diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java
index 1d33fcf13..b2f019eda 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtils.java
@@ -3184,7 +3184,7 @@ public class ArrayUtils {
                     return i;
                 }
             }
-        } else if (array.getClass().getComponentType().isInstance(objectToFind)) {
+        } else {
             for (int i = startIndex; i < array.length; i++) {
                 if (objectToFind.equals(array[i])) {
                     return i;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java
index a50ed1ab2..2d137c822 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ArrayUtilsTest.java
@@ -2953,7 +2953,23 @@ public class ArrayUtilsTest  {
         assertTrue(ArrayUtils.contains(array, null));
         assertFalse(ArrayUtils.contains(array, "notInArray"));
     }
-    
+
+    @Test
+    public void testContains_LANG_1261() {
+        class LANG1261ParentObject {
+            @Override
+            public boolean equals(Object o) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        class LANG1261ChildObject extends LANG1261ParentObject {
+        }
+
+        Object[] array = new LANG1261ChildObject[] { new LANG1261ChildObject() };
+
+        assertTrue(ArrayUtils.contains(array, new LANG1261ParentObject()));
+    }
+
     //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
     @Test
     public void testIndexOfLong() {