diff --git a/actionwebservice/CHANGELOG b/actionwebservice/CHANGELOG
index f9aaf225a60bec6b6f162b973cc3f1d3b561e042..7c07ed5368097c9abf5c7ca11ff948a9c57ca71f 100644
--- a/actionwebservice/CHANGELOG
+++ b/actionwebservice/CHANGELOG
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@
 
 * Add scaffolding via ActionController::Base.web_service_scaffold for quick testing using a web browser
 
-* ActionWebService::API::Base#api_methods now returns a hash containing ActionWebService::API::Method objects
-  instead of hashes
+* ActionWebService::API::Base#api_methods now returns a hash containing ActionWebService::API::Method objects instead of hashes. However, ActionWebService::API::Method defines a #[]() backwards compatibility method so any existing code utilizing this will still work.
 
 * The :layered dispatching mode can now be used with SOAP as well, allowing you to support SOAP and XML-RPC clients for APIs like the metaWeblog API
 
diff --git a/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/api.rb b/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/api.rb
index 87ac1b164eb3e448cb677db59a22b2abbaaaa0f6..d4a42f99ef8bca794478e46dc93c0a8b75a5a3de 100644
--- a/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/api.rb
+++ b/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/api.rb
@@ -204,6 +204,16 @@ def expects_to_hash(params)
         h
       end
 
+      # Backwards compatibility with previous API
+      def [](sig_type)
+        case sig_type
+        when :expects
+          @expects.map{|x| compat_signature_entry(x)}
+        when :returns
+          @returns.map{|x| compat_signature_entry(x)}
+        end
+      end
+
       # String representation of this method
       def to_s
         fqn = ""
@@ -215,6 +225,18 @@ def to_s
       end
 
       private
+        def compat_signature_entry(entry)
+          if entry.array?
+            [compat_signature_entry(entry.element_type)]
+          else
+            if entry.spec.is_a?(Hash)
+              {entry.spec.keys.first => entry.type_class}
+            else
+              entry.type_class
+            end
+          end
+        end
+
         def friendly_param(type, show_name=true)
           name = type.name.to_s
           type_type = type.array?? type.element_type.type.to_s : type.type.to_s
diff --git a/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/support/signature_types.rb b/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/support/signature_types.rb
index 65f63d16e1fe9c5d717fc747fb073c86c6920541..4ab4a08d9b28327e5ec215844c683ded9524c3a7 100644
--- a/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/support/signature_types.rb
+++ b/actionwebservice/lib/action_web_service/support/signature_types.rb
@@ -10,19 +10,20 @@ def canonical_signature(signature)
     end
 
     def canonical_signature_entry(spec, i)
+      orig_spec = spec
       name = "param#{i}"
       if spec.is_a?(Hash)
         name, spec = spec.keys.first, spec.values.first
       end
       type = spec
       if spec.is_a?(Array)
-        ArrayType.new(canonical_signature_entry(spec[0], 0), name)
+        ArrayType.new(orig_spec, canonical_signature_entry(spec[0], 0), name)
       else
         type = canonical_type(type)
         if type.is_a?(Symbol)
-          BaseType.new(type, name)
+          BaseType.new(orig_spec, type, name)
         else
-          StructuredType.new(type, name)
+          StructuredType.new(orig_spec, type, name)
         end
       end
     end
@@ -126,11 +127,13 @@ def derived_from?(ancestor, child)
   class BaseType # :nodoc:
     include SignatureTypes
 
+    attr :spec
     attr :type
     attr :type_class
     attr :name
 
-    def initialize(type, name)
+    def initialize(spec, type, name)
+      @spec = spec
       @type = canonical_type(type)
       @type_class = canonical_type_class(@type)
       @name = name
@@ -152,8 +155,8 @@ def structured?
   class ArrayType < BaseType # :nodoc:
     attr :element_type
 
-    def initialize(element_type, name)
-      super(Array, name)
+    def initialize(spec, element_type, name)
+      super(spec, Array, name)
       @element_type = element_type
     end
 
diff --git a/actionwebservice/test/api_test.rb b/actionwebservice/test/api_test.rb
index 2278a8213e66e4acc78824d3965c5315d89553f2..83d7196273d95024884301d5eb2e1ac8bc334c47 100644
--- a/actionwebservice/test/api_test.rb
+++ b/actionwebservice/test/api_test.rb
@@ -91,6 +91,11 @@ def test_parameter_hash
     assert_equal({:appkey => 5, :publish => false}, hash)
   end
 
+  def test_api_methods_compat
+    sig = API.api_methods[:named_signature][:expects]
+    assert_equal [{:appkey=>Integer}, {:publish=>TrueClass}], sig
+  end
+
   def test_to_s
     assert_equal 'void Expects(int param0, bool param1)', APITest::API.api_methods[:expects].to_s
   end