diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
index b003b69bb141f4db167cfeb53755224af2d634be..22d2984adb319645d16b37921211abd91347f10b 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ def to_content_tag(tag_name, options = {})
       end
       
       def object
-        @object || @template_object.instance_variable_get("@#{@object_name}")
+        @object || (@template_object.instance_variable_get("@#{@object_name}") rescue nil)
       end
 
       def value(object)