diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapt
index 3e0ce14..b07db57 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb
@@ -409,7 +409,8 @@ module ActiveRecord
       def build_length_hash(column_names, length_option = {})
         length_option ||= {}
         if length_option.is_a? Hash
-          raise ArgumentError, ":length options must match colums" unless length_option.keys.all?{|x| column_names.include?(x)}
+          length_option.symbolize_keys!
+          raise ArgumentError, ":length options must match colums" unless length_option.keys.all?{|x| column_names.map(&:to_sym).include?(x)}
           length_hash = length_option
         else
           raise ArgumentError, ":length must be hash if multiple index columns are specified" if column_names.size > 1
@@ -423,7 +424,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       end
       
       def add_index(table_name, column_name, options = {})
-        column_names = Array(column_name)
+        column_names = Array(column_name).map(&:to_sym)
         index_name   = index_name(table_name, :column => column_names)
 
         if Hash === options # legacy support, since this param was a string
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/active_schema_test_mysql.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/active_schema_test_mysql.rb
index ef68e80..d3e6f31 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/active_schema_test_mysql.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/active_schema_test_mysql.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ class ActiveSchemaTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_equal "CREATE  INDEX `index_people_on_col_name_and_other_col` ON `people` (`col_name`, `other_col`)", add_index(:people, [:col_name, 
   end
   
+  def test_symbolize_column_names
+    assert_equal "CREATE  INDEX `index_people_on_col_name_and_other_col` ON `people` (`col_name`(5), `other_col`)", add_index(:people, ['col_nam
+    assert_equal "CREATE  INDEX `index_people_on_col_name_and_other_col` ON `people` (`col_name`(5), `other_col`)", add_index(:people, [:col_nam
+  end
+  
   def test_add_index_with_wrong_syntax
     assert_raise(ArgumentError) do
       add_index(:people, [:col_name, :other_col], :length => 1)