Index: t/68inflate.t
===================================================================
--- t/68inflate.t	(revision 6358)
+++ t/68inflate.t	(working copy)
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 eval { require DateTime };
 plan skip_all => "Need DateTime for inflation tests" if $@;
 
-plan tests => 21;
+plan tests => 25;
 
 $schema->class('CD')
 #DBICTest::Schema::CD
@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@
 
 is( ref($cd->get_inflated_column('year')), 'DateTime', 'get_inflated_column produces a DateTime');
 
+# get_inflated_column on non-inflated column
+{
+    my $title;
+    eval { $title = $cd->get_inflated_column('title') };
+    ok(!$@, 'get_inflated_column on non-inflated column');
+    is($title, "Caterwaulin' Blues");
+}
+
 # deflate test
 my $now = DateTime->now;
 $cd->year( $now );
@@ -69,6 +77,12 @@
 $cd = $schema->resultset("CD")->find(3);                 
 is( $cd->year->year, $before_year+1, 'deflate ok' );
 
+# set_inflated_column on non-inflated column
+eval { $cd->set_inflated_column( 'title', "Kinda Blues" ) };
+ok(!$@, 'set_inflated_colun on non-inflated column');
+ok($cd->title, "Kinda Blues");
+$cd->discard_changes;
+
 # store_inflated_column test
 $cd = $schema->resultset("CD")->find(3);                 
 eval { $cd->store_inflated_column('year', $now) };
Index: lib/DBIx/Class/InflateColumn.pm
===================================================================
--- lib/DBIx/Class/InflateColumn.pm	(revision 6358)
+++ lib/DBIx/Class/InflateColumn.pm	(working copy)
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@
 
 sub get_inflated_column {
   my ($self, $col) = @_;
-  $self->throw_exception("$col is not an inflated column")
+  # use get_column() if the column doesn't have an inflator
+  return $self->get_column($col)
     unless exists $self->column_info($col)->{_inflate_info};
   return $self->{_inflated_column}{$col}
     if exists $self->{_inflated_column}{$col};