diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php
index b64cacfdc..06617ff9b 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/PersistentCollection.php
@@ -567,6 +567,9 @@ final class PersistentCollection implements Collection
             return;
         }
         if ($this->association['type'] == ClassMetadata::ONE_TO_MANY && $this->association['orphanRemoval']) {
+            // we need to initialize here, as orphan removal acts like implicit cascadeRemove,
+            // hence for event listeners we need the objects in memory.
+            $this->initialize();
             foreach ($this->coll as $element) {
                 $this->em->getUnitOfWork()->scheduleOrphanRemoval($element);
             }
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/OneToManyOrphanRemovalTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/OneToManyOrphanRemovalTest.php
index 78b2fe517..28101ccc7 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/OneToManyOrphanRemovalTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Functional/OneToManyOrphanRemovalTest.php
@@ -13,46 +13,63 @@ require_once __DIR__ . '/../../TestInit.php';
  */
 class OneToManyOrphanRemovalTest extends \Doctrine\Tests\OrmFunctionalTestCase
 {
+    protected $userId;
+
     protected function setUp()
     {
         $this->useModelSet('cms');
-        
+
         parent::setUp();
-    }
-    
-    public function testOrphanRemoval()
-    {
+
         $user = new CmsUser;
         $user->status = 'dev';
         $user->username = 'romanb';
         $user->name = 'Roman B.';
-        
+
         $phone = new CmsPhonenumber;
         $phone->phonenumber = '123456';
-        
+
         $user->addPhonenumber($phone);
-        
+
         $this->_em->persist($user);
         $this->_em->flush();
-        
-        $userId = $user->getId();
-        
+
+        $this->userId = $user->getId();
         $this->_em->clear();
-        
-        $userProxy = $this->_em->getReference('Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsUser', $userId);
-        
+    }
+
+    public function testOrphanRemoval()
+    {
+        $userProxy = $this->_em->getReference('Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsUser', $this->userId);
+
         $this->_em->remove($userProxy);
         $this->_em->flush();
         $this->_em->clear();
-        
+
         $query  = $this->_em->createQuery('SELECT u FROM Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsUser u');
         $result = $query->getResult();
-        
+
         $this->assertEquals(0, count($result), 'CmsUser should be removed by EntityManager');
-        
+
         $query  = $this->_em->createQuery('SELECT p FROM Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsPhonenumber p');
         $result = $query->getResult();
-        
+
+        $this->assertEquals(0, count($result), 'CmsPhonenumber should be removed by orphanRemoval');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @group DDC-1496
+     */
+    public function testOrphanRemovalUnitializedCollection()
+    {
+        $user = $this->_em->find('Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsUser', $this->userId);
+
+        $user->phonenumbers->clear();
+        $this->_em->flush();
+
+        $query  = $this->_em->createQuery('SELECT p FROM Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsPhonenumber p');
+        $result = $query->getResult();
+
         $this->assertEquals(0, count($result), 'CmsPhonenumber should be removed by orphanRemoval');
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file