diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/ObjectNormalizer.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/ObjectNormalizer.php
index fbd771dbd7..2c5842d6a5 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/ObjectNormalizer.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/ObjectNormalizer.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use Symfony\Component\PropertyAccess\PropertyAccess;
 use Symfony\Component\PropertyAccess\PropertyAccessorInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Exception\CircularReferenceException;
 use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Exception\LogicException;
+use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Exception\RuntimeException;
 use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Mapping\Factory\ClassMetadataFactoryInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Serializer\NameConverter\NameConverterInterface;
 
@@ -33,6 +34,10 @@ class ObjectNormalizer extends AbstractNormalizer
 
     public function __construct(ClassMetadataFactoryInterface $classMetadataFactory = null, NameConverterInterface $nameConverter = null, PropertyAccessorInterface $propertyAccessor = null)
     {
+        if (!class_exists('Symfony\Component\PropertyAccess\PropertyAccess')) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('The ObjectNormalizer class requires the "PropertyAccess" component. Install "symfony/property-access" to use it.');
+        }
+
         parent::__construct($classMetadataFactory, $nameConverter);
 
         $this->propertyAccessor = $propertyAccessor ?: PropertyAccess::createPropertyAccessor();