diff --git a/src/ngResource/resource.js b/src/ngResource/resource.js
index 31a594421e50..5629166f6023 100644
--- a/src/ngResource/resource.js
+++ b/src/ngResource/resource.js
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ function shallowClearAndCopy(src, dst) {
  *   Note that the parameter will be ignored, when calling a "GET" action method (i.e. an action
  *   method that does not accept a request body)
  *
- * @param {Object.<Object>=} actions Hash with declaration of custom actions that should extend
+ * @param {Object.<Object>=} actions Hash with declaration of custom actions that should be merged with
  *   the default set of resource actions. The declaration should be created in the format of {@link
  *   ng.$http#usage $http.config}:
  *
@@ -516,6 +516,7 @@ angular.module('ngResource', ['ng']).
       var noop = angular.noop,
           forEach = angular.forEach,
           extend = angular.extend,
+          merge = angular.merge,
           copy = angular.copy,
           isFunction = angular.isFunction,
           encodeUriQuery = angular.$$encodeUriQuery,
@@ -603,7 +604,7 @@ angular.module('ngResource', ['ng']).
       function resourceFactory(url, paramDefaults, actions, options) {
         var route = new Route(url, options);
 
-        actions = extend({}, provider.defaults.actions, actions);
+        actions = merge({}, provider.defaults.actions, actions);
 
         function extractParams(data, actionParams) {
           var ids = {};
diff --git a/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js b/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js
index a848f06d1244..a5b33888744d 100644
--- a/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js
+++ b/test/ngResource/resourceSpec.js
@@ -491,6 +491,18 @@ describe("basic usage", function() {
   });
 
 
+  it('should deep-merge custom actions with default actions', function() {
+    $httpBackend.when('GET', '/foo').respond({invokedMethod: 'get'});
+    $httpBackend.when('POST', '/foo').respond({invokedMethod: 'post'});
+
+    var Resource = $resource('/foo', {}, {save: {timeout: 10000}});
+    var response = Resource.save();
+
+    $httpBackend.flush();
+    expect(response.invokedMethod).toEqual('post');
+  });
+
+
   it("should read partial resource", function() {
     $httpBackend.expect('GET', '/CreditCard').respond([{id:{key:123}}]);
     var ccs = CreditCard.query();