diff --git a/app/models/person.rb b/app/models/person.rb
index ac7558b..89a62f9 100644
--- a/app/models/person.rb
+++ b/app/models/person.rb
@@ -65,4 +65,7 @@ class Person < Profile
     true
   end
 
+  # FIXME this is *weird*, because this class is not inheriting the callback 
+  before_create :set_default_environment
+
 end
diff --git a/app/models/profile.rb b/app/models/profile.rb
index 48cb783..27ce483 100644
--- a/app/models/profile.rb
+++ b/app/models/profile.rb
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@ class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
   validates_exclusion_of :identifier, :in => RESERVED_IDENTIFIERS
   validates_uniqueness_of :identifier
 
-  # creates a new Profile. By default, it is attached to the default
-  # Environment (see Environment#default), unless you tell it
-  # otherwise
-  def initialize(*args)
-    super(*args)
-    self.environment ||= Environment.default
+  before_create :set_default_environment
+  def set_default_environment
+    if self.environment.nil?
+      self.environment = Environment.default
+    end
+    true
   end
 
   # registar callback for creating boxes after the object is created. 
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index 35ea43d..7561036 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ class Test::Unit::TestCase
   # Add more helper methods to be used by all tests here...
 
   include AuthenticatedTestHelper
+
+  fixtures :environments
   
   def self.all_fixtures
     Dir.glob(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'test', 'fixtures', '*.yml')).each do |item|
diff --git a/test/unit/enterprise_test.rb b/test/unit/enterprise_test.rb
index be7b4b3..f886d41 100644
--- a/test/unit/enterprise_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/enterprise_test.rb
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ class EnterpriseTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   end
 
   def test_belongs_to_environment_and_has_default
-    p = Enterprise.new
-    assert_kind_of Environment, p.environment
+    assert_equal Environment.default, Enterprise.create!(:name => 'my test environment', :identifier => 'mytestenvironment').environment
   end
 
   def test_cannot_rename
diff --git a/test/unit/profile_test.rb b/test/unit/profile_test.rb
index 4285eee..e66088e 100644
--- a/test/unit/profile_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/profile_test.rb
@@ -34,9 +34,29 @@ class ProfileTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_kind_of Array, p.domains
   end
 
-  def test_belongs_to_environment_and_has_default
-    p = Profile.new
-    assert_kind_of Environment, p.environment
+  should 'be assigned to default environment if no environment is informed' do
+    assert_equal Environment.default, Profile.create!(:name => 'my test profile', :identifier => 'mytestprofile').environment
+  end
+
+  should 'not override environment informed before creation' do
+    env = Environment.create!(:name => 'My test environment')
+    p = Profile.create!(:identifier => 'mytestprofile', :name => 'My test profile', :environment_id => env.id)
+
+    assert_equal env, p.environment
+  end
+
+  should 'be able to set environment after instantiation and before creating' do
+    env = Environment.create!(:name => 'My test environment')
+    p = Profile.new(:identifier => 'mytestprofile', :name => 'My test profile')
+    p.environment = env
+    p.save!
+
+    p.reload
+    assert_equal env, p.environment
+  end
+
+  should 'set default environment for users created' do
+    assert_equal Environment.default, create_user('mytestuser').person.environment
   end
 
   def test_cannot_rename
--
libgit2 0.21.2