diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 64710f659..16ebfcf56 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Changes between 2.3.2 and 2.3.3.dev
 -----------------------------------
 
+- fix issue 214: gracefully handle proxy objects that
+  look like fixtures but raise exceptions on introspection
 - fix issue213 - allow to parametrize with values like numpy arrays that
   do not support an __eq__ operator 
 
diff --git a/_pytest/python.py b/_pytest/python.py
index 3a28f7771..dcf2cccb0 100644
--- a/_pytest/python.py
+++ b/_pytest/python.py
@@ -1551,7 +1551,15 @@ class FixtureManager:
                 continue
             # fixture functions have a pytest_funcarg__ prefix (pre-2.3 style)
             # or are "@pytest.fixture" marked
-            marker = getattr(obj, "_pytestfixturefunction", None)
+            try:
+                marker = getattr(obj, "_pytestfixturefunction", None)
+            except RuntimeError:
+                # some proxy objects raise RuntimeError
+                # flasks request globals are one example
+                # those aren't fixture functions, so we can ignore
+                # XXX: maybe trace it when it happens?
+                marker = None
+
             if marker is None:
                 if not name.startswith(self._argprefix):
                     continue
diff --git a/testing/test_python.py b/testing/test_python.py
index 77c206f4c..3a09570f8 100644
--- a/testing/test_python.py
+++ b/testing/test_python.py
@@ -1611,6 +1611,34 @@ def test_funcarg_lookup_error(testdir):
     ])
     assert "INTERNAL" not in result.stdout.str()
 
+
+def test_funcarg_fixture_discovery_failure_issue214(testdir):
+    # some proxy objects raise RuntimeError on getattr
+    # for example flask.request
+    p = testdir.makepyfile("""
+
+        class EvilObject(object):
+            def __call__(self): 
+                #needed to trick discovery
+                pass
+            def __getattr__(self, arg):
+                raise RuntimeError('uhm ' + arg)
+
+
+        fixture = EvilObject()
+        
+        def test_1():
+            pass
+    """)
+    result = testdir.runpytest('--fulltrace')
+    result.stdout.fnmatch_lines([
+        '*1 passed*'
+    ])
+    assert "INTERNAL" not in result.stdout.str()
+    assert "ERROR" not in result.stdout.str()
+        
+
+
 class TestReportInfo:
     def test_itemreport_reportinfo(self, testdir, linecomp):
         testdir.makeconftest("""