diff --git a/lib/active_fedora/associations/belongs_to_association.rb b/lib/active_fedora/associations/belongs_to_association.rb
index 4c895fb06..163fc637e 100644
--- a/lib/active_fedora/associations/belongs_to_association.rb
+++ b/lib/active_fedora/associations/belongs_to_association.rb
@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ def find_target
           if @full_result # side-effect from #id_reader
             ActiveFedora::SolrService.reify_solr_results([@full_result]).first
           else
-            ActiveFedora::Base.find(id_reader, cast: true)
+            begin
+              ActiveFedora::Base.find(id_reader, cast: true)
+            rescue ActiveFedora::ObjectNotFoundError
+              nil
+            end
           end
         end
 
diff --git a/spec/integration/belongs_to_association_spec.rb b/spec/integration/belongs_to_association_spec.rb
index 994d489ea..b3d6358e7 100644
--- a/spec/integration/belongs_to_association_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/belongs_to_association_spec.rb
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ class SpecialInheritedBook < Book
       book[:library_id] = library.id
       book.library_id.should == library.id
     end
+
+    it "safely handles invalid data" do
+      book[:library_id] = 'bad identifier'
+      book.library.should be_nil
+    end
   end
 
   describe "getting the id property" do