diff --git a/activerecord/CHANGELOG b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
index 6231cc8bf8f5c11f9ce2bca3bde4648e8146e074..d84445bd7de6672540b56012b6a5790f65a5526f 100644
--- a/activerecord/CHANGELOG
+++ b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Base#instantiate_time_object only uses Time.zone when Base.time_zone_aware_attributes is true; leverages Time#time_with_datetime_fallback for readability [Geoff Buesing]
+
 * Refactor ConnectionAdapters::Column.new_time: leverage DateTime failover behavior of Time#time_with_datetime_fallback [Geoff Buesing]
 
 * Improve associations performance by using symbol callbacks instead of string callbacks. #11108 [adymo]
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 481214c23cffd9d8d11b014b8cf9f84cc2eecb37..a25d9789d77f2a23a3f83213ef1eeee6e5d40723 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -2461,10 +2461,10 @@ def assign_multiparameter_attributes(pairs)
       end
 
       def instantiate_time_object(name, values)
-        if Time.zone && !self.class.skip_time_zone_conversion_for_attributes.include?(name.to_sym)
+        if Time.zone && self.class.time_zone_aware_attributes && !self.class.skip_time_zone_conversion_for_attributes.include?(name.to_sym)
           Time.zone.local(*values)
         else
-          @@default_timezone == :utc ? Time.utc_time(*values) : Time.local_time(*values)
+          Time.time_with_datetime_fallback(@@default_timezone, *values)
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
index 9fde3130bd2a126705de90ee20395f98c89e6d98..4cba4a3ec63ddc728f73fc422047ae131ce30410 100755
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
@@ -969,6 +969,21 @@ def test_multiparameter_attributes_on_time_with_time_zone_aware_attributes
     end
   end
 
+  def test_multiparameter_attributes_on_time_with_time_zone_aware_attributes_false
+    ActiveRecord::Base.time_zone_aware_attributes = false
+    Time.zone = TimeZone[-28800]
+    attributes = {
+      "written_on(1i)" => "2004", "written_on(2i)" => "6", "written_on(3i)" => "24",
+      "written_on(4i)" => "16", "written_on(5i)" => "24", "written_on(6i)" => "00"
+    }
+    topic = Topic.find(1)
+    topic.attributes = attributes
+    assert_equal Time.local(2004, 6, 24, 16, 24, 0), topic.written_on
+    assert_equal false, topic.written_on.respond_to?(:time_zone)
+  ensure
+    Time.zone = nil
+  end
+
   def test_multiparameter_attributes_on_time_with_skip_time_zone_conversion_for_attributes
     ActiveRecord::Base.time_zone_aware_attributes = true
     ActiveRecord::Base.default_timezone = :utc