diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/fixtures.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/fixtures.rb
index 8847865451..f5b2e73da9 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/fixtures.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/fixtures.rb
@@ -561,7 +561,11 @@ class Fixtures < (RUBY_VERSION < '1.9' ? YAML::Omap : Hash)
     now = now.to_s(:db)
 
     # allow a standard key to be used for doing defaults in YAML
-    delete(assoc("DEFAULTS"))
+    if is_a?(Hash)
+      delete('DEFAULTS')
+    else
+      delete(assoc('DEFAULTS'))
+    end
 
     # track any join tables we need to insert later
     habtm_fixtures = Hash.new do |h, habtm|
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/fixtures_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/fixtures_test.rb
index 9e0d69310e..bedb26f28d 100755
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/fixtures_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/fixtures_test.rb
@@ -565,7 +565,6 @@ class FoxyFixturesTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert(parrots(:louis).treasures.include?(treasures(:sapphire)))
   end
 
-  # FIXME: first assertion fails on Ruby 1.9
   def test_strips_DEFAULTS_key
     assert_raise(StandardError) { parrots(:DEFAULTS) }