diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object.rb
index 9ad1e12699..249c2e93c5 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ require 'active_support/core_ext/object/blank'
 require 'active_support/core_ext/object/duplicable'
 require 'active_support/core_ext/object/try'
 require 'active_support/core_ext/object/inclusion'
+require 'active_support/core_ext/object/public_send'
 
 require 'active_support/core_ext/object/conversions'
 require 'active_support/core_ext/object/instance_variables'
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object/public_send.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object/public_send.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..233e69b4f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object/public_send.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+require 'active_support/core_ext/kernel/singleton_class'
+
+class Object
+  unless Object.public_method_defined?(:public_send)
+    # Backports Object#public_send from 1.9
+    def public_send(method, *args, &block) # :nodoc:
+      # Don't create a singleton class for the object if it doesn't already have one
+      # (This also protects us from classes like Fixnum and Symbol, which cannot have a
+      # singleton class.)
+      klass = singleton_methods.any? ? self.singleton_class : self.class
+
+      if klass.public_method_defined?(method)
+        send(method, *args, &block)
+      else
+        if klass.private_method_defined?(method)
+          raise NoMethodError, "private method `#{method}' called for #{inspect}"
+        elsif klass.protected_method_defined?(method)
+          raise NoMethodError, "protected method `#{method}' called for #{inspect}"
+        else
+          raise NoMethodError, "undefined method `#{method}' for #{inspect}"
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/activesupport/test/core_ext/object/public_send_test.rb b/activesupport/test/core_ext/object/public_send_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7dc542e51c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activesupport/test/core_ext/object/public_send_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+require 'abstract_unit'
+require 'active_support/core_ext/object/public_send'
+
+module PublicSendReceiver
+  def receive_public_method(*args)
+    return args + [yield]
+  end
+
+  protected
+
+  def receive_protected_method(*args)
+    return args + [yield]
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def receive_private_method(*args)
+    return args + [yield]
+  end
+end
+
+# Note, running this on 1.9 will be testing the Ruby core implementation, but it is good to
+# do this to ensure that our backport functions the same as Ruby core in 1.9
+class PublicSendTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def instance
+    @instance ||= begin
+      klass = Class.new do
+        include PublicSendReceiver
+      end
+      klass.new
+    end
+  end
+
+  def singleton_instance
+    @singleton_instance ||= begin
+      object = Object.new
+      object.singleton_class.send(:include, PublicSendReceiver)
+      object
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_should_receive_public_method
+    assert_equal(
+      [:foo, :bar, :baz],
+      instance.public_send(:receive_public_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    )
+  end
+
+  def test_should_receive_public_singleton_method
+    assert_equal(
+      [:foo, :bar, :baz],
+      singleton_instance.public_send(:receive_public_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    )
+  end
+
+  def test_should_raise_on_protected_method
+    assert_raises(NoMethodError) do
+      instance.public_send(:receive_protected_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_should_raise_on_protected_singleton_method
+    assert_raises(NoMethodError) do
+      singleton_instance.public_send(:receive_protected_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_should_raise_on_private_method
+    assert_raises(NoMethodError) do
+      instance.public_send(:receive_private_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_should_raise_on_singleton_private_method
+    assert_raises(NoMethodError) do
+      singleton_instance.public_send(:receive_private_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_should_raise_on_undefined_method
+    assert_raises(NoMethodError) do
+      instance.public_send(:receive_undefined_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_protected_method_message
+    instance.public_send(:receive_protected_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+  rescue NoMethodError => exception
+    assert_equal(
+      "protected method `receive_protected_method' called for #{instance.inspect}",
+      exception.message
+    )
+  end
+
+  def test_private_method_message
+    instance.public_send(:receive_private_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+  rescue NoMethodError => exception
+    assert_equal(
+      "private method `receive_private_method' called for #{instance.inspect}",
+      exception.message
+    )
+  end
+
+  def test_undefined_method_message
+    instance.public_send(:receive_undefined_method, :foo, :bar) { :baz }
+  rescue NoMethodError => exception
+    assert_equal(
+      "undefined method `receive_undefined_method' for #{instance.inspect}",
+      exception.message
+    )
+  end
+
+  def test_receiver_with_no_singleton
+    assert_equal "5", 5.public_send(:to_s)
+    assert_equal "foo", :foo.public_send(:to_s)
+  end
+end