diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/WellKnownTypes/WrappersTest.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/WellKnownTypes/WrappersTest.cs
index fbc0ff07a5..c87ceb2f3d 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/WellKnownTypes/WrappersTest.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf.Test/WellKnownTypes/WrappersTest.cs
@@ -345,5 +345,15 @@ namespace Google.Protobuf.WellKnownTypes
             var message = TestWellKnownTypes.Parser.ParseFrom(stream);
             Assert.AreEqual(6, message.Int32Field);
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void ClearWithReflection()
+        {
+            // String and Bytes are the tricky ones here, as the CLR type of the property
+            // is the same between the wrapper and non-wrapper types.
+            var message = new TestWellKnownTypes { StringField = "foo" };
+            TestWellKnownTypes.Descriptor.Fields[TestWellKnownTypes.StringFieldFieldNumber].Accessor.Clear(message);
+            Assert.IsNull(message.StringField);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/FieldDescriptor.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/FieldDescriptor.cs
index 619a6ac8ad..3d6cc59f82 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/FieldDescriptor.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/FieldDescriptor.cs
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ namespace Google.Protobuf.Reflection
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Returns  the type of the field.
+        /// Returns the type of the field.
         /// </summary>
         public FieldType FieldType
         {
diff --git a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/SingleFieldAccessor.cs b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/SingleFieldAccessor.cs
index de92fbc1a4..bbac2173d4 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/SingleFieldAccessor.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Google.Protobuf/Reflection/SingleFieldAccessor.cs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ namespace Google.Protobuf.Reflection
             
             // TODO: Validate that this is a reasonable single field? (Should be a value type, a message type, or string/ByteString.)
             object defaultValue =
-                typeof(IMessage).IsAssignableFrom(clrType) ? null
+                descriptor.FieldType == FieldType.Message ? null
                 : clrType == typeof(string) ? ""
                 : clrType == typeof(ByteString) ? ByteString.Empty
                 : Activator.CreateInstance(clrType);