diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 70776c7aa2..ec7725d256 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -1510,11 +1510,17 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
       end
 
       def active_relation_table(table_name_alias = nil)
-        Arel::Table.new(table_name, :as => table_name_alias)
+        Arel::Table.new(table_name, :as => table_name_alias, :engine => active_relation_engine)
       end
 
       def active_relation_engine
-        @active_relation_engine ||= Arel::Sql::Engine.new(self)
+        @active_relation_engine ||= begin
+          if self == ActiveRecord::Base
+            Arel::Table.engine
+          else
+            connection_handler.connection_pools[name] ? Arel::Sql::Engine.new(self) : superclass.active_relation_engine
+          end
+        end
       end
 
       private
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation.rb
index ec8ae21726..6b9925d4e7 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation.rb
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
     end
 
     def table
-      @table ||= Arel::Table.new(@klass.table_name, Arel::Sql::Engine.new(@klass))
+      @table ||= Arel::Table.new(@klass.table_name, :engine => @klass.active_relation_engine)
     end
 
     def primary_key
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/multiple_db_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/multiple_db_test.rb
index 7c3e0f2ca6..6155bfd50a 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/multiple_db_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/multiple_db_test.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require "cases/helper"
 require 'models/entrant'
+require 'models/bird'
 
 # So we can test whether Course.connection survives a reload.
 require_dependency 'models/course'
@@ -82,4 +83,9 @@ class MultipleDbTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_equal "Ruby Development", Course.find(1).name
     assert_equal "Ruby Developer", Entrant.find(1).name
   end
+
+  def test_arel_table_engines
+    assert_not_equal Entrant.active_relation_engine, Course.active_relation_engine
+    assert_equal Entrant.active_relation_engine, Bird.active_relation_engine
+  end
 end