diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 2a53851..3621880 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -2168,7 +2168,7 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
         #     default_scope :order => 'last_name, first_name'
         #   end
         def default_scope(options = {})
-          self.default_scoping << { :find => options, :create => (options.is_a?(Hash) && options.has_key?(:conditions)) ? options[:conditions] : {} }
+          self.default_scoping << { :find => options, :create => options[:conditions].is_a?(Hash) ? options[:conditions] : {} }
         end
 
         # Test whether the given method and optional key are scoped.
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb
index 3c34cde..4afd5d3 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb
@@ -591,6 +591,16 @@ class DefaultScopingTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_equal expected, received
   end
 
+  def test_default_scope_with_conditions_string
+    assert_equal Developer.find_all_by_name('David').map(&:id).sort, DeveloperCalledDavid.all.map(&:id).sort
+    assert_equal nil, DeveloperCalledDavid.create!.name
+  end
+
+  def test_default_scope_with_conditions_hash
+    assert_equal Developer.find_all_by_name('Jamis').map(&:id).sort, DeveloperCalledJamis.all.map(&:id).sort
+    assert_equal 'Jamis', DeveloperCalledJamis.create!.name
+  end
+
   def test_default_scoping_with_threads
     scope = [{ :create => {}, :find => { :order => 'salary DESC' } }]
 
diff --git a/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb b/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb
index 92039a4..0589703 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb
@@ -89,3 +89,13 @@ class DeveloperOrderedBySalary < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
   end
 end
+
+class DeveloperCalledDavid < ActiveRecord::Base
+  self.table_name = 'developers'
+  default_scope :conditions => "name = 'David'"
+end
+
+class DeveloperCalledJamis < ActiveRecord::Base
+  self.table_name = 'developers'
+  default_scope :conditions => { :name => 'Jamis' }
+end