diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php
index b4ba5fbc7f8ba..038cb21034de0 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php
@@ -61,6 +61,12 @@ public function supports($resource, $type = null)
      */
     private static function includeFile($file, PhpFileLoader $loader)
     {
-        return include $file;
+        $collection = include $file;
+
+        if (!$collection instanceof RouteCollection) {
+            throw new \UnexpectedValueException(sprintf('PHP routing configuration must return a RouteCollection, got "%s" in "%s".', is_object($collection) ? get_class($collection) : gettype($collection), $file));
+        }
+
+        return $collection;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Fixtures/invalid_return.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Fixtures/invalid_return.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d8fed16db42be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Fixtures/invalid_return.php
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<?php
+
+return array('something');
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php
index bda64236f6022..b46a8918aeada 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Routing/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php
@@ -80,4 +80,14 @@ public function testThatDefiningVariableInConfigFileHasNoSideEffects()
             (string) $fileResource
         );
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \UnexpectedValueException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessageRegExp /^PHP routing configuration must return a RouteCollection, got "array" in ".+invalid_return\.php"\.$/
+     */
+    public function testInvalidReturn()
+    {
+        $loader = new PhpFileLoader(new FileLocator(array(__DIR__.'/../Fixtures')));
+        $loader->load('invalid_return.php');
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php
index a52e0bb611105..e3855e4c68abf 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Loader/PhpFileLoader.php
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ public function load($resource, $locale, $domain = 'messages')
 
         $messages = require $resource;
 
+        if (!is_array($messages)) {
+            throw new \UnexpectedValueException(sprintf('PHP translation files must return an array, got "%s" in "%s".', is_object($messages) ? get_class($messages) : gettype($messages), $resource));
+        }
+
         $catalogue = parent::load($messages, $locale, $domain);
 
         if (class_exists('Symfony\Component\Config\Resource\FileResource')) {
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php
index 9fc83e34f99ad..50bbae441152f 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/Loader/PhpFileLoaderTest.php
@@ -47,4 +47,14 @@ public function testLoadThrowsAnExceptionIfFileNotLocal()
         $resource = 'http://example.com/resources.php';
         $loader->load($resource, 'en', 'domain1');
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \UnexpectedValueException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessageRegExp /^PHP translation files must return an array, got "stdClass" in ".+invalid-return\.php"\.$/
+     */
+    public function testInvalidReturn()
+    {
+        $loader = new PhpFileLoader();
+        $loader->load(__DIR__.'/../fixtures/invalid-return.php', 'en');
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/fixtures/invalid-return.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/fixtures/invalid-return.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..488bf694bb1bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Translation/Tests/fixtures/invalid-return.php
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<?php
+
+return new \stdClass();