diff --git a/lib/application.js b/lib/application.js
index f5df7871..6f6cb682 100644
--- a/lib/application.js
+++ b/lib/application.js
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ app.dataSource = function(name, config) {
     this.dataSources[name] =
     this.dataSources[classify(name)] =
     this.dataSources[camelize(name)] = ds;
+    ds.app = this;
     return ds;
   } catch (err) {
     if (err.message) {
diff --git a/test/app.test.js b/test/app.test.js
index fd2abfd8..ab1a0923 100644
--- a/test/app.test.js
+++ b/test/app.test.js
@@ -820,6 +820,12 @@ describe('app', function() {
         app.dataSource('bad-ds', { connector: 'throwing' });
       }).to.throw(/bad-ds.*throwing/);
     });
+
+    it('adds app reference to the data source object', function() {
+      app.dataSource('ds', { connector: 'memory' });
+      expect(app.datasources.ds.app).to.not.equal(undefined);
+      expect(app.datasources.ds.app).to.equal(app);
+    });
   });
 
   describe.onServer('listen()', function() {