diff --git a/cake/libs/error.php b/cake/libs/error.php
index 45c043bf4..e8d7a0d6a 100644
--- a/cake/libs/error.php
+++ b/cake/libs/error.php
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ class ErrorHandler extends Object {
 		if (!in_array(strtolower($method), array_map('strtolower', get_class_methods($this)))) {
 			$method = 'error';
 		}
+
 		if ($method !== 'error') {
 			if (Configure::read('debug') == 0) {
 				$parentClass = get_parent_class($this);
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ class ErrorHandler extends Object {
 				if (in_array(strtolower($method), $parentMethods)) {
 					$method = 'error404';
 				}
-				if (isset($code) && $code == 500) {
+				if (isset($messages[0]['code']) && $messages[0]['code'] == 500) {
 					$method = 'error500';
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/cake/libs/model/connection_manager.php b/cake/libs/model/connection_manager.php
index 723ad0994..b9e599481 100644
--- a/cake/libs/model/connection_manager.php
+++ b/cake/libs/model/connection_manager.php
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ class ConnectionManager extends Object {
 				$this->_connectionsEnum[$name] = $this->__connectionData($config);
 			}
 		} else {
-			$this->cakeError('missingConnection', array(array('className' => 'ConnectionManager')));
+			$this->cakeError('missingConnection', array(array('code' => 500, 'className' => 'ConnectionManager')));
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/cake/libs/model/model.php b/cake/libs/model/model.php
index 32a19a717..9a663204e 100644
--- a/cake/libs/model/model.php
+++ b/cake/libs/model/model.php
@@ -769,7 +769,8 @@ class Model extends Overloadable {
 			if (is_array($sources) && !in_array(strtolower($this->tablePrefix . $tableName), array_map('strtolower', $sources))) {
 				return $this->cakeError('missingTable', array(array(
 					'className' => $this->alias,
-					'table' => $this->tablePrefix . $tableName
+					'table' => $this->tablePrefix . $tableName,
+					'code' => 500
 				)));
 			}
 			$this->_schema = null;
@@ -2826,7 +2827,7 @@ class Model extends Overloadable {
 		}
 
 		if (empty($db) || !is_object($db)) {
-			return $this->cakeError('missingConnection', array(array('className' => $this->alias)));
+			return $this->cakeError('missingConnection', array(array('code' => 500, 'className' => $this->alias)));
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/libs/error.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/libs/error.test.php
index 4b181c3e5..ec90a57e2 100644
--- a/cake/tests/cases/libs/error.test.php
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/libs/error.test.php
@@ -609,4 +609,22 @@ class ErrorHandlerTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertPattern('/<em>Article<\/em> could not be found./', $result);
 		$this->assertPattern('/(\/|\\\)article.php/', $result);
 	}
+
+/**
+ * testing that having a code => 500 in the cakeError call makes an 
+ * internal server error.
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	function testThatCode500Works() {
+		Configure::write('debug', 0);
+		ob_start();
+		$TestErrorHandler = new TestErrorHandler('missingTable', array(
+			'className' => 'Article',
+			'table' => 'articles',
+			'code' => 500
+		));
+		$result = ob_get_clean();
+		$this->assertPattern('/<h2>An Internal Error Has Occurred<\/h2>/', $result);
+	}
 }