diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheService.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheService.cs
index af53e4b65..db2f5a779 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheService.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheService.cs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ using Orchard.Environment.Configuration;
 namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
     /// <summary>
     /// Provides a per tenant <see cref="ICacheService"/> implementation.
-    /// Default timeout is 20 minutes.
     /// </summary>
     public class DefaultCacheService : ICacheService {
         private readonly ICacheStorageProvider _cacheStorageProvider;
@@ -17,7 +16,7 @@ namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
             _prefix = shellSettings.Name;
         }
 
-        public T Get<T>(string key) {
+        public object Get<T>(string key) {
             return _cacheStorageProvider.Get<T>(BuildFullKey(key));
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheStorageProvider.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheStorageProvider.cs
index c90e6e49d..a9db8a565 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheStorageProvider.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/DefaultCacheStorageProvider.cs
@@ -39,14 +39,16 @@ namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
             }
         }
 
-        public T Get<T>(string key) {
-            var value = _cache.Get(key) ;
+        public object Get<T>(string key) {
+            var value = _cache.Get(key);
 
+            // if the provided expression is non-null, and the provided object can 
+            // be cast to the provided type without causing an exception to be thrown
             if(value is T) {
                 return (T)value;
             }
 
-            return default(T);
+            return null;
         }
 
         private CacheItemPolicy GetCacheItemPolicy(DateTimeOffset absoluteExpiration) {
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheService.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheService.cs
index 03aeede41..f0437b4ec 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheService.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheService.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
     public interface ICacheService : IDependency {
-        T Get<T>(string key);
+        object Get<T>(string key);
 
         void Put<T>(string key, T value);
         void Put<T>(string key, T value, TimeSpan validFor);
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
     }
 
     public static class CachingExtensions {
-        public static T Get<T>(this ICacheService cacheService, string key, Func<T> factory) {
+        public static object Get<T>(this ICacheService cacheService, string key, Func<T> factory) {
             var result = cacheService.Get<T>(key);
+            
             if (result == null) {
                 var computed = factory();
                 cacheService.Put(key, computed);
@@ -24,8 +25,9 @@ namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
             return result;
         }
 
-        public static T Get<T>(this ICacheService cacheService, string key, Func<T> factory, TimeSpan validFor) {
+        public static object Get<T>(this ICacheService cacheService, string key, Func<T> factory, TimeSpan validFor) {
             var result = cacheService.Get<T>(key);
+            
             if (result == null) {
                 var computed = factory();
                 cacheService.Put(key, computed, validFor);
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheStorageProvider.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheStorageProvider.cs
index 60253600f..4be4dc974 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheStorageProvider.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Caching/Services/ICacheStorageProvider.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace Orchard.Caching.Services {
     public interface ICacheStorageProvider : IDependency {
-        T Get<T>(string key);
+        object Get<T>(string key);
         void Put<T>(string key, T value);
         void Put<T>(string key, T value, TimeSpan validFor);
         void Remove(string key);