diff --git a/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/associations/proxy.rb b/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/associations/proxy.rb
index 9a830cedc..493a05642 100644
--- a/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/associations/proxy.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/associations/proxy.rb
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def respond_to?(*args)
         end
 
         def send(method, *args)
-          if proxy_respond_to?(method)
+          if proxy_respond_to?(method, true)
             super
           else
             load_target
diff --git a/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/dirty.rb b/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/dirty.rb
index 59dccb6d1..62842c5e5 100755
--- a/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/dirty.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo_mapper/plugins/dirty.rb
@@ -23,13 +23,6 @@ def reload(*)
         super.tap { clear_changes }
       end
 
-      protected
-
-      # We don't call super here to avoid invoking #attributes, which builds a whole new hash per call.
-      def attribute_method?(attr_name)
-        keys.key?(attr_name) || !embedded_associations.detect {|a| a.name == attr_name }.nil?
-      end
-
       def clear_changes
         previous = changes
         (block_given? ? yield : true).tap do |result|
@@ -40,6 +33,13 @@ def clear_changes
         end
       end
 
+      protected
+
+      # We don't call super here to avoid invoking #attributes, which builds a whole new hash per call.
+      def attribute_method?(attr_name)
+        keys.key?(attr_name) || !embedded_associations.detect {|a| a.name == attr_name }.nil?
+      end
+
       private
 
       def write_key(key, value)
@@ -55,4 +55,4 @@ def attribute_value_changed?(key_name)
       end
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end