diff --git a/scrapy_djangoitem/__init__.py b/scrapy_djangoitem/__init__.py
index dc28cc8..6604194 100644
--- a/scrapy_djangoitem/__init__.py
+++ b/scrapy_djangoitem/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 from scrapy.item import Field, Item, ItemMeta
 
 
-
 class DjangoItemMeta(ItemMeta):
 
     def __new__(mcs, class_name, bases, attrs):
@@ -11,13 +10,13 @@ def __new__(mcs, class_name, bases, attrs):
         cls.fields = cls.fields.copy()
 
         if cls.django_model:
-            cls._model_fields = []
+            cls._model_fields = {}
             cls._model_meta = cls.django_model._meta
             for model_field in cls._model_meta.fields:
                 if not model_field.auto_created:
                     if model_field.name not in cls.fields:
                         cls.fields[model_field.name] = Field()
-                    cls._model_fields.append(model_field.name)
+                    cls._model_fields[model_field.name] = model_field
         return cls
 
 
@@ -67,7 +66,12 @@ def _get_errors(self, exclude=None):
     @property
     def instance(self):
         if self._instance is None:
-            modelargs = dict((k, self.get(k)) for k in self._values
-                             if k in self._model_fields)
+            modelargs = {}
+            for k in self._values:
+                if k in self._model_fields:
+                    if self._model_fields[k].is_relation:
+                        modelargs[k] = self._model_fields[k].related_model(pk=self.get(k))
+                    else:
+                        modelargs[k] = self.get(k)
             self._instance = self.django_model(**modelargs)
         return self._instance
diff --git a/tests/models.py b/tests/models.py
index 7435727..f85eb9a 100644
--- a/tests/models.py
+++ b/tests/models.py
@@ -16,3 +16,12 @@ class IdentifiedPerson(models.Model):
 
     class Meta:
         app_label = 'test_djangoitem'
+
+
+class Property(models.Model):
+    person = models.ForeignKey(Person)
+    name = models.CharField(max_length=255)
+    description = models.TextField()
+
+    class Meta:
+        app_label = 'test_djangoitem'
diff --git a/tests/test_djangoitem.py b/tests/test_djangoitem.py
index 80897f5..1ee817e 100644
--- a/tests/test_djangoitem.py
+++ b/tests/test_djangoitem.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 django.setup()
 
 from scrapy_djangoitem import DjangoItem, Field
-from tests.models import Person, IdentifiedPerson
+from tests.models import Person, IdentifiedPerson, Property
 
 
 class BasePersonItem(DjangoItem):
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ class IdentifiedPersonItem(DjangoItem):
     django_model = IdentifiedPerson
 
 
+class PropertyItem(DjangoItem):
+    django_model = Property
+
+
 class DjangoItemTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def assertSortedEqual(self, first, second, msg=None):
@@ -100,3 +104,11 @@ def test_default_field_values(self):
         i = BasePersonItem()
         person = i.save(commit=False)
         self.assertEqual(person.name, 'Robot')
+
+    def test_foreign_key(self):
+        i = PropertyItem()
+        i['name'] = 'White House'
+        i['description'] = 'White House'
+        i['person'] = 1
+        p = i.save(commit=False)
+        self.assertTrue(p)