diff --git a/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb b/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb
index 7c34d2a..07e9acc 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora_federation/entity.rb
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ module DiasporaFederation
   #   are intended to be immutable data containers, only.
   class Entity
     extend PropertiesDSL
+    include Logging
 
     # Initializes the Entity with the given attribute hash and freezes the created
     # instance it returns.
@@ -50,15 +51,14 @@ module DiasporaFederation
     # @param [Hash] data entity data
     # @return [Entity] new instance
     def initialize(data)
+      logger.debug "create entity #{self.class} with data: #{data}"
       raise ArgumentError, "expected a Hash" unless data.is_a?(Hash)
+
       entity_data = self.class.resolv_aliases(data)
-      missing_props = self.class.missing_props(entity_data)
-      unless missing_props.empty?
-        raise ArgumentError, "missing required properties: #{missing_props.join(', ')}"
-      end
+      validate_missing_props(entity_data)
 
       self.class.default_values.merge(entity_data).each do |name, value|
-        instance_variable_set("@#{name}", nilify(value)) if setable?(name, value)
+        instance_variable_set("@#{name}", instantiate_nested(name, nilify(value))) if setable?(name, value)
       end
 
       freeze
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ module DiasporaFederation
 
     private
 
+    def validate_missing_props(entity_data)
+      missing_props = self.class.missing_props(entity_data)
+      raise ArgumentError, "missing required properties: #{missing_props.join(', ')}" unless missing_props.empty?
+    end
+
     def setable?(name, val)
       type = self.class.class_props[name]
       return false if type.nil? # property undefined
@@ -159,11 +164,12 @@ module DiasporaFederation
     end
 
     def setable_nested?(type, val)
-      type.instance_of?(Class) && type.ancestors.include?(Entity) && val.is_a?(Entity)
+      type.instance_of?(Class) && type.ancestors.include?(Entity) && (val.is_a?(Entity) || val.is_a?(Hash))
     end
 
     def setable_multi?(type, val)
-      type.instance_of?(Array) && val.instance_of?(Array) && val.all? {|v| v.instance_of?(type.first) }
+      type.instance_of?(Array) && val.instance_of?(Array) &&
+        (val.all? {|v| v.instance_of?(type.first) } || val.all? {|v| v.instance_of?(Hash) })
     end
 
     def nilify(value)
@@ -171,6 +177,17 @@ module DiasporaFederation
       value
     end
 
+    def instantiate_nested(name, value)
+      if value.instance_of?(Array)
+        return value unless value.first.instance_of?(Hash)
+        value.map {|hash| self.class.class_props[name].first.new(hash) }
+      elsif value.instance_of?(Hash)
+        self.class.class_props[name].new(value)
+      else
+        value
+      end
+    end
+
     def validate
       validator_name = "#{self.class.name.split('::').last}Validator"
       return unless Validators.const_defined? validator_name
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entity_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entity_spec.rb
index c63457a..f770815 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entity_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation/entity_spec.rb
@@ -250,15 +250,16 @@ XML
           multi: [Entities::OtherEntity.new(asdf: "asdf"), Entities::OtherEntity.new(asdf: "asdf")]
         }
       }
-
-      it "gets returned as Hash by #to_h" do
-        entity = Entities::TestNestedEntity.new(nested_data)
-
-        nested_hash = {
+      let(:nested_hash) {
+        {
           asdf:  nested_data[:asdf],
           test:  nested_data[:test].to_h,
           multi: nested_data[:multi].map(&:to_h)
         }
+      }
+
+      it "gets returned as Hash by #to_h" do
+        entity = Entities::TestNestedEntity.new(nested_data)
 
         expect(entity.to_h).to eq(nested_hash)
       end
@@ -273,6 +274,18 @@ XML
         expect(xml.xpath("test_entity")).to have_exactly(1).items
         expect(xml.xpath("other_entity")).to have_exactly(2).items
       end
+
+      it "instantiates nested entities if provided as hash" do
+        entity = Entities::TestNestedEntity.new(nested_hash)
+
+        expect(entity.test).to be_instance_of(Entities::TestEntity)
+        expect(entity.test.test).to eq("test")
+
+        expect(entity.multi).to be_instance_of(Array)
+        expect(entity.multi).to have_exactly(2).items
+        expect(entity.multi.first).to be_instance_of(Entities::OtherEntity)
+        expect(entity.multi.first.asdf).to eq("asdf")
+      end
     end
 
     context "xml_name" do