diff --git a/src/dataarray.jl b/src/dataarray.jl
index e7bdcacbc..e36f5141a 100644
--- a/src/dataarray.jl
+++ b/src/dataarray.jl
@@ -22,12 +22,22 @@ type DataArray{T, N} <: AbstractDataArray{T, N}
     data::Array{T, N}
     na::BitArray{N}
 
-    # Ensure data values and missingness metadata match
     function DataArray(d::Array{T, N}, m::BitArray{N})
+        # Ensure data values and missingness metadata match
         if size(d) != size(m)
             msg = "Data and missingness arrays must be the same size"
             throw(ArgumentError(msg))
         end
+        # additionally check that d does not contain NA entries
+        if eltype(d) === Any
+            for i in eachindex(d)
+                if isassigned(d, i) && isna(d, i)
+                    m[i] = true
+                end
+            end
+        elseif eltype(d) <: NAtype
+            m = trues(m)
+        end
         new(d, m)
     end
 end
diff --git a/test/dataarray.jl b/test/dataarray.jl
index 677fe5786..ec771e5b6 100644
--- a/test/dataarray.jl
+++ b/test/dataarray.jl
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ module TestDataArray
     similar(dm, 2, 2)
     similar(dt, 2, 2, 2)
 
+    @test isequal(DataArray([NA, NA], [true, true]), DataArray([NA, NA], [false, false]))
+    @test isequal(DataArray(Any[1, NA], [false, true]), DataArray(Any[1, NA], [false, false]))
+    @test isequal(DataArray(Any[1, 2], [false, true]), DataArray(Any[1, NA], [false, false]))
 
     x = DataArray([9, 9, 8])
     y = DataArray([1, 9, 3, 2, 2])