diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php
index e8342a162e7..d4217e97e45 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php
@@ -1638,7 +1638,7 @@ public function buildAssociationQuery(Model $Model, $queryData) {
  * Builds a string containing an SQL statement template.
  *
  * @param Model $Model Primary Model object.
- * @param Model $LinkModel Linked model object.
+ * @param Model|null $LinkModel Linked model object.
  * @param string $type Association type, one of the model association types ie. hasMany.
  * @param string $association Association name.
  * @param array $assocData Association data.
@@ -1650,9 +1650,23 @@ public function buildAssociationQuery(Model $Model, $queryData) {
  */
 	public function generateAssociationQuery(Model $Model, $LinkModel, $type, $association, $assocData, &$queryData, $external) {
 		$assocData = $this->_scrubQueryData($assocData);
+		$queryData = $this->_scrubQueryData($queryData);
 
 		if ($LinkModel === null) {
-			return '';
+			return $this->buildStatement(
+				array(
+					'fields' => array_unique($queryData['fields']),
+					'table' => $this->fullTableName($Model),
+					'alias' => $Model->alias,
+					'limit' => $queryData['limit'],
+					'offset' => $queryData['offset'],
+					'joins' => $queryData['joins'],
+					'conditions' => $queryData['conditions'],
+					'order' => $queryData['order'],
+					'group' => $queryData['group']
+				),
+				$Model
+			);
 		}
 
 		if ($external && !empty($assocData['finderQuery'])) {
@@ -1699,8 +1713,6 @@ public function generateAssociationQuery(Model $Model, $LinkModel, $type, $assoc
 						'conditions' => trim($this->conditions($conditions, true, false, $Model))
 					);
 
-					$queryData = $this->_scrubQueryData($queryData);
-
 					$fields = array();
 					if ($assocData['fields'] !== false) {
 						$fields = $this->fields($LinkModel, $association, $assocData['fields']);
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Datasource/DboSourceTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Datasource/DboSourceTest.php
index a97e29d154b..c2f4465e186 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Datasource/DboSourceTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Datasource/DboSourceTest.php
@@ -137,7 +137,6 @@ class DboSourceTest extends CakeTestCase {
  */
 	public function setUp() {
 		parent::setUp();
-		$this->__config = $this->db->config;
 
 		$this->testDb = new DboTestSource();
 		$this->testDb->cacheSources = false;
@@ -869,7 +868,7 @@ public function testReadOnlyCallingQueryAssociationWhenDefined() {
  */
 	public function testQueryAssociationUnneededQueries() {
 		$this->loadFixtures('Article', 'User', 'Comment', 'Attachment', 'Tag', 'ArticlesTag');
-		$Comment = new Comment;
+		$Comment = ClassRegistry::init('Comment');
 
 		$fullDebug = $this->db->fullDebug;
 		$this->db->fullDebug = true;
@@ -917,6 +916,40 @@ public function testQueryAssociationUnneededQueries() {
 		$this->db->fullDebug = $fullDebug;
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Tests that generation association queries without LinkModel still works.
+ * Mainly BC.
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testGenerateAssociationQuery() {
+		$this->loadFixtures('Article');
+		$Article = ClassRegistry::init('Article');
+
+		$queryData = array(
+			'conditions' => array(
+				'Article.id' => 1
+			),
+			'fields' => array(
+				'Article.id',
+				'Article.title',
+			),
+			'joins' => array(),
+			'limit' => 2,
+			'offset' => 2,
+			'order' => array('title'),
+			'page' => 2,
+			'group' => null,
+			'callbacks' => 1
+		);
+
+		$result = $this->db->generateAssociationQuery($Article, null, null, null, null, $queryData, false);
+		$this->assertContains('SELECT', $result);
+		$this->assertContains('FROM', $result);
+		$this->assertContains('WHERE', $result);
+		$this->assertContains('ORDER', $result);
+	}
+
 /**
  * test that fields() is using methodCache()
  *
@@ -1019,7 +1052,7 @@ public function testLastError() {
  */
 	public function testTransactionLogging() {
 		$conn = $this->getMock('MockPDO');
-		$db = new DboTestSource;
+		$db = new DboTestSource();
 		$db->setConnection($conn);
 		$conn->expects($this->exactly(2))->method('beginTransaction')
 			->will($this->returnValue(true));
@@ -1132,7 +1165,7 @@ public function testBuildStatementDefaults() {
 		$conn->expects($this->at(0))
 			->method('quote')
 			->will($this->returnValue('foo bar'));
-		$db = new DboTestSource;
+		$db = new DboTestSource();
 		$db->setConnection($conn);
 		$subQuery = $db->buildStatement(
 			array(
@@ -1223,7 +1256,7 @@ public static function joinStatementsWithPrefix($schema) {
  * @return void
  */
 	public function testBuildJoinStatementWithTablePrefix($join, $expected) {
-		$db = new DboTestSource;
+		$db = new DboTestSource();
 		$db->config['prefix'] = 'pre_';
 		$result = $db->buildJoinStatement($join);
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
@@ -1237,7 +1270,7 @@ public function testBuildJoinStatementWithTablePrefix($join, $expected) {
 	public function testConditionKeysToString() {
 		$Article = ClassRegistry::init('Article');
 		$conn = $this->getMock('MockPDO', array('quote'));
-		$db = new DboTestSource;
+		$db = new DboTestSource();
 		$db->setConnection($conn);
 
 		$conn->expects($this->at(0))
@@ -1273,7 +1306,7 @@ public function testConditionKeysToStringVirtualField() {
 			'extra' => 'something virtual'
 		);
 		$conn = $this->getMock('MockPDO', array('quote'));
-		$db = new DboTestSource;
+		$db = new DboTestSource();
 		$db->setConnection($conn);
 
 		$conn->expects($this->at(0))
@@ -1304,7 +1337,7 @@ public function testConditionKeysToStringVirtualField() {
  * @return void
  */
 	public function testLimit() {
-		$db = new DboTestSource;
+		$db = new DboTestSource();
 
 		$result = $db->limit('0');
 		$this->assertNull($result);