diff --git a/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/util/TestPersistenceUtil.java b/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/util/TestPersistenceUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c35acf002
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openjpa-persistence-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/openjpa/persistence/util/TestPersistenceUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+/*
+ * 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.util;
+
+import java.sql.Date;
+import java.util.Random;
+
+import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
+import javax.persistence.Persistence;
+import javax.persistence.PersistenceUtil;
+
+import org.apache.openjpa.persistence.test.SingleEMFTestCase;
+
+/*
+ * These variations indirectly test OpenJPA's ProviderUtil through the 
+ * spec API implementation of PersistenceUtil. 
+ */
+public class TestPersistenceUtil extends SingleEMFTestCase{
+    
+    public void setUp() {
+        setUp(CLEAR_TABLES, EagerEntity.class, LazyEmbed.class,
+            LazyEntity.class, EagerEmbed.class);
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * Verifies an entity and its persistent attributes are in the proper 
+     * load state.
+     */
+    public void testIsLoadedEager() {        
+        verifyIsLoadedEagerState(true);
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * Verifies an entity and its persistent attributes are in the proper 
+     * not loaded state.
+     */
+    public void testNotLoadedLazy() {
+        verifyIsLoadedEagerState(false);       
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * Verifies an entity and its persistent attributes are in the proper 
+     * loaded state.
+     */
+    public void testIsLoadedLazy() {        
+        verifyIsLoadedLazyState(true);
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * Verifies an entity and its persistent attributes are in the proper 
+     * NOT_LOADED state.
+     */
+    public void testNotLoadedEager() {
+        verifyIsLoadedEagerState(false);       
+    }
+
+    
+    private void verifyIsLoadedEagerState(boolean loaded) {
+        PersistenceUtil putil = Persistence.getPersistenceUtil();
+        EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
+        EagerEntity ee = createEagerEntity();
+        
+        // Vfy state is true for the unmanaged entity via
+        // PeristenceUtil
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(ee));
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(ee, 
+            "id"));
+        
+        em.getTransaction().begin();
+        em.persist(ee);
+        em.getTransaction().commit();
+        em.clear();
+        
+        if (loaded)
+            ee = em.find(EagerEntity.class, ee.getId());
+        else
+            ee = em.getReference(EagerEntity.class, ee.getId());
+        
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(ee));
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(ee, "id"));
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(ee, "name"));
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(ee, "eagerEmbed"));
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(ee, "transField"));
+        
+        em.close();
+    }
+
+    private void verifyIsLoadedLazyState(boolean loaded) {
+        PersistenceUtil putil = Persistence.getPersistenceUtil();
+        EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
+        LazyEntity le = createLazyEntity();
+        
+        // Vfy LoadState is true for the unmanaged entity via
+        // PersistenceUtil
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(le));
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(le,"id"));
+        
+        em.getTransaction().begin();
+        em.persist(le);
+        em.getTransaction().commit();
+        em.clear();
+        
+        // Use find or getReference based upon expected state
+        if (loaded)
+            le = em.find(LazyEntity.class, le.getId());
+        else
+            le = em.getReference(LazyEntity.class, le.getId());
+        
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(le));
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(le, "id"));
+
+        // Name is lazy fetch so it should not be loaded
+        assertEquals(false, putil.isLoaded(le, "name"));
+        assertEquals(loaded, putil.isLoaded(le, "lazyEmbed"));
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(le, "transField"));
+        
+        em.close();
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * Verifies that an entity and attributes are considered loaded if they
+     * are assigned by the application.
+     */
+    public void testIsApplicationLoaded() {
+        PersistenceUtil putil = Persistence.getPersistenceUtil();
+        EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
+        EagerEntity ee = createEagerEntity();
+        
+        em.getTransaction().begin();
+        em.persist(ee);
+        em.getTransaction().commit();
+        em.clear();
+        
+        ee = em.getReference(EagerEntity.class, ee.getId());
+        assertNotNull(ee);
+        assertEagerLoadState(putil, ee, false);
+        
+        ee.setName("AppEagerName");
+        EagerEmbed emb = createEagerEmbed();
+        ee.setEagerEmbed(emb);
+        // Assert fields are loaded via application loading
+        assertEagerLoadState(putil, ee, true);
+        // Vfy the set values are applied to the entity
+        assertEquals("AppEagerName", ee.getName());
+        assertEquals(emb, ee.getEagerEmbed());
+        
+        em.close();
+    }
+        
+    private EagerEntity createEagerEntity() {
+        EagerEntity ee = new EagerEntity();
+        ee.setId(new Random().nextInt());
+        ee.setName("EagerEntity");
+        EagerEmbed emb = createEagerEmbed();
+        ee.setEagerEmbed(emb);
+        return ee;
+    }
+
+    private EagerEmbed createEagerEmbed() {
+        EagerEmbed emb = new EagerEmbed();
+        emb.setEndDate(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
+        emb.setStartDate(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
+        return emb;
+    }
+
+    private LazyEntity createLazyEntity() {
+        LazyEntity le = new LazyEntity();
+        le.setId(new Random().nextInt());
+        le.setName("LazyEntity");
+        LazyEmbed emb = new LazyEmbed();
+        emb.setEndDate(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
+        emb.setStartDate(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
+        le.setLazyEmbed(emb);
+        return le;
+    }
+    
+    private void assertEagerLoadState(PersistenceUtil putil, Object ent, 
+        boolean state) {
+        assertEquals(state, putil.isLoaded(ent));
+        assertEquals(state, putil.isLoaded(ent, "id"));
+        assertEquals(state, putil.isLoaded(ent, "name"));
+        assertEquals(state, putil.isLoaded(ent, "eagerEmbed"));
+        assertEquals(true, putil.isLoaded(ent, "transField"));
+    }    
+}