diff --git a/doctrine-mongo-mapping.xsd b/doctrine-mongo-mapping.xsd
index db193485b8..57a60acd86 100644
--- a/doctrine-mongo-mapping.xsd
+++ b/doctrine-mongo-mapping.xsd
@@ -109,10 +109,10 @@
       <xs:element name="default-discriminator-value" type="odm:default-discriminator-value" minOccurs="0"/>
     </xs:sequence>
     <xs:attribute name="target-document" type="xs:string" />
+    <xs:attribute name="collection-class" type="xs:string" />
     <xs:attribute name="field" type="xs:NMTOKEN" use="required" />
     <xs:attribute name="fieldName" type="xs:NMTOKEN" />
     <xs:attribute name="strategy" type="xs:NMTOKEN" default="pushAll" />
-    <xs:attribute name="collectionClass" type="xs:string" />
   </xs:complexType>
 
   <xs:simpleType name="reference-store-as">
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@
       <xs:element name="criteria" type="odm:criteria-map" minOccurs="0" />
     </xs:sequence>
     <xs:attribute name="target-document" type="xs:string" />
+    <xs:attribute name="collection-class" type="xs:string" />
     <xs:attribute name="field" type="xs:NMTOKEN" use="required" />
     <xs:attribute name="fieldName" type="xs:NMTOKEN" />
     <xs:attribute name="simple" type="xs:boolean" /><!-- deprecated -->
@@ -165,7 +166,6 @@
     <xs:attribute name="limit" type="xs:integer" />
     <xs:attribute name="skip" type="xs:integer" />
     <xs:attribute name="orphan-removal" type="xs:boolean" />
-    <xs:attribute name="collectionClass" type="xs:string" />
   </xs:complexType>
 
