diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index b7c669418..161341990 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 * 1.7.0 (2012-XX-XX)
 
+ * fixed a PHP notice when trying to access a key on a non-object/array variable
  * enhanced error reporting when the template file is an instance of SplFileInfo
  * added Twig_Environment::mergeGlobals()
  * added compilation checks to avoid misuses of the sandbox tag
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Template.php b/lib/Twig/Template.php
index 3cce8bbfd..93577819a 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Template.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Template.php
@@ -351,9 +351,10 @@ abstract class Twig_Template implements Twig_TemplateInterface
 
                 if (is_object($object)) {
                     throw new Twig_Error_Runtime(sprintf('Key "%s" in object (with ArrayAccess) of type "%s" does not exist', $item, get_class($object)));
-                // array
-                } else {
+                } elseif (is_array($object)) {
                     throw new Twig_Error_Runtime(sprintf('Key "%s" for array with keys "%s" does not exist', $item, implode(', ', array_keys($object))));
+                } else {
+                    throw new Twig_Error_Runtime(sprintf('Impossible to access a key ("%s") on a "%s" variable', $item, gettype($object)));
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/TemplateTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/TemplateTest.php
index a4e658f93..4213e2b65 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/TemplateTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/TemplateTest.php
@@ -10,6 +10,20 @@
  */
 class Twig_Tests_TemplateTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 {
+    /**
+     * @expectedException        Twig_Error_Runtime
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage Impossible to access a key ("a") on a "string" variable
+     */
+    public function testAttributeOnAString()
+    {
+        $template = new Twig_TemplateTest(
+            new Twig_Environment(null, array('strict_variables' => true)),
+            false
+        );
+
+        $template->getAttribute('string', 'a', array(), Twig_TemplateInterface::ARRAY_CALL, false);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @dataProvider getGetAttributeTests
      */