diff --git a/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/meta/FetchGroup.java b/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/meta/FetchGroup.java
index 69c91bb3e..cd7c86da6 100644
--- a/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/meta/FetchGroup.java
+++ b/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/meta/FetchGroup.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package org.apache.openjpa.meta;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -108,6 +109,9 @@ public class FetchGroup
         if (fg._includes != null)
             for (Iterator itr = fg._includes.iterator(); itr.hasNext();)
                 addDeclaredInclude((String) itr.next());
+        if (fg._containedBy != null) 
+        	this._containedBy = new HashSet(fg._containedBy);
+        
         if (fg._depths != null) {
             Map.Entry entry;
             for (Iterator itr = fg._depths.entrySet().iterator(); 
@@ -155,7 +159,7 @@ public class FetchGroup
         if (_includes != null) {
             if (_includes.contains(fgName))
                 return true;
-            if (recurse) {
+            if (recurse && _meta!=null) {
                 FetchGroup fg;
                 for (Iterator i = _includes.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
                     fg = _meta.getFetchGroup((String) i.next());
@@ -177,14 +181,18 @@ public class FetchGroup
     }
     
     /**
-     * Sets this receiver as one of the included fetch groups of the given
+     * Adds this receiver as one of the included fetch groups of the given
      * parent. 
-     * The parent fecth grop must include this receiver before this call.
+     * The parent fecth group will include this receiver as a side-effect of
+     * this call.
      * 
      * @see #includes(String, boolean)
      * @see #addDeclaredInclude(String) 
+     * 
+     * @return true if given parent is a new addition. false othrwise.
+     * @since 1.1.1   
      */
-    public boolean setContainedBy(FetchGroup parent) {
+    public boolean addContainedBy(FetchGroup parent) {
     	parent.addDeclaredInclude(this.getName());
     	if (_containedBy==null)
     		_containedBy = new HashSet();
@@ -195,11 +203,12 @@ public class FetchGroup
      * Gets the name of the fetch groups in which this receiver has been
      * included.
      * 
-     * @see #setContainedBy(FetchGroup)
+     * @see #addContainedBy(FetchGroup)
+     * @since 1.1.1   
      */
-    public String[] getContainedBy() {
-    	return (_containedBy == null) ? new String[0] 
-            : (String[]) _containedBy.toArray(new String[_containedBy.size()]);
+    public Set getContainedBy() {
+    	return (_containedBy == null) ? Collections.EMPTY_SET :
+            Collections.unmodifiableSet(_containedBy);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/openjpa-persistence/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/AnnotationPersistenceMetaDataParser.java b/openjpa-persistence/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/AnnotationPersistenceMetaDataParser.java
index c8998a7ee..16d8e9597 100644
--- a/openjpa-persistence/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/AnnotationPersistenceMetaDataParser.java
+++ b/openjpa-persistence/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/AnnotationPersistenceMetaDataParser.java
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ public class AnnotationPersistenceMetaDataParser
         	fg = meta.getFetchGroup(group.name());
         	String[] includedFetchGropNames = fg.getDeclaredIncludes();
         	for (String includedFectchGroupName:includedFetchGropNames)
-        	    meta.getFetchGroup(includedFectchGroupName).setContainedBy(fg);
+        	    meta.getFetchGroup(includedFectchGroupName).addContainedBy(fg);
         }
         
         for (FetchGroup group : groups) {
@@ -925,9 +925,9 @@ public class AnnotationPersistenceMetaDataParser
                 meta, attr.name()));
 
         field.setInFetchGroup(fg.getName(), true);
-        String[] parentFetchGroups = fg.getContainedBy();
-        for (String parentFetchGroup:parentFetchGroups)
-        	field.setInFetchGroup(parentFetchGroup, true);
+        Set parentFetchGroups = fg.getContainedBy();
+        for (Object parentFetchGroup:parentFetchGroups)
+        	field.setInFetchGroup(parentFetchGroup.toString(), true);
         if (attr.recursionDepth() != Integer.MIN_VALUE)
             fg.setRecursionDepth(field, attr.recursionDepth());
     }