diff --git a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/AbstractDeserializer.java b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/AbstractDeserializer.java
index b6f9299305..6b183294b1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/AbstractDeserializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/AbstractDeserializer.java
@@ -195,9 +195,10 @@ protected Object _deserializeFromObjectId(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext
         // do we have it resolved?
         Object pojo = roid.resolve();
         if (pojo == null) { // not yet; should wait...
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Could not resolve Object Id ["+id+"] -- unresolved forward-reference?");
+            throw new UnresolvedForwardReference("Could not resolve Object Id ["+id+"] -- unresolved forward-reference?", jp.getCurrentLocation(), roid);
         }
         return pojo;
     }
 }
 
+
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestForwardReference.java b/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestForwardReference.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e4f0af5b7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestForwardReference.java
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+package com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIdentityInfo;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonSubTypes;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonTypeInfo;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.ObjectIdGenerators;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParseException;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.BaseMapTest;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationFeature;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializationFeature;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Test for testing forward reference handling
+ */
+public class TestForwardReference extends BaseMapTest {
+
+	private final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper()
+			.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false)
+			.enable(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT)
+			.setSerializationInclusion(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL);
+
+	/** Tests that we can read a hierarchical structure with forward references*/
+	public void testForwardRef() throws IOException {
+		MAPPER.readValue("{" +
+				"  \"@type\" : \"TestForwardReference$ForwardReferenceContainerClass\"," +
+				"  \"frc\" : \"willBeForwardReferenced\"," +
+				"  \"yac\" : {" +
+				"    \"@type\" : \"TestForwardReference$YetAnotherClass\"," +
+				"    \"frc\" : {" +
+				"      \"@type\" : \"One\"," +
+				"      \"id\" : \"willBeForwardReferenced\"" +
+				"    }," +
+				"    \"id\" : \"anId\"" +
+				"  }," +
+				"  \"id\" : \"ForwardReferenceContainerClass1\"" +
+				"}", ForwardReferenceContainerClass.class);
+
+
+	}
+
+	@JsonTypeInfo(use=JsonTypeInfo.Id.NAME, include= JsonTypeInfo.As.PROPERTY)
+	public static class ForwardReferenceContainerClass
+	{
+		public ForwardReferenceClass frc;
+		public YetAnotherClass yac;
+		public String id;
+	}
+
+	@JsonTypeInfo(use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.NAME, include = JsonTypeInfo.As.PROPERTY)
+	@JsonIdentityInfo(generator = ObjectIdGenerators.PropertyGenerator.class, property = "id")
+	@JsonSubTypes({
+			@JsonSubTypes.Type(value = ForwardReferenceClassOne.class, name = "One"),
+			@JsonSubTypes.Type(value = ForwardReferenceClassTwo.class, name = "Two")})
+	private static abstract class ForwardReferenceClass
+	{
+		public String id;
+		public void setId(String id) {
+			this.id = id;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@JsonTypeInfo(use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.NAME, include = JsonTypeInfo.As.PROPERTY)
+	private static class YetAnotherClass
+	{
+		public YetAnotherClass() {}
+		public ForwardReferenceClass frc;
+		public String id;
+	}
+
+	public static class ForwardReferenceClassOne extends ForwardReferenceClass { }
+
+	public static class ForwardReferenceClassTwo extends ForwardReferenceClass { }
+}