModelGenerator < Base
-      argument :attributes, :type => :hash, :default => {}, :banner => "field:type field:type"
+      argument :attributes, :type => :array, :default => [], :banner => "field:type field:type"
       class_option :fixture, :type => :boolean
 
       check_class_collision :suffix => "Test"