FactoryGirl owns_and association and validates_presence_of failing - foreign key is associated, object is not

After upgrading from FactoryGirl 2.5.2 to 4.5.0, belongs_to

no association checks are performed.

Two model files:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base    
  ...
  has_many :things
  ...
end

class Thing < ActiveRecord::Base
  ...
  belongs_to :user   
  validates_presence_of :user
  ...
end

      

        
        
        
      

    

factory:

FactoryGirl.define
  factory :thing do
    association :user      
    ...
  end
end

      

        
        
        
      

    

Making a new one thing

always fails when speaking User must be provided

. When I step into the code, the problem is that the foreign key is set correctly, but the associated object appears to be zero.

>> user = create(:user)
  ( returns saved "user" object )
>> user.id
1
>> thing = build(:thing, user: user)
  ( returns new "thing" object )
>> thing.valid?
false
>> thing.user_id
1
>> User.find(1).present?
true
>> thing.user
nil

      

        
        
        
      

    

I've tried all kinds of combinations and variations. I tried using blocks after(:build)

to set the user and use a different FactoryGirl syntax. I've tried using just user

instead of association. But it always boils down to this problem - there is an associated key and it is a valid one, but not a related object (although that object exists and persists).

Environment:

ruby 2.1.5

factory_girl 4.5.0
factory_girl_rails 4.5.0
rails 4.2.0
rspec 3.1.0