diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/SpelPath.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/SpelPath.java
index 469300bce..b1e40e5d2 100644
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/SpelPath.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/SpelPath.java
@@ -36,9 +36,11 @@ import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.expression.Expression;
 import org.springframework.expression.ExpressionException;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelEvaluationException;
+import org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelMessage;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.support.SimpleEvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+import org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.ConcurrentReferenceHashMap;
 
 /**
@@ -210,6 +212,7 @@ class SpelPath {
 	static class TypedSpelPath extends SpelPath {
 
 		private static final String INVALID_PATH_REFERENCE = "Invalid path reference %s on type %s (from source %s)!";
+		private static final String INVALID_COLLECTION_INDEX = "Invalid collection index %s for collection of size %s. Use '…/-' or the collection's actual size as index to append to it!";
 		private static final Map<CacheKey, TypedSpelPath> TYPED_PATHS = new ConcurrentReferenceHashMap<>(32);
 		private static final EvaluationContext CONTEXT = SimpleEvaluationContext.forReadWriteDataBinding().build();
 
@@ -286,7 +289,24 @@ class SpelPath {
 
 			Assert.notNull(root, "Root object must not be null!");
 
-			return expression.getValueType(CONTEXT, root);
+			try {
+
+				return expression.getValueType(CONTEXT, root);
+
+			} catch (SpelEvaluationException o_O) {
+
+				if (!SpelMessage.COLLECTION_INDEX_OUT_OF_BOUNDS.equals(o_O.getMessageCode())) {
+					throw o_O;
+				}
+
+				Object collectionOrArray = getParent().getValue(root);
+
+				if (Collection.class.isInstance(collectionOrArray)) {
+					return CollectionUtils.findCommonElementType(Collection.class.cast(collectionOrArray));
+				}
+			}
+
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("Cannot obtain type for path %s on %s!", path, root));
 		}
 
 		/**
@@ -384,6 +404,11 @@ class SpelPath {
 			} else {
 
 				List<Object> list = parentPath.getValue(target);
+
+				if (listIndex > list.size()) {
+					throw new PatchException(String.format(INVALID_COLLECTION_INDEX, listIndex, list.size()));
+				}
+
 				list.add(listIndex >= 0 ? listIndex.intValue() : list.size(), value);
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/AddOperationUnitTests.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/AddOperationUnitTests.java
index 8474f8f3f..6cf5a1ed5 100755
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/AddOperationUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/patch/AddOperationUnitTests.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 package org.springframework.data.rest.webmvc.json.patch;
 
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.*;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
@@ -111,4 +112,29 @@ public class AddOperationUnitTests {
 
 		assertThat(todo.getUninitialized()).containsExactly("Text");
 	}
+
+	@Test // DATAREST-1273
+	public void addsItemToTheEndOfACollectionViaIndex() {
+
+		List<Todo> todos = new ArrayList<Todo>();
+		todos.add(new Todo(1L, "A", false));
+
+		Todo todo = new Todo(2L, "B", true);
+		AddOperation.of("/1", todo).perform(todos, Todo.class);
+
+		assertThat(todos).element(1).isEqualTo(todo);
+	}
+
+	@Test // DATAREST-1273
+	public void rejectsAdditionBeyondEndOfList() {
+
+		List<Todo> todos = new ArrayList<Todo>();
+		todos.add(new Todo(1L, "A", false));
+
+		assertThatExceptionOfType(PatchException.class) //
+				.isThrownBy(() -> AddOperation.of("/2", new Todo(2L, "B", true)).perform(todos, Todo.class)) //
+				.withMessageContaining("index") //
+				.withMessageContaining("2") //
+				.withMessageContaining("1");
+	}
 }