diff --git a/app/models/spree/order_populator_decorator.rb b/app/models/spree/order_populator_decorator.rb
index fa2278309c..c1581c351d 100644
--- a/app/models/spree/order_populator_decorator.rb
+++ b/app/models/spree/order_populator_decorator.rb
@@ -58,12 +58,10 @@ Spree::OrderPopulator.class_eval do
   end
 
   def check_distribution_provided_for(variant)
-    order_cycle_required = order_cycle_required_for(variant)
-    distribution_provided =
-      @distributor.present? && (!order_cycle_required || @order_cycle.present?)
+    distribution_provided = distribution_provided_for variant
 
     unless distribution_provided
-      if order_cycle_required
+      if order_cycle_required_for variant
         errors.add(:base, "Please choose a distributor and order cycle for this order.")
       else
         errors.add(:base, "Please choose a distributor for this order.")
@@ -82,8 +80,11 @@ Spree::OrderPopulator.class_eval do
     end
   end
 
+  def distribution_provided_for(variant)
+    @distributor.present? && (!order_cycle_required_for(variant) || @order_cycle.present?)
+  end
+
   def order_cycle_required_for(variant)
     variant.product.product_distributions.empty?
   end
-
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/order_populator_spec.rb b/spec/models/order_populator_spec.rb
index 8135f1069a..d9e4e483bf 100644
--- a/spec/models/order_populator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/order_populator_spec.rb
@@ -97,6 +97,33 @@ module Spree
 
         op.send(:set_cart_distributor_and_order_cycle, distributor, order_cycle)
       end
+
+      describe "checking if distribution is provided for a variant" do
+        let(:variant) { double(:variant) }
+
+        it "returns false when distributor is nil" do
+          op.instance_eval { @distributor = nil }
+          op.send(:distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_false
+        end
+
+        it "returns false when order cycle is nil when it's required" do
+          op.instance_eval { @distributor = 1; @order_cycle = nil }
+          op.should_receive(:order_cycle_required_for).with(variant).and_return(true)
+          op.send(:distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_false
+        end
+
+        it "returns true when distributor is present and order cycle is not required" do
+          op.instance_eval { @distributor = 1; @order_cycle = nil }
+          op.should_receive(:order_cycle_required_for).with(variant).and_return(false)
+          op.send(:distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_true
+        end
+
+        it "returns true when distributor is present and order cycle is required and present" do
+          op.instance_eval { @distributor = 1; @order_cycle = 1 }
+          op.should_receive(:order_cycle_required_for).with(variant).and_return(true)
+          op.send(:distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_true
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     describe "validations" do
@@ -121,6 +148,30 @@ module Spree
       end
 
       describe "checking distribution is provided for a variant" do
+        let(:variant) { double(:variant) }
+
+        it "returns false and errors when distribution is not provided and order cycle is required" do
+          op.should_receive(:distribution_provided_for).with(variant).and_return(false)
+          op.should_receive(:order_cycle_required_for).with(variant).and_return(true)
+
+          op.send(:check_distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_false
+          op.errors.to_a.should == ["Please choose a distributor and order cycle for this order."]
+        end
+
+        it "returns false and errors when distribution is not provided and order cycle is not required" do
+          op.should_receive(:distribution_provided_for).with(variant).and_return(false)
+          op.should_receive(:order_cycle_required_for).with(variant).and_return(false)
+
+          op.send(:check_distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_false
+          op.errors.to_a.should == ["Please choose a distributor for this order."]
+        end
+
+        it "returns true and does not error otherwise" do
+          op.should_receive(:distribution_provided_for).with(variant).and_return(true)
+
+          op.send(:check_distribution_provided_for, variant).should be_true
+          op.errors.to_a.should be_empty
+        end
       end
 
       describe "checking variant is available under the distributor" do