diff --git a/src/ngResource/resource.js b/src/ngResource/resource.js
index 827886a3cbd9..3ea7e7eec910 100644
--- a/src/ngResource/resource.js
+++ b/src/ngResource/resource.js
@@ -472,6 +472,10 @@ angular.module('ngResource', ['ng']).
                 promise = value.$promise;
 
             if (data) {
+              if ( angular.isArray(data) != !!action.isArray ) {
+                return $q.reject("Error in resource configuration. Expected response to contain an " +
+                  (action.isArray?'array':'object') + " but got an " + (angular.isArray(data)?'array':'object'));
+              }
               if (action.isArray) {
                 value.length = 0;
                 forEach(data, function(item) {
diff --git a/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js b/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js
index 6a709fb7bf08..6227b0819a79 100644
--- a/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js
+++ b/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js
@@ -800,6 +800,27 @@ describe("resource", function() {
     });
   });
 
+  it('should fail if action expects an object but response is an array', function() {
+    var successHandler = jasmine.createSpy('successHandler');
+    var failureHandler = jasmine.createSpy('failureHandler');
+    $httpBackend.expect('GET', '/Customer/123').respond({id: 'abc'});
+    $resource('/Customer/123').query().$promise.then(successHandler, failureHandler);
+    $httpBackend.flush();
+    expect(successHandler).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(failureHandler).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'Error in resource configuration. Expected response to contain an array but got an object');
+  });
+
+  it('should fail if action expects an array but response is an object', function() {
+    var successHandler = jasmine.createSpy('successHandler');
+    var failureHandler = jasmine.createSpy('failureHandler');
+    $httpBackend.expect('GET', '/Customer/123').respond([1,2,3]);
+    $resource('/Customer/123').get().$promise.then(successHandler, failureHandler);
+    $httpBackend.flush();
+    expect(successHandler).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(failureHandler).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'Error in resource configuration. Expected response to contain an object but got an array');
+  });
 
   it('should transform request/response', function() {
     var Person = $resource('/Person/:id', {}, {