   <xs:complexType name="sort-type">
diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/ClassMetadataInfo.php b/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/ClassMetadataInfo.php
index f40879852d..85653d2f96 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/ClassMetadataInfo.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/ClassMetadataInfo.php
@@ -2058,6 +2058,24 @@ public function getAssociationTargetClass($assocName)
         return $this->associationMappings[$assocName]['targetDocument'];
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Retrieve the collectionClass associated with an association
+     *
+     * @param string $assocName
+     */
+    public function getAssociationCollectionClass($assocName)
+    {
+        if ( ! isset($this->associationMappings[$assocName])) {
+            throw new InvalidArgumentException("Association name expected, '" . $assocName . "' is not an association.");
+        }
+
+        if ( ! array_key_exists('collectionClass', $this->associationMappings[$assocName])) {
+            throw new InvalidArgumentException("collectionClass can only be applied to 'embedMany' and 'referenceMany' associations.");
+        }
+
+        return $this->associationMappings[$assocName]['collectionClass'];
+    }
+
     /**
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php b/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php
index 14ab346b72..82e4408a33 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/XmlDriver.php
@@ -244,11 +244,12 @@ private function addEmbedMapping(ClassMetadataInfo $class, $embed, $type)
         $attributes = $embed->attributes();
         $defaultStrategy = $type == 'one' ? ClassMetadataInfo::STORAGE_STRATEGY_SET : CollectionHelper::DEFAULT_STRATEGY;
         $mapping = array(
-            'type'           => $type,
-            'embedded'       => true,
-            'targetDocument' => isset($attributes['target-document']) ? (string) $attributes['target-document'] : null,
-            'name'           => (string) $attributes['field'],
-            'strategy'       => isset($attributes['strategy']) ? (string) $attributes['strategy'] : $defaultStrategy,
+            'type'            => $type,
+            'embedded'        => true,
+            'targetDocument'  => isset($attributes['target-document']) ? (string) $attributes['target-document'] : null,
+            'collectionClass' => isset($attributes['collection-class']) ? (string) $attributes['collection-class'] : null,
+            'name'            => (string) $attributes['field'],
+            'strategy'        => isset($attributes['strategy']) ? (string) $attributes['strategy'] : $defaultStrategy,
         );
         if (isset($attributes['fieldName'])) {
             $mapping['fieldName'] = (string) $attributes['fieldName'];
@@ -291,6 +292,7 @@ private function addReferenceMapping(ClassMetadataInfo $class, $reference, $type
             'simple'           => isset($attributes['simple']) ? ('true' === (string) $attributes['simple']) : false, // deprecated
             'storeAs'          => isset($attributes['store-as']) ? (string) $attributes['store-as'] : ClassMetadataInfo::REFERENCE_STORE_AS_DB_REF_WITH_DB,
             'targetDocument'   => isset($attributes['target-document']) ? (string) $attributes['target-document'] : null,
+            'collectionClass'  => isset($attributes['collection-class']) ? (string) $attributes['collection-class'] : null,
             'name'             => (string) $attributes['field'],
             'strategy'         => isset($attributes['strategy']) ? (string) $attributes['strategy'] : $defaultStrategy,
             'inversedBy'       => isset($attributes['inversed-by']) ? (string) $attributes['inversed-by'] : null,
diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/YamlDriver.php b/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/YamlDriver.php
index 77cf4d375c..95fd1fdaab 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/YamlDriver.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Mapping/Driver/YamlDriver.php
@@ -242,11 +242,12 @@ private function addMappingFromEmbed(ClassMetadataInfo $class, $fieldName, $embe
     {
         $defaultStrategy = $type == 'one' ? ClassMetadataInfo::STORAGE_STRATEGY_SET : CollectionHelper::DEFAULT_STRATEGY;
         $mapping = array(
-            'type'           => $type,
-            'embedded'       => true,
-            'targetDocument' => isset($embed['targetDocument']) ? $embed['targetDocument'] : null,
-            'fieldName'      => $fieldName,
-            'strategy'       => isset($embed['strategy']) ? (string) $embed['strategy'] : $defaultStrategy,
+            'type'            => $type,
+            'embedded'        => true,
+            'targetDocument'  => isset($embed['targetDocument']) ? $embed['targetDocument'] : null,
+            'collectionClass' => isset($embed['collectionClass']) ? $embed['collectionClass'] : null,
+            'fieldName'       => $fieldName,
+            'strategy'        => isset($embed['strategy']) ? (string) $embed['strategy'] : $defaultStrategy,
         );
         if (isset($embed['name'])) {
             $mapping['name'] = $embed['name'];
@@ -274,6 +275,7 @@ private function addMappingFromReference(ClassMetadataInfo $class, $fieldName, $
             'simple'           => isset($reference['simple']) ? (boolean) $reference['simple'] : false, // deprecated
             'storeAs'          => isset($reference['storeAs']) ? (string) $reference['storeAs'] : ClassMetadataInfo::REFERENCE_STORE_AS_DB_REF_WITH_DB,
             'targetDocument'   => isset($reference['targetDocument']) ? $reference['targetDocument'] : null,
+            'collectionClass'  => isset($reference['collectionClass']) ? $reference['collectionClass'] : null,
             'fieldName'        => $fieldName,
             'strategy'         => isset($reference['strategy']) ? (string) $reference['strategy'] : $defaultStrategy,
             'inversedBy'       => isset($reference['inversedBy']) ? (string) $reference['inversedBy'] : null,
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/AbstractMappingDriverTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/AbstractMappingDriverTest.php
index 5a81b391d0..1e04fa144c 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/AbstractMappingDriverTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/AbstractMappingDriverTest.php
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ class AbstractMappingDriverUser
     public $address;
 
     /**
-     * @ODM\ReferenceMany(targetDocument="Phonenumber", cascade={"persist"}, discriminatorField="discr", discriminatorMap={"home"="HomePhonenumber", "work"="WorkPhonenumber"}, defaultDiscriminatorValue="home")
+     * @ODM\ReferenceMany(targetDocument="Phonenumber", collectionClass="PhonenumberCollection", cascade={"persist"}, discriminatorField="discr", discriminatorMap={"home"="HomePhonenumber", "work"="WorkPhonenumber"}, defaultDiscriminatorValue="home")
      */
     public $phonenumbers;
 
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ class AbstractMappingDriverUser
     public $groups;
 
