diff --git a/core/model/DataObject.php b/core/model/DataObject.php
index 39b0f673b..8f47dc1cc 100644
--- a/core/model/DataObject.php
+++ b/core/model/DataObject.php
@@ -392,10 +392,10 @@ class DataObject extends ViewableData implements DataObjectInterface, i18nEntity
 	 * @return string User friendly singular name of this DataObject
 	 */
 	function singular_name() {
-		$name = $this->stat('singular_name');
-		if(!$name) {
-			$name = ucwords(trim(strtolower(ereg_replace('([A-Z])',' \\1',$this->class))));
+		if(!$name = $this->stat('singular_name')) {
+			$name = ucwords(trim(strtolower(preg_replace('/_?([A-Z])/', ' $1', $this->class))));
 		}
+		
 		return $name;
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/DataObjectTest.php b/tests/DataObjectTest.php
index 3c54bb316..08ed53139 100644
--- a/tests/DataObjectTest.php
+++ b/tests/DataObjectTest.php
@@ -641,7 +641,26 @@ class DataObjectTest extends SapphireTest {
 			'Position' => 'Varchar(100)'
 		));
 	}
-
+	
+	/**
+	 * Tests that singular_name() generates sensible defaults.
+	 */
+	public function testSingularName() {
+		$assertions = array (
+			'DataObjectTest_Player'       => 'Data Object Test Player',
+			'DataObjectTest_Team'         => 'Data Object Test Team',
+			'DataObjectTest_WithDefaults' => 'Data Object Test With Defaults'
+		);
+		
+		foreach($assertions as $class => $expectedSingularName) {
+			$this->assertEquals (
+				$expectedSingularName,
+				singleton($class)->singular_name(),
+				"Assert that the singular_name for '$class' is correct."
+			);
+		}
+	}
+	
 }
 
 class DataObjectTest_Player extends Member implements TestOnly {