diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/finder_methods.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/finder_methods.rb
index 83d650d3f45317e2095c3e250efcdda59c852f31..7eeb3dde70c7eb4be1c44a5f79580f4c903738ec 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/finder_methods.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/finder_methods.rb
@@ -184,7 +184,9 @@ def all(*args)
     #   Person.exists?(:name => "David")
     #   Person.exists?(['name LIKE ?', "%#{query}%"])
     #   Person.exists?
-    def exists?(id = nil)
+    def exists?(id = false)
+      return false if id.nil?
+
       id = id.id if ActiveRecord::Base === id
 
       join_dependency = construct_join_dependency_for_association_find
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb
index d840d38678bd520d676a453da4979a827139063d..47bf2d007fa8e281664817983afd4cc7d56317e6 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,15 @@ def test_exists_returns_true_with_one_record_and_no_args
     assert Topic.exists?
   end
 
+  # exists? should handle nil for id's that come from URLs and always return false
+  # (example: Topic.exists?(params[:id])) where params[:id] is nil
+  def test_exists_with_nil_arg
+    assert !Topic.exists?(nil)
+    assert Topic.exists?
+    assert !Topic.first.replies.exists?(nil)
+    assert Topic.first.replies.exists?
+  end
+
   def test_does_not_exist_with_empty_table_and_no_args_given
     Topic.delete_all
     assert !Topic.exists?