diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/UnitOfWork.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/UnitOfWork.php
index 356ea02b2..9f54463c1 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/UnitOfWork.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/UnitOfWork.php
@@ -1401,6 +1401,10 @@ class UnitOfWork implements PropertyChangedListener
             return self::STATE_NEW;
         }
 
+        if ($class->containsForeignIdentifier) {
+            $id = $this->flattenIdentifier($class, $id);
+        }
+
         switch (true) {
             case ($class->isIdentifierNatural());
                 // Check for a version field, if available, to avoid a db lookup.
@@ -1725,6 +1729,29 @@ class UnitOfWork implements PropertyChangedListener
         return $this->doMerge($entity, $visited);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * convert foreign identifiers into scalar foreign key values to avoid object to string conversion failures.
+     *
+     * @param ClassMetadata $class
+     * @param array $id
+     * @return array
+     */
+    private function flattenIdentifier($class, $id)
+    {
+        $flatId = array();
+
+        foreach ($id as $idField => $idValue) {
+            if (isset($class->associationMappings[$idField])) {
+                $targetClassMetadata = $this->em->getClassMetadata($class->associationMappings[$idField]['targetEntity']);
+                $associatedId        = $this->getEntityIdentifier($idValue);
+
+                $flatId[$idField] = $associatedId[$targetClassMetadata->identifier[0]];
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $flatId;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Executes a merge operation on an entity.
      *
@@ -1772,19 +1799,9 @@ class UnitOfWork implements PropertyChangedListener
 
                 $this->persistNew($class, $managedCopy);
             } else {
-                $flatId = $id;
-                if ($class->containsForeignIdentifier) {
-                    // convert foreign identifiers into scalar foreign key
-                    // values to avoid object to string conversion failures.
-                    foreach ($id as $idField => $idValue) {
-                        if (isset($class->associationMappings[$idField])) {
-                            $targetClassMetadata = $this->em->getClassMetadata($class->associationMappings[$idField]['targetEntity']);
-                            $associatedId        = $this->getEntityIdentifier($idValue);
-
-                            $flatId[$idField] = $associatedId[$targetClassMetadata->identifier[0]];
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+                $flatId = ($class->containsForeignIdentifier)
+                    ? $this->flattenIdentifier($class, $id)
+                    : $id;
 
                 $managedCopy = $this->tryGetById($flatId, $class->rootEntityName);
 
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC117Test.php b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC117Test.php
index 6ae4595dc..bf2ef0b27 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC117Test.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC117Test.php
@@ -461,4 +461,22 @@ class DDC117Test extends \Doctrine\Tests\OrmFunctionalTestCase
 
         $this->assertEquals($before + 3, count($data));
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @group DDC-2246
+     */
+    public function testGetEntityState()
+    {
+        $this->article1 = $this->_em->find("Doctrine\Tests\Models\DDC117\DDC117Article", $this->article1->id());
+        $this->article2 = $this->_em->find("Doctrine\Tests\Models\DDC117\DDC117Article", $this->article2->id());
+
+        $this->reference = new DDC117Reference($this->article2, $this->article1, "Test-Description");
+
+        $this->assertEquals(\Doctrine\ORM\UnitOfWork::STATE_NEW, $this->_em->getUnitOfWork()->getEntityState($this->reference));
+
+        $idCriteria = array('source' => $this->article1->id(), 'target' => $this->article2->id());
+        $reference = $this->_em->find("Doctrine\Tests\Models\DDC117\DDC117Reference", $idCriteria);
+
+        $this->assertEquals(\Doctrine\ORM\UnitOfWork::STATE_MANAGED, $this->_em->getUnitOfWork()->getEntityState($reference));
+    }
 }