diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Session/Setting.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Session/Setting.pm
index ffb6054c6..06d12d601 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Session/Setting.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Session/Setting.pm
@@ -100,6 +100,30 @@ sub get {
 }
 
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head2 has ( $param )
+
+Returns true if the requested setting exists in this object's cache of the settings.
+This works better than using ->get, since it doesn't care about the truthiness of
+the value of the setting.
+
+This method will have little use outside of upgrade and install scripts, to prevent
+them from creating and/or overwriting existing settings.
+
+=head3 $param
+
+The setting to check.
+
+=cut
+
+sub has {
+	my $self = shift;
+	my $param = shift;
+	return exists $self->{_settings}{$param};
+}
+
+
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 =head2 new ( session ) 
diff --git a/t/Session/Setting.t b/t/Session/Setting.t
index 29a6a657e..f83a9c4ab 100644
--- a/t/Session/Setting.t
+++ b/t/Session/Setting.t
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use lib "$FindBin::Bin/../lib";
 use WebGUI::Test;
 use WebGUI::Session;
 
-use Test::More tests => 6; # increment this value for each test you create
+use Test::More tests => 9; # increment this value for each test you create
  
 my $session = WebGUI::Test->session;
 
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ $session->setting->set("inmate","37927");
 my ($value) = $session->db->quickArray("select value from settings where name='inmate'");
 is($value, '37927', "set()");
 is($session->setting->get("inmate"), '37927', 'set() also updates object cache');
+is($session->setting->has('inmate'), 1, 'has checks for existance');
+$session->setting->set('inmate', 0);
+is($session->setting->get('inmate'), 0, 'get will get 0 values');
+is($session->setting->has('inmate'), 1, 'has checks for existance, regardless of value');
 $session->setting->remove("inmate"); 
 my ($value) = $session->db->quickArray("select value from settings where name='inmate'");
 is($value, undef, "delete()");