     /**
-     * @ODM\ReferenceMany(targetDocument="Phonenumber", name="more_phone_numbers")
+     * @ODM\ReferenceMany(targetDocument="Phonenumber", collectionClass="PhonenumberCollection", name="more_phone_numbers")
      */
     public $morePhoneNumbers;
 
@@ -509,6 +509,7 @@ public static function loadMetadata(ClassMetadata $metadata)
         $metadata->mapManyReference(array(
             'fieldName' => 'phonenumbers',
             'targetDocument' => 'Doctrine\\ODM\\MongoDB\\Tests\\Mapping\\Phonenumber',
+            'collectionClass' => 'Doctrine\\ODM\\MongoDB\\Tests\\Mapping\\PhonenumberCollection',
             'cascade' => array(1 => 'persist'),
             'discriminatorField' => 'discr',
             'discriminatorMap' => array(
@@ -521,6 +522,7 @@ public static function loadMetadata(ClassMetadata $metadata)
             'fieldName' => 'morePhoneNumbers',
             'name' => 'more_phone_numbers',
             'targetDocument' => 'Doctrine\\ODM\\MongoDB\\Tests\\Mapping\\Phonenumber',
+            'collectionClass' => 'Doctrine\\ODM\\MongoDB\\Tests\\Mapping\\PhonenumberCollection',
         ));
         $metadata->mapManyReference(array(
             'fieldName' => 'groups',
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/Driver/AbstractDriverTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/Driver/AbstractDriverTest.php
index 63305c7e8e..1bc1095d65 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/Driver/AbstractDriverTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/Driver/AbstractDriverTest.php
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ public function testDriver()
             'type' => 'one',
             'embedded' => true,
             'targetDocument' => 'Documents\Address',
+            'collectionClass' => null,
             'isCascadeDetach' => true,
             'isCascadeMerge' => true,
             'isCascadePersist' => true,
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ public function testDriver()
             'type' => 'many',
             'embedded' => true,
             'targetDocument' => 'Documents\Phonenumber',
+            'collectionClass' => null,
             'isCascadeDetach' => true,
             'isCascadeMerge' => true,
             'isCascadePersist' => true,
@@ -144,6 +146,7 @@ public function testDriver()
             'storeAs' => ClassMetadataInfo::REFERENCE_STORE_AS_ID,
             'simple' => true,
             'targetDocument' => 'Documents\Profile',
+            'collectionClass' => null,
             'cascade' => array('remove', 'persist', 'refresh', 'merge', 'detach'),
             'isCascadeDetach' => true,
             'isCascadeMerge' => true,
@@ -171,6 +174,7 @@ public function testDriver()
             'storeAs' => ClassMetadataInfo::REFERENCE_STORE_AS_DB_REF_WITH_DB,
             'simple' => false,
             'targetDocument' => 'Documents\Account',
+            'collectionClass' => null,
             'cascade' => array('remove', 'persist', 'refresh', 'merge', 'detach'),
             'isCascadeDetach' => true,
             'isCascadeMerge' => true,
@@ -198,6 +202,7 @@ public function testDriver()
             'storeAs' => ClassMetadataInfo::REFERENCE_STORE_AS_DB_REF_WITH_DB,
             'simple' => false,
             'targetDocument' => 'Documents\Group',
+            'collectionClass' => null,
             'cascade' => array('remove', 'persist', 'refresh', 'merge', 'detach'),
             'isCascadeDetach' => true,
             'isCascadeMerge' => true,
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/XmlMappingDriverTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/XmlMappingDriverTest.php
index 89865d2b4c..ace15b9cd1 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/XmlMappingDriverTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/XmlMappingDriverTest.php
@@ -28,4 +28,18 @@ public function testSetShardKeyOptionsByAttributes()
         $this->assertSame(array('unique' => true, 'numInitialChunks' => 4096), $shardKey['options']);
         $this->assertSame(array('_id' => 1), $shardKey['keys']);
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    public function testGetAssociationCollectionClass()
+    {
+        $class = new ClassMetadataInfo('doc');
+        $driver = $this->_loadDriver();
+        $element = new \SimpleXmlElement('<reference-many target-document="Phonenumber" collection-class="Doctrine\\ODM\\MongoDB\\Tests\\Mapping\\PhonenumberCollection" field="phonenumbers"></reference-many>');
+
+        /** @uses XmlDriver::setShardKey */
+        $m = new \ReflectionMethod(get_class($driver), 'addReferenceMapping');
+        $m->setAccessible(true);
+        $m->invoke($driver, $class, $element, 'many');
+
+        $this->assertEquals('Doctrine\\ODM\\MongoDB\\Tests\\Mapping\\PhonenumberCollection', $class->getAssociationCollectionClass('phonenumbers'));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/YamlMappingDriverTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/YamlMappingDriverTest.php
index c351682e25..ab5e998034 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/YamlMappingDriverTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/YamlMappingDriverTest.php
@@ -31,12 +31,23 @@ public function testAlternateRelationshipMappingSyntaxShouldSetDefaults()
         }
 
