diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php
index 25ccddd1a..834f2282b 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php
@@ -389,6 +389,7 @@ final class PersistentCollection implements Collection
 
         if ($this->association !== null &&
             $this->association['type'] & ClassMetadata::TO_MANY &&
+            $this->owner &&
             $this->association['orphanRemoval']) {
             $this->em->getUnitOfWork()->scheduleOrphanRemoval($removed);
         }
@@ -427,6 +428,7 @@ final class PersistentCollection implements Collection
 
         if ($this->association !== null &&
             $this->association['type'] & ClassMetadata::TO_MANY &&
+            $this->owner &&
             $this->association['orphanRemoval']) {
             $this->em->getUnitOfWork()->scheduleOrphanRemoval($element);
         }
@@ -631,7 +633,9 @@ final class PersistentCollection implements Collection
 
         $uow = $this->em->getUnitOfWork();
 
-        if ($this->association['type'] & ClassMetadata::TO_MANY && $this->association['orphanRemoval']) {
+        if ($this->association['type'] & ClassMetadata::TO_MANY &&
+            $this->association['orphanRemoval'] &&
+            $this->owner) {
             // we need to initialize here, as orphan removal acts like implicit cascadeRemove,
             // hence for event listeners we need the objects in memory.
             $this->initialize();
@@ -783,7 +787,7 @@ final class PersistentCollection implements Collection
         }
 
         $this->snapshot = array();
-        
+
         $this->changed();
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC1778Test.php b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC1778Test.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aebc6422c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/Ticket/DDC1778Test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Doctrine\Tests\ORM\Functional\Ticket;
+
+use Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsUser;
+use Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsPhonenumber;
+
+/**
+ * @group DDC-1778
+ */
+class DDC1778Test extends \Doctrine\Tests\OrmFunctionalTestCase
+{
+    private $user;
+    private $phone;
+
+    public function setUp()
+    {
+        $this->useModelSet('cms');
+        parent::setUp();
+
+        $this->user = new CmsUser();
+        $this->user->username = "beberlei";
+        $this->user->name = "Benjamin";
+        $this->user->status = "active";
+
+        $this->phone = new CmsPhoneNumber();
+        $this->phone->phonenumber = '0123456789';
+        $this->user->addPhoneNumber($this->phone);
+
+        $this->_em->persist($this->user);
+        $this->_em->persist($this->phone);
+        $this->_em->flush();
+        $this->_em->clear();
+
+        $this->user = $this->_em->find('Doctrine\\Tests\\Models\\CMS\\CmsUser', $this->user->getId());
+        $this->phone = $this->_em->find('Doctrine\\Tests\\Models\\CMS\\CmsPhonenumber', $this->phone->phonenumber);
+    }
+
+    public function testClear()
+    {
+        $clonedNumbers = clone $this->user->getPhonenumbers();
+        $clonedNumbers->clear();
+        $this->_em->flush();
+        $this->_em->clear();
+
+        $this->user = $this->_em->find('Doctrine\\Tests\\Models\\CMS\\CmsUser', $this->user->getId());
+
+        $this->assertCount(1, $this->user->getPhonenumbers());
+    }
+
+    public function testRemove()
+    {
+        $clonedNumbers = clone $this->user->getPhonenumbers();
+        $clonedNumbers->remove(0);
+        $this->_em->flush();
+        $this->_em->clear();
+
+        $this->user = $this->_em->find('Doctrine\\Tests\\Models\\CMS\\CmsUser', $this->user->getId());
+
+        $this->assertCount(1, $this->user->getPhonenumbers());
+    }
+
+    public function testRemoveElement()
+    {
+        $clonedNumbers = clone $this->user->getPhonenumbers();
+        $clonedNumbers->removeElement($this->phone);
+        $this->_em->flush();
+        $this->_em->clear();
+
+        $this->user = $this->_em->find('Doctrine\\Tests\\Models\\CMS\\CmsUser', $this->user->getId());
+
+        $this->assertCount(1, $this->user->getPhonenumbers());
+    }
+}