diff --git a/lib/active_fedora/querying.rb b/lib/active_fedora/querying.rb
index 01803f1df..4f29cb517 100644
--- a/lib/active_fedora/querying.rb
+++ b/lib/active_fedora/querying.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module ActiveFedora
   module Querying
     delegate :find, :first, :exists?, :where, :limit, :offset, :order, :delete_all,
-             :destroy_all, :count, :last, :find_with_conditions, :find_in_batches, :search_with_conditions, :search_in_batches, :find_each, to: :all
+             :destroy_all, :count, :last, :find_with_conditions, :find_in_batches, :search_with_conditions, :search_in_batches, :search_by_id, :find_each, to: :all
 
     def self.extended(base)
       base.class_attribute :solr_query_handler
diff --git a/lib/active_fedora/relation/finder_methods.rb b/lib/active_fedora/relation/finder_methods.rb
index 172bad13f..cb4757582 100644
--- a/lib/active_fedora/relation/finder_methods.rb
+++ b/lib/active_fedora/relation/finder_methods.rb
@@ -111,6 +111,20 @@ def search_with_conditions(conditions, opts = {})
       SolrService.query(create_query(conditions), opts)
     end
 
+    # Returns a single solr hit matching the given id
+    # @param [String] id document id
+    # @param [Hash] opts
+    def search_by_id(id, opts = {})
+      opts[:rows] = 1
+      result = search_with_conditions({ id: id }, opts)
+
+      if result.empty?
+        raise ActiveFedora::ObjectNotFoundError, "Object #{id} not found in solr"
+      end
+
+      result.first
+    end
+
     # @deprecated
     def find_with_conditions(*args)
       Deprecation.warn(ActiveFedora::Base, '.find_with_conditions is deprecated and will be removed in active-fedora 10.0; use .search_with_conditions instead')
diff --git a/lib/active_fedora/solr_instance_loader.rb b/lib/active_fedora/solr_instance_loader.rb
index 1745f0697..ae32cb19e 100644
--- a/lib/active_fedora/solr_instance_loader.rb
+++ b/lib/active_fedora/solr_instance_loader.rb
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ class SolrInstanceLoader
     def initialize(context, id, solr_doc = nil)
       @context = context
       @id = id
-      @solr_doc = solr_doc
-      validate_solr_doc_and_id!(@solr_doc)
+      self.solr_doc = solr_doc
     end
 
     def object
@@ -37,18 +36,16 @@ def allocate_object
 
       def solr_doc
         @solr_doc ||= begin
-          result = context.search_with_conditions(id: id)
-          if result.empty?
-            raise ActiveFedora::ObjectNotFoundError, "Object #{id} not found in solr"
-          end
-          @solr_doc = result.first
-          validate_solr_doc_and_id!(@solr_doc)
-          @solr_doc
+          self.solr_doc = context.search_by_id(id)
         end
       end
 
+      def solr_doc=(solr_doc)
+        validate_solr_doc_and_id!(@solr_doc) unless @solr_doc.nil?
+        @solr_doc = solr_doc
+      end
+
       def validate_solr_doc_and_id!(document)
-        return true if document.nil?
         solr_id = document[ActiveFedora.id_field]
         return if id == solr_id
         raise ActiveFedora::FedoraSolrMismatchError, id, solr_id
diff --git a/spec/unit/finder_methods_spec.rb b/spec/unit/finder_methods_spec.rb
index 338872041..1c2e3a20a 100644
--- a/spec/unit/finder_methods_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/finder_methods_spec.rb
@@ -81,4 +81,28 @@ def initialize
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#search_by_id' do
+    context 'with a document in solr' do
+      let(:doc) { double('Document') }
+
+      before do
+        expect(finder).to receive(:search_with_conditions).with({ id: 'x' }, hash_including(rows: 1)).and_return([doc])
+      end
+
+      it "returns the document" do
+        expect(finder.search_by_id('x')).to eq doc
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'without a document in solr' do
+      before do
+        expect(finder).to receive(:search_with_conditions).with({ id: 'x' }, hash_including(rows: 1)).and_return([])
+      end
+
+      it "returns the document" do
+        expect { finder.search_by_id('x') }.to raise_error ActiveFedora::ObjectNotFoundError
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end