diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php
index ca27072786..8ba858b8d2 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php
@@ -429,7 +429,10 @@ public function loadMetadataForClass($className, ClassMetadata $metadata)
                 if (isset($oneToManyElement->{'order-by'})) {
                     $orderBy = [];
                     foreach ($oneToManyElement->{'order-by'}->{'order-by-field'} as $orderByField) {
-                        $orderBy[(string) $orderByField['name']] = (string) $orderByField['direction'];
+                        $orderBy[(string) $orderByField['name']] = isset($orderByField['direction'])
+                            ? (string) $orderByField['direction']
+                            : 'ASC'
+                        ;
                     }
                     $mapping['orderBy'] = $orderBy;
                 }
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.Models.Cache.City.dcm.xml b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.Models.Cache.City.dcm.xml
index 84b786a7bd..d20dc06f5c 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.Models.Cache.City.dcm.xml
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.Models.Cache.City.dcm.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     <one-to-many field="attractions" target-entity="Doctrine\Tests\Models\Cache\Attraction" mapped-by="city">
       <cache usage="READ_ONLY" />
       <order-by>
-        <order-by-field name="name" direction="ASC"/>
+        <order-by-field name="name"/>
       </order-by>
     </one-to-many>
     <many-to-one field="state" target-entity="Doctrine\Tests\Models\Cache\State" inversed-by="cities">
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@
     </many-to-one>
     <many-to-many field="travels" target-entity="Doctrine\Tests\Models\Cache\Travel" mapped-by="visitedCities"/>
   </entity>
-</doctrine-mapping>
\ No newline at end of file
+</doctrine-mapping>
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Mapping.User.dcm.xml b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Mapping.User.dcm.xml
index bbf29aeaf7..7092f22094 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Mapping.User.dcm.xml
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Mapping.User.dcm.xml
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
                 <cascade-persist/>
             </cascade>
             <order-by>
-                <order-by-field name="number" direction="ASC" />
+                <order-by-field name="number" />
             </order-by>
         </one-to-many>
 
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Tools/Export/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Tools.Export.User.dcm.xml b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Tools/Export/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Tools.Export.User.dcm.xml
index 78bac4f5f3..cde0a69c3a 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Tools/Export/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Tools.Export.User.dcm.xml
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/ORM/Tools/Export/xml/Doctrine.Tests.ORM.Tools.Export.User.dcm.xml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
                 <cascade-merge/>
             </cascade>
             <order-by>
-                <order-by-field name="number" direction="ASC" />
+                <order-by-field name="number" />
             </order-by>
         </one-to-many>