diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb
index 963a938..f584a97 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_association.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
           @reflection.klass.count_by_sql(@finder_sql)
         else
           column_name, options = @reflection.klass.send(:construct_count_options_from_args, *args)          
-          options[:conditions] = options[:conditions].nil? ?
+          options[:conditions] = options[:conditions].blank? ?
             @finder_sql :
             @finder_sql + " AND (#{sanitize_sql(options[:conditions])})"
           options[:include] ||= @reflection.options[:include]
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/associations/has_many_associations_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/associations/has_many_associations_test.rb
index 53b5502..e004679 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/associations/has_many_associations_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/associations/has_many_associations_test.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ class HasManyAssociationsTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
   def test_counting
     assert_equal 2, Firm.find(:first).plain_clients.count
   end
+  
+  def test_counting_with_empty_hash_conditions
+    assert_equal 2, Firm.find(:first).plain_clients.count(:conditions => {})    
+  end
 
   def test_counting_with_single_conditions
     assert_equal 2, Firm.find(:first).plain_clients.count(:conditions => '1=1')