diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
index fe060921ff..11ac3ad6f3 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
@@ -798,7 +798,7 @@ module ActionView
         if field_type == "hidden"
           options.delete("size")
         end
-        options["type"] = field_type
+        options["type"]  ||= field_type
         options["value"] ||= value_before_type_cast(object) unless field_type == "file"
         options["value"] &&= html_escape(options["value"])
         add_default_name_and_id(options)
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/form_helper_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/form_helper_test.rb
index 7712883e9c..454b6159ab 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/form_helper_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/form_helper_test.rb
@@ -201,6 +201,11 @@ class FormHelperTest < ActionView::TestCase
       hidden_field("post", "title", :value => "Something Else")
   end
 
+  def test_text_field_with_custom_type
+    assert_dom_equal '<input id="user_email" size="30" name="user[email]" type="email" />',
+      text_field("user", "email", :type => "email")
+  end
+
   def test_check_box
     assert_dom_equal(
       '<input name="post[secret]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="post_secret" name="post[secret]" type="checkbox" value="1" />',