diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/MessageCatalogue.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/MessageCatalogue.php
index aa92a587fbc86..35beb3d94739a 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/MessageCatalogue.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/MessageCatalogue.php
@@ -190,6 +190,13 @@ public function addCatalogue(MessageCatalogueInterface $catalogue)
     public function addFallbackCatalogue(MessageCatalogueInterface $catalogue)
     {
         // detect circular references
+        $c = $catalogue;
+        while ($c = $c->getFallbackCatalogue()) {
+            if ($c->getLocale() === $this->getLocale()) {
+                throw new \LogicException(sprintf('Circular reference detected when adding a fallback catalogue for locale "%s".', $catalogue->getLocale()));
+            }
+        }
+
         $c = $this;
         do {
             if ($c->getLocale() === $catalogue->getLocale()) {
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/MessageCatalogueTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/MessageCatalogueTest.php
index 7d956553d98c6..6f55b8cc5e8fb 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/MessageCatalogueTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/MessageCatalogueTest.php
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ public function testAddFallbackCatalogue()
     /**
      * @expectedException \LogicException
      */
-    public function testAddFallbackCatalogueWithCircularReference()
+    public function testAddFallbackCatalogueWithParentCircularReference()
     {
         $main = new MessageCatalogue('en_US');
         $fallback = new MessageCatalogue('fr_FR');
@@ -136,6 +136,20 @@ public function testAddFallbackCatalogueWithCircularReference()
         $main->addFallbackCatalogue($fallback);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \LogicException
+     */
+    public function testAddFallbackCatalogueWithFallbackCircularReference()
+    {
+        $fr = new MessageCatalogue('fr');
+        $en = new MessageCatalogue('en');
+        $es = new MessageCatalogue('es');
+
+        $fr->addFallbackCatalogue($en);
+        $es->addFallbackCatalogue($en);
+        $en->addFallbackCatalogue($fr);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @expectedException \LogicException
      */
@@ -178,10 +192,10 @@ public function testMetadataSetGetDelete()
         $this->assertEquals(array(), $catalogue->getMetadata('key2', 'messages'), 'Metadata key2 is array');
 
         $catalogue->deleteMetadata('key2', 'messages');
-        $this->assertEquals(null, $catalogue->getMetadata('key2', 'messages'), 'Metadata key2 should is deleted.');
+        $this->assertNull($catalogue->getMetadata('key2', 'messages'), 'Metadata key2 should is deleted.');
 
         $catalogue->deleteMetadata('key2', 'domain');
-        $this->assertEquals(null, $catalogue->getMetadata('key2', 'domain'), 'Metadata key2 should is deleted.');
+        $this->assertNull($catalogue->getMetadata('key2', 'domain'), 'Metadata key2 should is deleted.');
     }
 
     public function testMetadataMerge()
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Translator.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Translator.php
index 88178f8a83f17..38c5acd7616d6 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Translator.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Translator.php
@@ -276,8 +276,9 @@ private function loadFallbackCatalogues($locale)
                 $this->doLoadCatalogue($fallback);
             }
 
-            $current->addFallbackCatalogue($this->catalogues[$fallback]);
-            $current = $this->catalogues[$fallback];
+            $fallbackCatalogue = new MessageCatalogue($fallback, $this->catalogues[$fallback]->all());
+            $current->addFallbackCatalogue($fallbackCatalogue);
+            $current = $fallbackCatalogue;
         }
     }