diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb
index 9ee80e6655..dae4ae8122 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ module ActiveRecord
     # </ol>
     def generate_message(attribute, message = :invalid, options = {})
 
+      message, options[:default] = options[:default], message if options[:default].is_a?(Symbol)
+
       defaults = @base.class.self_and_descendents_from_active_record.map do |klass| 
         [ :"models.#{klass.name.underscore}.attributes.#{attribute}.#{message}", 
           :"models.#{klass.name.underscore}.#{message}" ]
@@ -95,7 +97,6 @@ module ActiveRecord
       defaults << options.delete(:default)
       defaults = defaults.compact.flatten << :"messages.#{message}"
 
-      model_name = @base.class.name
       key = defaults.shift
       value = @base.respond_to?(attribute) ? @base.send(attribute) : nil
 
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb
index 43592bcee3..090f347a20 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb
@@ -675,6 +675,38 @@ class ActiveRecordValidationsI18nTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
     replied_topic.valid?
     assert_equal 'global message', replied_topic.errors.on(:replies)
   end
+
+  def test_validations_with_message_symbol_must_translate
+    I18n.backend.store_translations 'en-US', :activerecord => {:errors => {:messages => {:custom_error => "I am a custom error"}}}
+    Topic.validates_presence_of :title, :message => :custom_error
+    @topic.title = nil
+    @topic.valid?
+    assert_equal "I am a custom error", @topic.errors.on(:title)
+  end
+
+  def test_validates_with_message_symbol_must_translate_per_attribute
+    I18n.backend.store_translations 'en-US', :activerecord => {:errors => {:models => {:topic => {:attributes => {:title => {:custom_error => "I am a custom error"}}}}}}
+    Topic.validates_presence_of :title, :message => :custom_error
+    @topic.title = nil
+    @topic.valid?
+    assert_equal "I am a custom error", @topic.errors.on(:title)
+  end
+
+  def test_validates_with_message_symbol_must_translate_per_model
+    I18n.backend.store_translations 'en-US', :activerecord => {:errors => {:models => {:topic => {:custom_error => "I am a custom error"}}}}
+    Topic.validates_presence_of :title, :message => :custom_error
+    @topic.title = nil
+    @topic.valid?
+    assert_equal "I am a custom error", @topic.errors.on(:title)
+  end
+
+  def test_validates_with_message_string
+    Topic.validates_presence_of :title, :message => "I am a custom error"
+    @topic.title = nil
+    @topic.valid?
+    assert_equal "I am a custom error", @topic.errors.on(:title)
+  end
+
 end
 
 class ActiveRecordValidationsGenerateMessageI18nTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
@@ -855,4 +887,5 @@ class ActiveRecordValidationsGenerateMessageI18nTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_generate_message_even_with_default_message
     assert_equal "must be even", @topic.errors.generate_message(:title, :even, :default => nil, :value => 'title', :count => 10)
   end
+
 end