diff --git a/IPython/core/interactiveshell.py b/IPython/core/interactiveshell.py
index 6874b63..427dafc 100644
--- a/IPython/core/interactiveshell.py
+++ b/IPython/core/interactiveshell.py
@@ -1443,10 +1443,16 @@ class InteractiveShell(SingletonConfigurable):
                 continue
             else:
                 #print 'oname_rest:', oname_rest  # dbg
-                for part in oname_rest:
+                for idx, part in enumerate(oname_rest):
                     try:
                         parent = obj
-                        obj = getattr(obj,part)
+                        # The last part is looked up in a special way to avoid
+                        # descriptor invocation as it may raise or have side
+                        # effects.
+                        if idx == len(oname_rest) - 1:
+                            obj = self._getattr_property(obj, part)
+                        else:
+                            obj = getattr(obj, part)
                     except:
                         # Blanket except b/c some badly implemented objects
                         # allow __getattr__ to raise exceptions other than
@@ -1486,33 +1492,48 @@ class InteractiveShell(SingletonConfigurable):
         return {'found':found, 'obj':obj, 'namespace':ospace,
                 'ismagic':ismagic, 'isalias':isalias, 'parent':parent}
 
-    def _ofind_property(self, oname, info):
-        """Second part of object finding, to look for property details."""
-        if info.found:
-            # Get the docstring of the class property if it exists.
-            path = oname.split('.')
-            root = '.'.join(path[:-1])
-            if info.parent is not None:
-                try:
-                    target = getattr(info.parent, '__class__')
-                    # The object belongs to a class instance.
-                    try:
-                        target = getattr(target, path[-1])
-                        # The class defines the object.
-                        if isinstance(target, property):
-                            oname = root + '.__class__.' + path[-1]
-                            info = Struct(self._ofind(oname))
-                    except AttributeError: pass
-                except AttributeError: pass
-
-        # We return either the new info or the unmodified input if the object
-        # hadn't been found
-        return info
+    @staticmethod
+    def _getattr_property(obj, attrname):
+        """Property-aware getattr to use in object finding.
+
+        If attrname represents a property, return it unevaluated (in case it has
+        side effects or raises an error.
+
+        """
+        if not isinstance(obj, type):
+            try:
+                # `getattr(type(obj), attrname)` is not guaranteed to return
+                # `obj`, but does so for property:
+                #
+                # property.__get__(self, None, cls) -> self
+                #
+                # The universal alternative is to traverse the mro manually
+                # searching for attrname in class dicts.
+                attr = getattr(type(obj), attrname)
+            except AttributeError:
+                pass
+            else:
+                # This relies on the fact that data descriptors (with both
+                # __get__ & __set__ magic methods) take precedence over
+                # instance-level attributes:
+                #
+                #    class A(object):
+                #        @property
+                #        def foobar(self): return 123
+                #    a = A()
+                #    a.__dict__['foobar'] = 345
+                #    a.foobar  # == 123
+                #
+                # So, a property may be returned right away.
+                if isinstance(attr, property):
+                    return attr
+
+        # Nothing helped, fall back.
+        return getattr(obj, attrname)
 
     def _object_find(self, oname, namespaces=None):
         """Find an object and return a struct with info about it."""
-        inf = Struct(self._ofind(oname, namespaces))
-        return Struct(self._ofind_property(oname, inf))
+        return Struct(self._ofind(oname, namespaces))
 
     def _inspect(self, meth, oname, namespaces=None, **kw):
         """Generic interface to the inspector system.
diff --git a/IPython/core/tests/test_interactiveshell.py b/IPython/core/tests/test_interactiveshell.py
index 77e27ff..d029206 100644
--- a/IPython/core/tests/test_interactiveshell.py
+++ b/IPython/core/tests/test_interactiveshell.py
@@ -375,7 +375,62 @@ class InteractiveShellTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                     namespace = 'IPython internal', obj= cmagic.__wrapped__,
                     parent = None)
         nt.assert_equal(find, info)
-    
+
+    def test_ofind_property_with_error(self):
+        class A(object):
+            @property
+            def foo(self):
+                raise NotImplementedError()
+        a = A()
+
+        found = ip._ofind('a.foo', [('locals', locals())])
+        info = dict(found=True, isalias=False, ismagic=False,
+                    namespace='locals', obj=A.foo, parent=a)
+        nt.assert_equal(found, info)
+
+    def test_ofind_multiple_attribute_lookups(self):
+        class A(object):
+            @property
+            def foo(self):
+                raise NotImplementedError()
+
+        a = A()
+        a.a = A()
+        a.a.a = A()
+
+        found = ip._ofind('a.a.a.foo', [('locals', locals())])
+        info = dict(found=True, isalias=False, ismagic=False,
+                    namespace='locals', obj=A.foo, parent=a.a.a)
+        nt.assert_equal(found, info)
+
+    def test_ofind_slotted_attributes(self):
+        class A(object):
+            __slots__ = ['foo']
+            def __init__(self):
+                self.foo = 'bar'
+
+        a = A()
+        found = ip._ofind('a.foo', [('locals', locals())])
+        info = dict(found=True, isalias=False, ismagic=False,
+                    namespace='locals', obj=a.foo, parent=a)
+        nt.assert_equal(found, info)
+
+        found = ip._ofind('a.bar', [('locals', locals())])
+        info = dict(found=False, isalias=False, ismagic=False,
+                    namespace=None, obj=None, parent=a)
+        nt.assert_equal(found, info)
+
+    def test_ofind_prefers_property_to_instance_level_attribute(self):
+        class A(object):
+            @property
+            def foo(self):
+                return 'bar'
+        a = A()
+        a.__dict__['foo'] = 'baz'
+        nt.assert_equal(a.foo, 'bar')
+        found = ip._ofind('a.foo', [('locals', locals())])
+        nt.assert_is(found['obj'], A.foo)
+
     def test_custom_exception(self):
         called = []
         def my_handler(shell, etype, value, tb, tb_offset=None):