diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/mapping/Component.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/mapping/Component.java
index f988a8ba4e..a60d6eea3d 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/mapping/Component.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/mapping/Component.java
@@ -342,6 +342,18 @@ public class Component extends SimpleValue implements MetaAttributable {
 		return java.util.Collections.unmodifiableMap( tuplizerImpls );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns the {@link Property} at the specified position in this {@link Component}.
+	 *
+	 * @param index index of the {@link Property} to return
+	 * @return {@link Property}
+	 * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException - if the index is out of range(index < 0 || index >=
+	 * {@link #getPropertySpan()})
+	 */
+	public Property getProperty(int index) {
+		return properties.get( index );
+	}
+
 	public Property getProperty(String propertyName) throws MappingException {
 		Iterator iter = getPropertyIterator();
 		while ( iter.hasNext() ) {
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tuple/entity/AbstractEntityTuplizer.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tuple/entity/AbstractEntityTuplizer.java
index 61066326d7..c6509b472a 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tuple/entity/AbstractEntityTuplizer.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tuple/entity/AbstractEntityTuplizer.java
@@ -377,8 +377,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractEntityTuplizer implements EntityTuplizer {
 					if ( subType.isAssociationType() ) {
 						throw new HibernateException( "No part of a composite identifier may be null" );
 					}
-					final String name = names[i];
-					final Property p = ( (Component) identifier ).getProperty( name );
+					final Property p = ( (Component) identifier ).getProperty( i );
 					final SimpleValue v = (SimpleValue) p.getValue();
 					if ( v.getIdentifierGenerator() == null ) {
 						throw new HibernateException( "No part of a composite identifier may be null" );