diff --git a/Cake/Database/FunctionsTrait.php b/Cake/Database/FunctionsBuilder.php
similarity index 98%
rename from Cake/Database/FunctionsTrait.php
rename to Cake/Database/FunctionsBuilder.php
index 8191cd1c7ef..429755a1093 100644
--- a/Cake/Database/FunctionsTrait.php
+++ b/Cake/Database/FunctionsBuilder.php
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@
 /**
  * Contains methods related to generating FunctionExpression objects
  * with most commonly used SQL functions.
- * This trait is just a factory for FunctionExpression objects.
+ * This acts as a factory for FunctionExpression objects.
  */
-trait FunctionsTrait {
+class FunctionsBuilder {
 
 /**
  * Returns a new instance of a FunctionExpression. This is used for generating
diff --git a/Cake/Database/Query.php b/Cake/Database/Query.php
index 6f533107ca2..521f7342dac 100644
--- a/Cake/Database/Query.php
+++ b/Cake/Database/Query.php
@@ -35,8 +35,6 @@
  */
 class Query implements ExpressionInterface, IteratorAggregate {
 
-	use FunctionsTrait;
-
 /**
  * Connection instance to be used to execute this query
  *
@@ -148,6 +146,13 @@ class Query implements ExpressionInterface, IteratorAggregate {
  */
 	protected $_valueBinder;
 
+/**
+ * Instance of functions builder object used for generating arbitrary SQL functions
+ *
+ * @var FunctionsBuilder
+ */
+	protected $_functionsBuilder;
+
 /**
  * Constructor
  *
@@ -1372,16 +1377,23 @@ public function newExpr() {
 	}
 
 /**
- * Returns a new instance of a FunctionExpression. This is used for generating
- * arbitrary function calls in the final SQL string.
+ * Returns an instance of a functions builder object that can be used for
+ * generating arbitrary SQL functions.
  *
- * @param string $name the name of the SQL function to constructed
- * @param array $params list of params to be passed to the function
- * @param array $types list of types for each function param
- * @return FunctionExpression
+ * ### Example:
+ *
+ * {{{
+ * $query->func()->count('*');
+ * $query->func()->dateDiff(['2012-01-05', '2012-01-02'])
+ * }}}
+ *
+ * @return FunctionsBuilder
  */
-	public function func($name, $params = [], $types = []) {
-		return new FunctionExpression($name, $params, $types);
+	public function func() {
+		if (empty($this->_functionsBuilder)) {
+			$this->_functionsBuilder = new FunctionsBuilder;
+		}
+		return $this->_functionsBuilder;
 	}
 
 /**
diff --git a/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/FunctionsTraitTest.php b/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/FunctionsBuilderTest.php
similarity index 94%
rename from Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/FunctionsTraitTest.php
rename to Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/FunctionsBuilderTest.php
index 144ec690457..928ee7f65e4 100644
--- a/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/FunctionsTraitTest.php
+++ b/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/FunctionsBuilderTest.php
@@ -16,25 +16,23 @@
  */
 namespace Cake\Test\TestCase\Database;
 
-use Cake\Database\FunctionsTrait;
+use Cake\Database\FunctionsBuilder;
 use Cake\Database\ValueBinder;
 
 /**
- * Tests FunctionsTrait class
+ * Tests FunctionsBuilder class
  *
  **/
-class FunctionsTraitTest extends \Cake\TestSuite\TestCase {
+class FunctionsBuilderTest extends \Cake\TestSuite\TestCase {
 
 /**
- * Setups a mock for FunctionsTrait
+ * Setups a mock for FunctionsBuilder
  *
  * @return void
  */
 	public function setUp() {
 		parent::setUp();
-		$this->functions = $this->getObjectForTrait(
-			'\Cake\Database\FunctionsTrait'
-		);
+		$this->functions = new FunctionsBuilder;
 	}
 
 /**
diff --git a/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/QueryTest.php b/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/QueryTest.php
index 53ef0b87e51..aa8255a5ac8 100644
--- a/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/QueryTest.php
+++ b/Cake/Test/TestCase/Database/QueryTest.php
@@ -1850,7 +1850,7 @@ public function testSQLFunctions() {
 		$query = new Query($this->connection);
 		$result = $query->select(
 				function($q) {
-					return ['total' => $q->count('*')];
+					return ['total' => $q->func()->count('*')];
 				}
 			)
 			->from('articles')
@@ -1859,7 +1859,9 @@ function($q) {
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result->fetchAll('assoc'));
 
 		$query = new Query($this->connection);
-		$result = $query->select(['c' => $query->concat(['title' => 'literal', ' is appended'])])
+		$result = $query->select([
+				'c' => $query->func()->concat(['title' => 'literal', ' is appended'])
+			])
 			->from('articles')
 			->order(['c' => 'ASC'])
 			->execute();
@@ -1872,19 +1874,19 @@ function($q) {
 
 		$query = new Query($this->connection);
 		$result = $query
-			->select(['d' => $query->dateDiff(['2012-01-05', '2012-01-02'])])
+			->select(['d' => $query->func()->dateDiff(['2012-01-05', '2012-01-02'])])
 			->execute();
 		$this->assertEquals([['d' => '3.0']], $result->fetchAll('assoc'));
 
 		$query = new Query($this->connection);
 		$result = $query
-			->select(['d' => $query->now('date')])
+			->select(['d' => $query->func()->now('date')])
 			->execute();
 		$this->assertEquals([['d' => date('Y-m-d')]], $result->fetchAll('assoc'));
 
 		$query = new Query($this->connection);
 		$result = $query
-			->select(['d' => $query->now('time')])
+			->select(['d' => $query->func()->now('time')])
 			->execute();
 		$this->assertWithinMargin(
 			date('U'),
@@ -1894,7 +1896,7 @@ function($q) {
 
 		$query = new Query($this->connection);
 		$result = $query
-			->select(['d' => $query->now()])
+			->select(['d' => $query->func()->now()])
 			->execute();
 		$this->assertWithinMargin(
 			date('U'),