diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 458e55a..dcde3f7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 ### Changed
 
 ### Fixed
+- Stopped an issue of primary_key detection failing due to invalid attribute types being passed in (`.to_sym` occurs earlier)
 
 ### Security
 
diff --git a/lib/testing_record/model.rb b/lib/testing_record/model.rb
index 9cff562..6c96a3e 100644
--- a/lib/testing_record/model.rb
+++ b/lib/testing_record/model.rb
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ class << self
       #
       # @return [TestingRecord::Model]
       def create(attributes)
+        attributes.transform_keys!(&:to_sym)
         if respond_to?(:all)
           create_with_caching(attributes)
         else
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ def delete_by_id(id)
       def create_with_caching(attributes)
         ensure_primary_key_presence(attributes)
         ensure_deduplication(attributes)
-        new(attributes.transform_keys(&:to_sym)).tap do |entity|
+        new(attributes).tap do |entity|
           configure_data(entity, attributes)
           add_helpers(attributes) if entity.class.instance_variable_get(:@include_helpers)
           cache_entity(entity)
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ def create_with_caching(attributes)
 
       def create_without_caching(attributes)
         ensure_primary_key_presence(attributes)
-        new(attributes.transform_keys(&:to_sym)).tap do |entity|
+        new(attributes).tap do |entity|
           configure_data(entity, attributes)
           add_helpers(attributes) if entity.class.instance_variable_get(:@include_helpers)
         end