diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersister.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersister.php
index f13a01479..1bf5f4347 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersister.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersister.php
@@ -811,8 +811,7 @@ class BasicEntityPersister implements EntityPersister
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param  array|Criteria $criteria
-     * @return int
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public function count($criteria = array())
     {
@@ -1082,10 +1081,7 @@ class BasicEntityPersister implements EntityPersister
     }
 
     /**
-     * Get the COUNT SQL to count entities (optionally based on a criteria)
-     *
-     * @param  array|Criteria $criteria
-     * @return string
+     * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public function getCountSQL($criteria = array())
     {
diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/EntityPersister.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/EntityPersister.php
index d40c2c6af..747ab5802 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/EntityPersister.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/EntityPersister.php
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ interface EntityPersister
      */
     public function getSelectSQL($criteria, $assoc = null, $lockMode = null, $limit = null, $offset = null, array $orderBy = null);
 
+    /**
+     * Get the COUNT SQL to count entities (optionally based on a criteria)
+     *
+     * @param  array|\Doctrine\Common\Collections\Criteria $criteria
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function getCountSQL($criteria = array());
+
     /**
      * Expands the parameters from the given criteria and use the correct binding types if found.
      *
@@ -149,6 +157,14 @@ interface EntityPersister
      */
     public function delete($entity);
 
+    /**
+     * Count entities (optionally filtered by a criteria)
+     *
+     * @param  array|\Doctrine\Common\Collections\Criteria $criteria
+     * @return int
+     */
+    public function count($criteria = array());
+
     /**
      * Gets the name of the table that owns the column the given field is mapped to.
      *
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersisterTypeValueSqlTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersisterTypeValueSqlTest.php
index bbe8875e3..b9c2ed7bb 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersisterTypeValueSqlTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Persisters/BasicEntityPersisterTypeValueSqlTest.php
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 namespace Doctrine\Tests\ORM\Persisters;
 
+use Doctrine\Common\Collections\Criteria;
 use Doctrine\DBAL\Types\Type as DBALType;
+use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManager;
 use Doctrine\ORM\Persisters\BasicEntityPersister;
 use Doctrine\Tests\Models\CustomType\CustomTypeParent;
 use Doctrine\Tests\Models\CustomType\CustomTypeChild;
@@ -139,4 +141,23 @@ class BasicEntityPersisterTypeValueSqlTest extends \Doctrine\Tests\OrmTestCase
             $this->_persister->getSelectConditionStatementSQL('id', array(123, null))
         );
     }
+
+    public function testCountCondition()
+    {
+        $persister = new BasicEntityPersister($this->_em, $this->_em->getClassMetadata('Doctrine\Tests\Models\Quote\SimpleEntity'));
+
+        // Using a criteria as array
+        $statement = $persister->getCountSQL(array('value' => 'bar'));
+        $this->assertEquals('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "ddc-1719-simple-entity" t0 WHERE t0."simple-entity-value" = ?', $statement);
+
+        // Using a criteria object
+        $criteria = new Criteria(Criteria::expr()->eq('value', 'bar'));
+        $statement = $persister->getCountSQL($criteria);
+        $this->assertEquals('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "ddc-1719-simple-entity" t0 WHERE t0."simple-entity-value" = ?', $statement);
+    }
+
+    public function testCountEntities()
+    {
+        $this->assertEquals(0, $this->_persister->count());
+    }
 }