diff --git a/actionpack/CHANGELOG b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
index a9bd209f15..41f71cc68c 100644
--- a/actionpack/CHANGELOG
+++ b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Added an html_options hash parameter to javascript_tag() and update_page_tag() helpers #6311 [tzaharia]. Example:
+
+    update_page_tag :defer => 'true' { |page| ... }
+
+  Gives:
+
+    <script defer="true" type="text/javascript">...</script>
+    
+  Which is needed for dealing with the IE6 DOM when it's not yet fully loaded.
+
 * Fixed that rescue template path shouldn't be hardcoded, then it's easier to hook in your own #6295 [mnaberez]
 
 * Fixed escaping of backslashes in JavaScriptHelper#escape_javascript #6302 [sven@c3d2.de]
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/javascript_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/javascript_helper.rb
index 039a2f1810..7bce6b91eb 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/javascript_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/javascript_helper.rb
@@ -162,8 +162,11 @@ module ActionView
       #   alert('All is good')
       #   //]]>
       #   </script>
-      def javascript_tag(content)
-        content_tag("script", javascript_cdata_section(content), :type => "text/javascript")
+      #
+      # +html_options+ may be a hash of attributes for the <script> tag. Example:
+      #   javascript_tag "alert('All is good')", :defer => 'true' # => <script defer="true" type="text/javascript">alert('All is good')</script>
+      def javascript_tag(content, html_options = {})
+        content_tag("script", javascript_cdata_section(content), html_options.merge(:type => "text/javascript"))
       end
 
       def javascript_cdata_section(content) #:nodoc:
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/prototype_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/prototype_helper.rb
index 60dc2e8bb4..f1b956cf12 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/prototype_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/prototype_helper.rb
@@ -684,8 +684,11 @@ module ActionView
       # Works like update_page but wraps the generated JavaScript in a <script>
       # tag. Use this to include generated JavaScript in an ERb template.
       # See JavaScriptGenerator for more information.
-      def update_page_tag(&block)
-        javascript_tag update_page(&block)
+      #
+      # +html_options+ may be a hash of <script> attributes to be passed
+      # to ActionView::Helpers::JavaScriptHelper#javascript_tag.  
+      def update_page_tag(html_options = {}, &block)
+        javascript_tag update_page(&block), html_options
       end
 
     protected
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/prototype_helper_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/prototype_helper_test.rb
index 413999d85c..a88d0f7c9f 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/prototype_helper_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/prototype_helper_test.rb
@@ -171,6 +171,12 @@ class PrototypeHelperTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     block = Proc.new { |page| page.replace_html('foo', 'bar') }
     assert_equal javascript_tag(create_generator(&block).to_s), update_page_tag(&block)
   end
+
+  def test_update_page_tag_with_html_options
+    block = Proc.new { |page| page.replace_html('foo', 'bar') }
+    assert_equal javascript_tag(create_generator(&block).to_s, {:defer => 'true'}), update_page_tag({:defer => 'true'}, &block)
+  end
+
 end
 
 class JavaScriptGeneratorTest < Test::Unit::TestCase