diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php
index 0d2dd162d..159d5a811 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/DboSource.php
@@ -861,7 +861,7 @@ class DboSource extends DataSource {
  * @return boolean True if the result is valid else false
  */
 	public function hasResult() {
-		return is_a($this->_result, 'PDOStatement');
+		return $this->_result instanceof PDOStatement;
 	}
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Console/Command/SchemaShellTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Console/Command/SchemaShellTest.php
index a78c0fbdd..e702e4b16 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Console/Command/SchemaShellTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Console/Command/SchemaShellTest.php
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class SchemaShellTest extends CakeTestCase {
 	public function testStartup() {
 		$this->Shell->startup();
 		$this->assertTrue(isset($this->Shell->Schema));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($this->Shell->Schema, 'CakeSchema'));
+		$this->assertTrue($this->Shell->Schema instanceof CakeSchema);
 		$this->assertEquals(Inflector::camelize(Inflector::slug(APP_DIR)), $this->Shell->Schema->name);
 		$this->assertEquals('schema.php', $this->Shell->Schema->file);
 
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/ControllerTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/ControllerTest.php
index 18fccf49e..63ed922d0 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/ControllerTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/ControllerTest.php
@@ -482,8 +482,8 @@ class ControllerTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$Controller = new Controller($request);
 		$Controller->uses = array('ControllerPost', 'ControllerComment');
 		$Controller->constructClasses();
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Controller->ControllerPost, 'ControllerPost'));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Controller->ControllerComment, 'ControllerComment'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Controller->ControllerPost instanceof ControllerPost);
+		$this->assertTrue($Controller->ControllerComment instanceof ControllerComment);
 
 		$this->assertEquals('Comment', $Controller->ControllerComment->name);
 
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ class ControllerTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$Controller->constructClasses();
 
 		$this->assertTrue(isset($Controller->TestPluginPost));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Controller->TestPluginPost, 'TestPluginPost'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Controller->TestPluginPost instanceof TestPluginPost);
 	}
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Routing/RouterTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Routing/RouterTest.php
index 57e480978..f843bda03 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Routing/RouterTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Routing/RouterTest.php
@@ -2354,7 +2354,7 @@ class RouterTest extends CakeTestCase {
 			array('controller' => 'posts', 'action' => 'view'),
 			array('routeClass' => 'MockConnectedRoute', 'slug' => '[a-z_-]+')
 		);
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($routes[0], 'MockConnectedRoute'), 'Incorrect class used. %s');
+		$this->assertTrue($routes[0] instanceof MockConnectedRoute, 'Incorrect class used. %s');
 		$expected = array('controller' => 'posts', 'action' => 'view', 'slug' => 'test');
 		$routes[0]->expects($this->any())
 			->method('parse')
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/ClassRegistryTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/ClassRegistryTest.php
index ff751fe96..df656f652 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/ClassRegistryTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/ClassRegistryTest.php
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class ClassRegistryTest extends CakeTestCase {
  */
 	public function testAddModel() {
 		$Tag = ClassRegistry::init('RegisterArticleTag');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Tag, 'RegisterArticleTag'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Tag instanceof RegisterArticleTag);
 
 		$TagCopy = ClassRegistry::isKeySet('RegisterArticleTag');
 		$this->assertTrue($TagCopy);
@@ -145,11 +145,11 @@ class ClassRegistryTest extends CakeTestCase {
 
 		$TagCopy = ClassRegistry::getObject('RegisterArticleTag');
 
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($TagCopy, 'RegisterArticleTag'));
+		$this->assertTrue($TagCopy instanceof RegisterArticleTag);
 		$this->assertSame($Tag, $TagCopy);
 
 		$NewTag = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegisterArticleTag', 'alias' => 'NewTag'));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Tag, 'RegisterArticleTag'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Tag instanceof RegisterArticleTag);
 
 		$NewTagCopy = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegisterArticleTag', 'alias' => 'NewTag'));
 
@@ -166,17 +166,17 @@ class ClassRegistryTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertTrue($TagCopy->name === 'SomeOtherName');
 
