diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_proxy.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_proxy.rb
index d2478fc84e..32810c91e0 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_proxy.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_proxy.rb
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
       protected
         def dependent?
-          @reflection.options[:dependent] || false
+          @reflection.options[:dependent]
         end
         
         def quoted_record_ids(records)