diff --git a/doc/reference.rst b/doc/reference.rst
index 596b1ea..015ae0d 100644
--- a/doc/reference.rst
+++ b/doc/reference.rst
@@ -169,6 +169,21 @@ to a plain attribute:
               from typos in the code (:exc:`AttributeError` would be raised), whereas
               raw strings provide no such guarantee.
 
+  - Easily setting the current value::
+
+      >>> obj.state = MyWorkflow.states.ready
+      >>> obj.state.is_ready
+      True
+
+      >>> # Setting from a state name is also possible
+      >>> obj.state = 'ready'
+      >>> obj.state.is_ready
+      True
+
+    .. note:: Setting the state without going through transitions defeats the goal of
+              xworkflows; this feature should only be used for faster testing or when
+              saving/restoring objects from external storage.
+
 
 Using transitions
 -----------------
diff --git a/tests/test_base.py b/tests/test_base.py
index 5e5a15a..71c59cc 100644
--- a/tests/test_base.py
+++ b/tests/test_base.py
@@ -141,6 +141,53 @@ def test_representation(self):
         self.assertEqual(hash(self.foo.name), hash(self.sf))
 
 
+class WorkflowEnabledTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(WorkflowEnabledTestCase, self).setUp()
+
+        class MyWorkflow(base.Workflow):
+            states = (
+                ('foo', "Foo"),
+                ('bar', "Bar"),
+                ('baz', "Baz"),
+            )
+            transitions = (
+                ('foobar', 'foo', 'bar'),
+                ('gobaz', ('foo', 'bar'), 'baz'),
+                ('bazbar', 'baz', 'bar'),
+            )
+            initial_state = 'foo'
+
+        class MyWorkflowEnabled(base.WorkflowEnabled):
+            state = MyWorkflow()
+
+        self.foo = MyWorkflow.states.foo
+        self.bar = MyWorkflow.states.bar
+        self.wf = MyWorkflow
+        self.wfe = MyWorkflowEnabled
+
+    def test_access_state(self):
+        obj = self.wfe()
+        self.assertEqual(self.foo, obj.state)
+        self.assertTrue(obj.state.is_foo)
+        self.assertFalse(obj.state.is_bar)
+
+        obj.state = self.bar
+
+        self.assertEqual(self.bar, obj.state)
+        self.assertTrue(obj.state.is_bar)
+        self.assertFalse(obj.state.is_foo)
+
+    def test_compare_state_text(self):
+        obj = self.wfe()
+
+        obj.state = 'bar'
+
+        self.assertEqual(self.bar, obj.state)
+        self.assertTrue(obj.state.is_bar)
+        self.assertFalse(obj.state.is_foo)
+
+
 class ImplementationPropertyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/xworkflows/base.py b/xworkflows/base.py
index 87ceb69..673f77a 100644
--- a/xworkflows/base.py
+++ b/xworkflows/base.py
@@ -67,8 +67,11 @@ def __getattr__(self, name):
     def __len__(self):
         return len(self._states)
 
-    def __getitem__(self, name):
-        return self._states[name]
+    def __getitem__(self, name_or_state):
+        if isinstance(name_or_state, State):
+            return self._states[name_or_state.name]
+        else:
+            return self._states[name_or_state]
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return '%s(%r)' % (self.__class__.__name__, self._states)
@@ -883,7 +886,7 @@ def __init__(self, state, workflow):
     def __eq__(self, other):
         if isinstance(other, self.__class__):
             return self.state == other.state
-        if isinstance(other, State):
+        elif isinstance(other, State):
             return self.state == other
         elif is_string(other):
             return self.state.name == other
@@ -941,10 +944,12 @@ def __get__(self, instance, owner):
 
     def __set__(self, instance, value):
         """Set the current state of the 'instance' object."""
-        if not value in self.workflow.states:
+        try:
+            state = self.workflow.states[value]
+        except KeyError:
             raise ValueError("Value %s is not a valid state for workflow %s." %
                     (value, self.workflow))
-        instance.__dict__[self.field_name] = value
+        instance.__dict__[self.field_name] = state
 
     def __str__(self):
         return 'StateProperty(%s, %s)' % (self.workflow, self.field_name)