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 875e201a5..462efefdc 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;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
@@ -220,6 +222,7 @@ 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<CacheKey, TypedSpelPath>(
 				32);
 		private static final EvaluationContext CONTEXT = SimpleEvaluationContext.forReadWriteDataBinding().build();
@@ -306,7 +309,24 @@ 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));
 		}
 
 		/**
@@ -404,6 +424,11 @@ 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 4620ffbc7..41fb3db35 100644
--- 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
@@ -21,13 +21,17 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 
 public class AddOperationUnitTests {
 
+	public @Rule ExpectedException exception = ExpectedException.none();
+
 	@Test
 	public void addBooleanPropertyValue() throws Exception {
 
@@ -112,4 +116,30 @@ public class AddOperationUnitTests {
 		assertThat(todo.getUninitialized(), is(notNullValue()));
 		assertThat(todo.getUninitialized(), hasItem("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.get(1), is(todo));
+	}
+
+	@Test // DATAREST-1273
+	public void rejectsAdditionBeyondEndOfList() {
+
+		List<Todo> todos = new ArrayList<Todo>();
+		todos.add(new Todo(1L, "A", false));
+
+		exception.expect(PatchException.class);
+		exception.expectMessage("index");
+		exception.expectMessage("1");
+		exception.expectMessage("2");
+
+		AddOperation.of("/2", new Todo(2L, "B", true)).perform(todos, Todo.class);
+	}
 }