 		$User = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegisterUser', 'alias' => 'User', 'table' => false));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($User, 'AppModel'));
+		$this->assertTrue($User instanceof AppModel);
 
 		$UserCopy = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegisterUser', 'alias' => 'User', 'table' => false));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($UserCopy, 'AppModel'));
+		$this->assertTrue($UserCopy instanceof AppModel);
 		$this->assertEquals($User, $UserCopy);
 
 		$Category = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegisterCategory'));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Category, 'RegisterCategory'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Category instanceof RegisterCategory);
 
 		$ParentCategory = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegisterCategory', 'alias' => 'ParentCategory'));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($ParentCategory, 'RegisterCategory'));
+		$this->assertTrue($ParentCategory instanceof RegisterCategory);
 		$this->assertNotSame($Category, $ParentCategory);
 
 		$this->assertNotEquals($Category->alias, $ParentCategory->alias);
@@ -193,12 +193,12 @@ class ClassRegistryTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		ClassRegistry::init('RegisterArticleTag');
 
 		$ArticleTag = ClassRegistry::getObject('RegisterArticleTag');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($ArticleTag, 'RegisterArticleTag'));
+		$this->assertTrue($ArticleTag instanceof RegisterArticleTag);
 		ClassRegistry::flush();
 
 		$NoArticleTag = ClassRegistry::isKeySet('RegisterArticleTag');
 		$this->assertFalse($NoArticleTag);
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($ArticleTag, 'RegisterArticleTag'));
+		$this->assertTrue($ArticleTag instanceof RegisterArticleTag);
 	}
 
 /**
@@ -233,13 +233,13 @@ class ClassRegistryTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertTrue($Tag);
 
 		$Article = ClassRegistry::getObject('Article');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Article, 'RegisterArticle'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Article instanceof RegisterArticle);
 
 		$Featured = ClassRegistry::getObject('Featured');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Featured, 'RegisterArticleFeatured'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Featured instanceof RegisterArticleFeatured);
 
 		$Tag = ClassRegistry::getObject('Tag');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($Tag, 'RegisterArticleTag'));
+		$this->assertTrue($Tag instanceof RegisterArticleTag);
 	}
 
 /**
@@ -254,15 +254,15 @@ class ClassRegistryTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		//Faking a plugin
 		CakePlugin::load('RegistryPlugin', array('path' => '/fake/path'));
 		$TestRegistryPluginModel = ClassRegistry::init('RegistryPlugin.TestRegistryPluginModel');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($TestRegistryPluginModel, 'TestRegistryPluginModel'));
+		$this->assertTrue($TestRegistryPluginModel instanceof TestRegistryPluginModel);
 
 		$this->assertEquals('something_', $TestRegistryPluginModel->tablePrefix);
 
 		$PluginUser = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => 'RegistryPlugin.RegisterUser', 'alias' => 'RegistryPluginUser', 'table' => false));
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($PluginUser, 'RegistryPluginAppModel'));
+		$this->assertTrue($PluginUser instanceof RegistryPluginAppModel);
 
 		$PluginUserCopy = ClassRegistry::getObject('RegistryPluginUser');
-		$this->assertTrue(is_a($PluginUserCopy, 'RegistryPluginAppModel'));
+		$this->assertTrue($PluginUserCopy instanceof RegistryPluginAppModel);
 		$this->assertSame($PluginUser, $PluginUserCopy);
 		CakePlugin::unload();
 	}
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Utility/ClassRegistry.php b/lib/Cake/Utility/ClassRegistry.php
index 3b2a3dc02..fb57f7feb 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Utility/ClassRegistry.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Utility/ClassRegistry.php
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ class ClassRegistry {
 		$duplicate = false;
 		if ($this->isKeySet($alias)) {
 			$model = $this->getObject($alias);
-			if (is_object($model) && (is_a($model, $class) || $model->alias === $class)) {
+			if (is_object($model) && ($model instanceof $class || $model->alias === $class)) {
 				$duplicate = $model;
 			}
 			unset($model);