diff --git a/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/util/ProxyCollections.java b/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/util/ProxyCollections.java
index eee99d684..b5f54cb25 100644
--- a/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/util/ProxyCollections.java
+++ b/openjpa-kernel/src/main/java/org/apache/openjpa/util/ProxyCollections.java
@@ -38,11 +38,7 @@ public class ProxyCollections
      */
     public static void beforeAdd(ProxyCollection coll, int index, Object value){
         assertAllowedType(value, coll.getElementType());
-        if (index == coll.size())
-            // optimize for adding to the end
-            beforeAdd(coll, value);
-        else
-            dirty(coll, true);
+        dirty(coll, true);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/recursive/Node.java b/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/recursive/Node.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d2211d0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/recursive/Node.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.    
+ */
+package org.apache.openjpa.persistence.recursive;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import javax.persistence.Entity;
+import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
+import javax.persistence.Id;
+import javax.persistence.ManyToOne;
+import javax.persistence.OneToMany;
+import javax.persistence.Version;
+
+@Entity
+public class Node {
+
+    @Id
+    @GeneratedValue
+    private int id;
+    @Version
+    private int version;
+
+    @OneToMany
+    private List<Node> nodes = new ArrayList<Node>();
+
+    public int getId() {
+        return id;
+    }
+
+    public void setId(int id) {
+        this.id = id;
+    }
+
+    public int getVersion() {
+        return version;
+    }
+
+    public void setVersion(int version) {
+        this.version = version;
+    }
+
+    public List<Node> getNodes() {
+        return nodes;
+    }
+
+    public void setNodes(List<Node> nodes) {
+        this.nodes = nodes;
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/recursive/TestRecursiveRelationships.java b/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/recursive/TestRecursiveRelationships.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4db37279a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/recursive/TestRecursiveRelationships.java
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.    
+ */
+package org.apache.openjpa.persistence.recursive;
+
+import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
+
+import org.apache.openjpa.persistence.test.SingleEMFTestCase;
+
+public class TestRecursiveRelationships extends SingleEMFTestCase {
+    private int _l1Nodes = 3;
+    private int _l2Nodes = 3;
+
+    public void setUp() {
+        setUp(Node.class);
+    }
+
+    public void testRecursiveNodes() {
+        EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
+
+        // set up initial tree
+        em.getTransaction().begin();
+        Node root = new Node();
+        for (int i = 0; i < _l1Nodes; i++) {
+            Node n1 = new Node();
+            root.getNodes().add(n1);
+            em.persist(n1);
+        }
+        em.persist(root);
+        em.getTransaction().commit();
+
+        // clear PC
+        em.refresh(root);
+        int rootId = root.getId();
+        em.clear();
+        em.close();
+        em = emf.createEntityManager();
+
+        // add new nodes
+        em.getTransaction().begin();
+        root = em.getReference(Node.class, rootId);
+        assertNotNull(root);
+        assertNotNull(root.getNodes());
+        for (Node n : root.getNodes()) {
+            for (int j = 0; j < _l2Nodes; j++) {
+                Node n2 = new Node();
+                n.getNodes().add(n.getNodes().size(), n2);
+                em.persist(n2);
+            }
+        }
+        em.getTransaction().commit();
+        em.clear();
+        em.close();
+        em = emf.createEntityManager();
+
+        // ensure count is correct.
+        root = em.getReference(Node.class, rootId);
+        assertNotNull(root);
+        assertNotNull(root.getNodes());
+        assertEquals(_l1Nodes, root.getNodes().size());
+        for (Node n : root.getNodes()) {
+            assertEquals(_l2Nodes, n.getNodes().size());
+        }
+        em.close();
+    }
+}