diff --git a/lib/vault/encrypted_model.rb b/lib/vault/encrypted_model.rb
index aea98b9f..fffaf8df 100644
--- a/lib/vault/encrypted_model.rb
+++ b/lib/vault/encrypted_model.rb
@@ -200,6 +200,13 @@ def __vault_load_attributes!
         end
       end
 
+      # In rails 4.2, virtual attributes are not excluded from joins aliases
+      if ActiveRecord.version < Gem::Version.new('5.0.0')
+        def self.column_names
+          super - __vault_attributes.keys.map(&:to_s)
+        end
+      end
+
       # Decrypt and load a single attribute from Vault.
       def __vault_load_attribute!(attribute, options)
         # If the user provided a value for the attribute, do not try to load it from Vault
diff --git a/spec/dummy/app/models/person.rb b/spec/dummy/app/models/person.rb
index 1324df9b..04892a15 100644
--- a/spec/dummy/app/models/person.rb
+++ b/spec/dummy/app/models/person.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
   include Vault::EncryptedModel
 
+  has_many :problems
+
   vault_attribute :county_plaintext, encrypted_column: :county_encrypted
   vault_attribute_proxy :county, :county_plaintext
 
diff --git a/spec/dummy/app/models/problem.rb b/spec/dummy/app/models/problem.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..70a4fa6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/dummy/app/models/problem.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+class Problem < ActiveRecord::Base
+  belongs_to :person
+end
diff --git a/spec/dummy/db/migrate/20181024200800_create_problems.rb b/spec/dummy/db/migrate/20181024200800_create_problems.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8bc6884b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/dummy/db/migrate/20181024200800_create_problems.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+class CreateProblems < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.0]
+  def change
+    create_table :problems do |t|
+      t.references :person
+      t.string :title
+
+      t.timestamps
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/dummy/db/schema.rb b/spec/dummy/db/schema.rb
index 3b6e3c89..8f086198 100644
--- a/spec/dummy/db/schema.rb
+++ b/spec/dummy/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,30 +10,34 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2018_10_17_154000) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20181024200800) do
 
   create_table "people", force: :cascade do |t|
-    t.string "name"
-    t.string "ssn_encrypted"
-    t.string "cc_encrypted"
-    t.string "details_encrypted"
-    t.string "business_card_encrypted"
-    t.string "favorite_color_encrypted"
-    t.string "non_ascii_encrypted"
+    t.string   "name"
+    t.string   "ssn_encrypted"
+    t.string   "cc_encrypted"
+    t.string   "details_encrypted"
+    t.string   "business_card_encrypted"
+    t.string   "favorite_color_encrypted"
+    t.string   "non_ascii_encrypted"
+    t.datetime "created_at",               null: false
+    t.datetime "updated_at",               null: false
+    t.string   "email_encrypted"
+    t.string   "integer_data_encrypted"
+    t.string   "float_data_encrypted"
+    t.string   "time_data_encrypted"
+    t.string   "county"
+    t.string   "county_encrypted"
+    t.string   "state"
+    t.string   "state_encrypted"
+  end
+
+  create_table "problems", force: :cascade do |t|
+    t.integer  "person_id"
+    t.string   "title"
     t.datetime "created_at", null: false
     t.datetime "updated_at", null: false
-    t.string "email_encrypted"
-    t.string "address"
-    t.string "address_encrypted"
-    t.date "date_of_birth"
-    t.string "date_of_birth_encrypted"
-    t.string "integer_data_encrypted"
-    t.string "float_data_encrypted"
-    t.string "time_data_encrypted"
-    t.string "county"
-    t.string "county_encrypted"
-    t.string "state"
-    t.string "state_encrypted"
+    t.index ["person_id"], name: "index_problems_on_person_id"
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/encrypted_model_spec.rb b/spec/unit/encrypted_model_spec.rb
index 86412957..3051d63c 100644
--- a/spec/unit/encrypted_model_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/encrypted_model_spec.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,44 @@
 require "spec_helper"
 
 describe Vault::EncryptedModel do
+  describe 'query methods' do
+    let!(:person) { Person.create }
+    let!(:small_problem) { Problem.create person: person, title: 'small problem' }
+    let!(:big_problem) { Problem.create person: person, title: 'big problem' }
+
+    it 'works with includes' do
+      expect do
+        Person.where(id: person.id).includes(:problems).first
+      end.not_to raise_error
+    end
+
+    it 'works with where and references' do
+      expect do
+        Person.includes(:problems).where('problems.title like ?', '%small%').references(:problems).first
+      end.not_to raise_error
+    end
+
+    it 'works with where and association hash' do
+      expect do
+        Problem.where(person: person).first
+      end.not_to raise_error
+    end
+
+    it 'works with joins' do
+      expect do
+        Person.where(id: person.id).joins(:problems).first
+      end.not_to raise_error
+    end
+
+    it 'works with joins and includes' do
+      expect do
+        Person.joins(:problems).includes(:problems).first
+      end.not_to raise_error
+    end
+  end
+
   describe ".vault_attribute" do
-    let(:person) { Person.new }
+    let(:person) { Person.create }
 
     it "raises an exception if a serializer and :encode is given" do
       expect {