diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/context/ThreadLocalSessionContext.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/context/ThreadLocalSessionContext.java
index 4585e0088e..113ca45bf3 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/context/ThreadLocalSessionContext.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/context/ThreadLocalSessionContext.java
@@ -72,11 +72,12 @@ public class ThreadLocalSessionContext implements CurrentSessionContext {
 
     private static final HibernateLogger LOG = Logger.getMessageLogger(HibernateLogger.class,
                                                                        ThreadLocalSessionContext.class.getName());
-	private static final Class[] SESS_PROXY_INTERFACES = new Class[] {
+	private static final Class[] SESSION_PROXY_INTERFACES = new Class[] {
 			org.hibernate.classic.Session.class,
 	        org.hibernate.engine.SessionImplementor.class,
 	        org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.spi.JDBCContext.Context.class,
-	        org.hibernate.event.EventSource.class
+	        org.hibernate.event.EventSource.class,
+			org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.LobCreationContext.class
 	};
 
 	/**
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ public class ThreadLocalSessionContext implements CurrentSessionContext {
 	 * the possibility for multiple SessionFactorys being used during execution
 	 * of the given thread.
 	 */
-	private static final ThreadLocal context = new ThreadLocal();
+	private static final ThreadLocal<Map> context = new ThreadLocal<Map>();
 
 	protected final SessionFactoryImplementor factory;
 
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ public class ThreadLocalSessionContext implements CurrentSessionContext {
 		Session current = existingSession( factory );
 		if (current == null) {
 			current = buildOrObtainSession();
-			// register a cleanup synch
+			// register a cleanup sync
 			current.getTransaction().registerSynchronization( buildCleanupSynch() );
 			// wrap the session in the transaction-protection proxy
 			if ( needsWrapping( current ) ) {
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ public class ThreadLocalSessionContext implements CurrentSessionContext {
 		TransactionProtectionWrapper wrapper = new TransactionProtectionWrapper( session );
 		Session wrapped = ( Session ) Proxy.newProxyInstance(
 				Session.class.getClassLoader(),
-		        SESS_PROXY_INTERFACES,
+				SESSION_PROXY_INTERFACES,
 		        wrapper
 			);
 		// yick!  need this for proper serialization/deserialization handling...
@@ -222,8 +223,9 @@ public class ThreadLocalSessionContext implements CurrentSessionContext {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Unassociate a previously bound session from the current thread of execution.
+	 * Disassociates a previously bound session from the current thread of execution.
 	 *
+	 * @param factory The factory for which the session should be unbound.
 	 * @return The session which was unbound.
 	 */
 	public static Session unbind(SessionFactory factory) {
@@ -237,9 +239,10 @@ public class ThreadLocalSessionContext implements CurrentSessionContext {
 	}
 
 	protected static Map sessionMap() {
-		return ( Map ) context.get();
+		return context.get();
 	}
 
+	@SuppressWarnings({"unchecked"})
 	private static void doBind(org.hibernate.Session session, SessionFactory factory) {
 		Map sessionMap = sessionMap();
 		if ( sessionMap == null ) {
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/connections/HibernateCreateBlobFailedCase.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/connections/HibernateCreateBlobFailedCase.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dcbffa6def
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/connections/HibernateCreateBlobFailedCase.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Hibernate, Relational Persistence for Idiomatic Java
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, Red Hat Inc. or third-party contributors as
+ * indicated by the @author tags or express copyright attribution
+ * statements applied by the authors.  All third-party contributions are
+ * distributed under license by Red Hat Inc.
+ *
+ * This copyrighted material is made available to anyone wishing to use, modify,
+ * copy, or redistribute it subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License, as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
+ * or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with this distribution; if not, write to:
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
+ * Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package org.hibernate.test.connections;
+
+import org.hibernate.Hibernate;
+import org.hibernate.Session;
+import org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration;
+import org.hibernate.cfg.Environment;
+import org.hibernate.testing.junit.functional.FunctionalTestCase;
+
+import java.sql.Blob;
+import java.sql.Clob;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+
+/**
+ * Test originally developed to verify and fix HHH-5550
+ *
+ * @author Steve Ebersole
+ */
+public class HibernateCreateBlobFailedCase extends FunctionalTestCase {
+	public HibernateCreateBlobFailedCase(String string) {
+		super( string );
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public String[] getMappings() {
+		return new String[] { "connections/Silly.hbm.xml" };
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void configure(Configuration cfg) {
+		super.configure( cfg );
+		cfg.setProperty( Environment.CURRENT_SESSION_CONTEXT_CLASS, "thread" );
+	}
+
+	public void testLobCreation() throws SQLException {
+		Session session = sfi().getCurrentSession();
+		session.beginTransaction();
+		Blob blob = Hibernate.getLobCreator( session ).createBlob( new byte[] {} );
+		blob.free();
+		Clob clob = Hibernate.getLobCreator( session ).createClob( "Steve" );
+		clob.free();
+		session.getTransaction().commit();
+		assertFalse( session.isOpen() );
+	}
+
+}