diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 8542c52d0c..9ed53cc4af 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -932,7 +932,7 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
       end
 
       def attribute_method?(attribute)
-        super || column_names.include?(attribute.to_s.sub(/=$/, ''))
+        super || (table_exists? && column_names.include?(attribute.to_s.sub(/=$/, '')))
       end
 
       # Set the lookup ancestors for ActiveModel.
diff --git a/railties/test/model_initialization_test.rb b/railties/test/application/model_initialization_test.rb
similarity index 100%
rename from railties/test/model_initialization_test.rb
rename to railties/test/application/model_initialization_test.rb