diff --git a/lib/Mojo/Base.pm b/lib/Mojo/Base.pm
index e515c27..f5ac282 100644
--- a/lib/Mojo/Base.pm
+++ b/lib/Mojo/Base.pm
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ sub attr {
     my $attrs   = shift;
     my $default = shift;

+    # to allow app->attr('foo') for Mojolicious::Lite apps instead of (ref app)->attr(...)
+    $class = ref $class || $class;
+
     # Check for more arguments
     Carp::croak('Attribute generator called with too many arguments') if @_;