diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb
index c2eff0d8ce4bd2d53d39f07fdd8fb5bfeb0d0362..73baefb8e101da5bcd494ee020d1ba68799b301f 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_many_through_association.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def initialize(owner, reflection)
       # SELECT query if you use #length.
       def size
         if has_cached_counter?
-          owner.send(:read_attribute, cached_counter_attribute_name)
+          owner.read_attribute cached_counter_attribute_name(reflection)
         elsif loaded?
           target.size
         else