diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Group.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Group.pm
index 6546b5a19..56785f848 100755
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Group.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Group.pm
@@ -358,6 +358,20 @@ sub description {
 }
 
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head2 DESTROY
+
+Desconstructor
+
+=cut
+
+sub DESTROY {
+        my $self = shift;
+        undef $self;
+}
+
+
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 =head2 expireNotify ( [ value ] )
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/User.pm b/lib/WebGUI/User.pm
index 74872f865..25259144a 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/User.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/User.pm
@@ -276,12 +276,12 @@ sub friends {
         $self->{_user}{"lastUpdated"} = $self->session->datetime->time();
         $self->session->db->write("update users set friendsGroup=?, lastUpdated=? where userId=?",
             [$myFriends->getId, $self->session->datetime->time(), $self->userId]);
-        return $myFriends;
+        $self->{_friendsGroup} = $myFriends;
     }
-    elsif (exists $self->{_friendsGroup}) {
-        return $self->{_friendsGroup};
+    elsif (! exists $self->{_friendsGroup}) {
+        $self->{_friendsGroup} = WebGUI::Group->new($self->session, $self->{_user}{"friendsGroup"});
     }
-    return WebGUI::Group->new($self->session, $self->{_user}{"friendsGroup"});
+    return $self->{_friendsGroup};
 }
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/t/User.t b/t/User.t
index 1a32edf56..e1f4265a2 100644
--- a/t/User.t
+++ b/t/User.t
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ use WebGUI::Cache;
 use WebGUI::User;
 use WebGUI::ProfileField;
 
-use Test::More tests => 124; # increment this value for each test you create
+use Test::More tests => 127; # increment this value for each test you create
 use Test::Deep;
 
 my $session = WebGUI::Test->session;
@@ -533,6 +533,25 @@ is($neighbor->identifier, undef, 'identifier: by default, new users have an unde
 is($neighbor->identifier('neighborhood'), 'neighborhood', 'identifier: setting the identifier returns the new identifier');
 is($neighbor->identifier, 'neighborhood', 'identifier: testing fetch of newly set password');
 
+################################################################
+#
+# friends
+#
+################################################################
+
+my $friendsGroup  = $neighbor->friends();
+isa_ok($friendsGroup, 'WebGUI::Group', 'friends returns a Group object');
+my $friendsGroup2 = $neighbor->friends();
+cmp_deeply($friendsGroup, $friendsGroup2, 'second fetch returns the cached group object from the user object');
+
+my $neighborClone = WebGUI::User->new($session, $neighbor->userId);
+my $friendsGroup3 = $neighborClone->friends();
+is ($friendsGroup->getId, $friendsGroup3->getId, 'friends: fetching group object when group exists but is not cached');
+
+undef $friendsGroup2;
+undef $friendsGroup3;
+undef $neighborClone;
+
 END {
     foreach my $account ($user, $dude, $buster, $buster3, $neighbor, $friend) {
         (defined $account  and ref $account  eq 'WebGUI::User') and $account->delete;