diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/serializers/xml_serializer.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/serializers/xml_serializer.rb
index 4749823b94..fa75874603 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/serializers/xml_serializer.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/serializers/xml_serializer.rb
@@ -231,16 +231,22 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
     def add_associations(association, records, opts)
       if records.is_a?(Enumerable)
         tag = reformat_name(association.to_s)
+        type = options[:skip_types] ? {} : {:type => "array"}
+
         if records.empty?
-          builder.tag!(tag, :type => :array)
+          builder.tag!(tag, type)
         else
-          builder.tag!(tag, :type => :array) do
+          builder.tag!(tag, type) do
             association_name = association.to_s.singularize
             records.each do |record|
-              record.to_xml opts.merge(
-                :root => association_name,
-                :type => (record.class.to_s.underscore == association_name ? nil : record.class.name)
-              )
+              if options[:skip_types]
+                record_type = {}
+              else
+                record_class = (record.class.to_s.underscore == association_name) ? nil : record.class.name
+                record_type = {:type => record_class}
+              end
+
+              record.to_xml opts.merge(:root => association_name).merge(record_type)
             end
           end
         end
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/xml_serialization_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/xml_serialization_test.rb
index 39c6ea820d..b49997669e 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/xml_serialization_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/xml_serialization_test.rb
@@ -38,11 +38,15 @@ class XmlSerializationTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_match %r{<CreatedAt},    @xml
   end
 
+  def test_should_allow_skipped_types
+    @xml = Contact.new(:age => 25).to_xml :skip_types => true
+    assert %r{<age>25</age>}.match(@xml)
+  end
+
   def test_should_include_yielded_additions
     @xml = Contact.new.to_xml do |xml|
       xml.creator "David"
     end
-
     assert_match %r{<creator>David</creator>}, @xml
   end
 end
@@ -145,6 +149,13 @@ class DatabaseConnectedXmlSerializationTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_match %r{<hello-post type="StiPost">}, xml
   end
 
+  def test_included_associations_should_skip_types
+    xml = authors(:david).to_xml :include=>:hello_posts, :indent => 0, :skip_types => true
+    assert_match %r{<hello-posts>}, xml
+    assert_match %r{<hello-post>}, xml
+    assert_match %r{<hello-post>}, xml
+  end
+
   def test_methods_are_called_on_object
     xml = authors(:david).to_xml :methods => :label, :indent => 0
     assert_match %r{<label>.*</label>}, xml