diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/php/model.mustache b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/php/model.mustache
index f19787f50b..6f292e854a 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/php/model.mustache
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/php/model.mustache
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ use \ArrayAccess;
  */
 class {{classname}} {{#parent}}extends {{{parent}}} {{/parent}}implements ArrayAccess
 {
+    /**
+      * The original name of the model.
+      * @var string
+      */
+    static $swaggerModelName = '{{name}}';
+
     /**
       * Array of property to type mappings. Used for (de)serialization 
       * @var string[]
@@ -115,6 +121,11 @@ class {{classname}} {{#parent}}extends {{{parent}}} {{/parent}}implements ArrayA
     public function __construct(array $data = null)
     {
         {{#parent}}parent::__construct($data);{{/parent}}
+        {{#discriminator}}// Initialize discriminator property with the model name.
+        $discrimintor = array_search('{{discriminator}}', self::$attributeMap);
+        $this->{$discrimintor} = static::$swaggerModelName;
+        {{/discriminator}}
+
         if ($data != null) {
             {{#vars}}$this->{{name}} = $data["{{name}}"];{{#hasMore}}
             {{/hasMore}}{{/vars}}
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/php/SwaggerClient-php/tests/PetApiTest.php b/samples/client/petstore/php/SwaggerClient-php/tests/PetApiTest.php
index 3af1064f71..240f32eca4 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/php/SwaggerClient-php/tests/PetApiTest.php
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/php/SwaggerClient-php/tests/PetApiTest.php
@@ -402,6 +402,13 @@ class PetApiTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->assertSame('Dog', $new_dog->getClassName());
     }
 
+    // test if discriminator is initialized automatically
+    public function testDiscriminatorInitialization()
+    {
+        $new_dog = new Swagger\Client\Model\Dog();
+        $this->assertSame('Dog', $new_dog->getClassName());
+    }
+
 }
 
 ?>