diff --git a/src/ORM/Table.php b/src/ORM/Table.php
index 2ed26d1842d..92fdf60ed30 100644
--- a/src/ORM/Table.php
+++ b/src/ORM/Table.php
@@ -1213,7 +1213,7 @@ public function get($primaryKey, $options = [])
      * called allowing you to define additional default values. The new
      * entity will be saved and returned.
      *
-     * @param array $search The criteria to find existing records by.
+     * @param array|\Cake\ORM\Query|string $search The criteria to find existing records by.
      * @param callable|null $callback A callback that will be invoked for newly
      *   created entities. This callback will be called *before* the entity
      *   is persisted.
@@ -1221,7 +1221,7 @@ public function get($primaryKey, $options = [])
      */
     public function findOrCreate($search, callable $callback = null)
     {
-        $query = $this->find()->where($search);
+        $query = $this->_getFindOrCreateQuery($search);
         $row = $query->first();
         if ($row) {
             return $row;
@@ -1234,6 +1234,25 @@ public function findOrCreate($search, callable $callback = null)
         return $this->save($entity) ?: $entity;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Gets the query object for findOrCreate().
+     *
+     * @param array|\Cake\ORM\Query|string $search The criteria to find existing records by.
+     * @return \Cake\ORM\Query
+     */
+    protected function _getFindOrCreateQuery($search) {
+        if ($search instanceof Query) {
+            return $search;
+        } elseif (is_string($search)) {
+            if (method_exists($this, $search)) {
+                return $this->{$search}();
+            } else {
+                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Method `' . $search . '` does not exist!');
+            }
+        }
+        return $this->find()->where($search);
+    }
+
     /**
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
diff --git a/tests/TestCase/ORM/TableTest.php b/tests/TestCase/ORM/TableTest.php
index 81bd675c6ac..1be756960bd 100644
--- a/tests/TestCase/ORM/TableTest.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase/ORM/TableTest.php
@@ -5383,6 +5383,22 @@ function ($article) {
         $this->assertEquals('New body', $article->body);
         $this->assertEquals('N', $article->published);
         $this->assertEquals(2, $article->author_id);
+
+        $query = $articles->find()->where(['author_id' => 2, 'title' => 'First Article']);
+        $article = $articles->findOrCreate($query);
+        $this->assertEquals('First Article', $article->title);
+        $this->assertEquals(2, $article->author_id);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that exceptions from the findOrCreate are thrown.
+     *
+     * @expectedException \InvalidArgumentException
+     */
+    public function testFindOrCreateException()
+    {
+        $articles = TableRegistry::get('Articles');
+        $articles->findOrCreate('doesNotExist');
     }
 
     /**