diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md
index c56f7ba57e..20d499f855 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ CHANGELOG
  * changed `ValidatorInterface::getMetadataFactory` to return a `MetadataFactoryInterface` instead of a `ClassMetadataFactoryInterface`
  * removed `ClassMetadataFactoryInterface` type hint from `ValidatorBuilderInterface::setMetadataFactory`.
    As of Symfony 2.3, this method will be typed against `MetadataFactoryInterface` instead.
+ * [BC BREAK] the switches `traverse` and `deep` in the `Valid` constraint and in `GraphWalker::walkReference`
+   are ignored for arrays now. Arrays are always traversed recursively.
 
 2.1.0
 -----
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidationVisitorTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidationVisitorTest.php
index ab35b6f799..86fdbd5e95 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidationVisitorTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidationVisitorTest.php
@@ -426,6 +426,46 @@ class ValidationVisitorTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->assertEquals($violations, $this->visitor->getViolations());
     }
 
+    // https://github.com/symfony/symfony/issues/6246
+    public function testValidateCascadedPropertyRecursesArraysByDefault()
+    {
+        $entity = new Entity();
+        $entity->reference = array(
+            'key' => array(
+                'nested' => new Entity(),
+            ),
+        );
+
+        // add a constraint for the entity that always fails
+        $this->metadata->addConstraint(new FailingConstraint());
+
+        // validate iterator when validating the property "reference"
+        $this->metadata->addPropertyConstraint('reference', new Valid());
+
+        $this->visitor->validate($entity, 'Default', '');
+
+        $violations = new ConstraintViolationList(array(
+            // generated by the root object
+            new ConstraintViolation(
+                'Failed',
+                array(),
+                'Root',
+                '',
+                $entity
+            ),
+            // nothing generated by the reference!
+            new ConstraintViolation(
+                'Failed',
+                array(),
+                'Root',
+                'reference[key][nested]',
+                $entity->reference['key']['nested']
+            ),
+        ));
+
+        $this->assertEquals($violations, $this->visitor->getViolations());
+    }
+
     public function testValidateCascadedPropertyRecursesIfDeepIsSet()
     {
         $entity = new Entity();
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidationVisitor.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidationVisitor.php
index c8268304cd..6b1a53074f 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidationVisitor.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidationVisitor.php
@@ -129,7 +129,10 @@ class ValidationVisitor implements ValidationVisitorInterface, GlobalExecutionCo
             }
         }
 
-        if ($traverse && (is_array($value) || $value instanceof \Traversable)) {
+        // Validate arrays recursively by default, otherwise every driver needs
+        // to implement special handling for arrays.
+        // https://github.com/symfony/symfony/issues/6246
+        if (is_array($value) || ($traverse && $value instanceof \Traversable)) {
             foreach ($value as $key => $element) {
                 // Ignore any scalar values in the collection
                 if (is_object($element) || is_array($element)) {