         foreach (array('embeddedPhonenumber', 'otherPhonenumbers') as $embeddedField) {
-            foreach (array('strategy', 'targetDocument') as $key) {
+            foreach (array('strategy', 'targetDocument', 'collectionClass') as $key) {
                 $this->assertArrayHasKey($key, $class->fieldMappings[$embeddedField]);
             }
         }
     }
 
+    public function testGetAssociationCollectionClass()
+    {
+        $className = __NAMESPACE__.'\AbstractMappingDriverUser';
+        $mappingDriver = new YamlDriver(__DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'yaml');
+
+        $class = new ClassMetadata($className);
+        $mappingDriver->loadMetadataForClass($className, $class);
+        $this->assertEquals('Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Tests\Mapping\PhonenumberCollection', $class->getAssociationCollectionClass('phonenumbers'));
+        $this->assertEquals('Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Tests\Mapping\PhonenumberCollection', $class->getAssociationCollectionClass('otherPhonenumbers'));
+    }
+
     public function testFieldLevelIndexSyntaxWithBooleanValues()
     {
         $className = __NAMESPACE__.'\AbstractMappingDriverAlternateUser';
@@ -70,3 +81,8 @@ class AbstractMappingDriverAlternateUser
     public $embeddedPhonenumber;
     public $otherPhonenumbers;
 }
+
+class PhonenumberCollection extends \Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection
+{
+
+}
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.xml b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.xml
index 679414acab..e3676e991c 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.xml
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/xml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.xml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
                 <remove />
             </cascade>
         </reference-one>
-        <reference-many target-document="Phonenumber" field="phonenumbers">
+        <reference-many target-document="Phonenumber" collection-class="PhonenumberCollection" field="phonenumbers">
             <cascade>
                 <persist />
             </cascade>
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
         </reference-many>
         <embed-one target-document="Phonenumber" fieldName="embeddedPhonenumber" field="embedded_phone_number">
         </embed-one>
-        <embed-many target-document="Phonenumber" field="otherPhonenumbers">
+        <embed-many target-document="Phonenumber" collection-class="PhonenumberCollection" field="otherPhonenumbers">
             <discriminator-field name="discr" />
             <discriminator-map>
                 <discriminator-mapping value="home" class="HomePhonenumber" />
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/yaml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.yml b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/yaml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.yml
index f0a0b80a4b..6df9f3211a 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/yaml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.yml
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/ODM/MongoDB/Tests/Mapping/yaml/Doctrine.ODM.MongoDB.Tests.Mapping.AbstractMappingDriverUser.dcm.yml
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Tests\Mapping\AbstractMappingDriverUser:
   referenceMany:
     phonenumbers:
       targetDocument: Phonenumber
+      collectionClass: PhonenumberCollection
       cascade: [ persist ]
       discriminatorField: discr
       discriminatorMap:
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Tests\Mapping\AbstractMappingDriverUser:
   embedMany:
     otherPhonenumbers:
       targetDocument: Phonenumber
+      collectionClass: PhonenumberCollection
       discriminatorField: discr
       discriminatorMap:
         home: HomePhonenumber