diff --git a/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Security/AuthorizeAttributeAclModule.cs b/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Security/AuthorizeAttributeAclModule.cs
index a3bd4a89..f0579d23 100644
--- a/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Security/AuthorizeAttributeAclModule.cs
+++ b/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Security/AuthorizeAttributeAclModule.cs
@@ -112,10 +112,16 @@ protected virtual bool VerifyController(ISiteMapNode node, RouteData routes, Typ
             var controllerContext = this.CreateControllerContext(node, routes, controllerType, controllerFactory, out factoryBuiltController);
             try
             {
+                // Fixes #271 - set controller's ControllerContext property for MVC
+                controllerContext.Controller.ControllerContext = controllerContext;
+
                 return this.VerifyControllerAttributes(node, controllerType, controllerContext);
             }
             finally
             {
+                // Release the circular reference between Controller-ControllerContext, so it can be GC'd
+                controllerContext.Controller.ControllerContext = null;
+
                 // Release controller
                 if (factoryBuiltController)
                     controllerFactory.ReleaseController(controllerContext.Controller);
diff --git a/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Web/Mvc/MvcContextFactory.cs b/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Web/Mvc/MvcContextFactory.cs
index ad6a3004..e94d8d36 100644
--- a/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Web/Mvc/MvcContextFactory.cs
+++ b/src/MvcSiteMapProvider/MvcSiteMapProvider/Web/Mvc/MvcContextFactory.cs
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ public virtual RequestContext CreateRequestContext()
 
         public virtual ControllerContext CreateControllerContext(RequestContext requestContext, ControllerBase controller)
         {
+            if (requestContext == null)
+                throw new ArgumentNullException("requestContext");
+            if (controller == null)
+                throw new ArgumentNullException("controller");
+
             return new ControllerContext(requestContext, controller);
         }
 
@@ -73,6 +78,11 @@ public virtual IUrlHelper CreateUrlHelper()
 
         public virtual AuthorizationContext CreateAuthorizationContext(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor)
         {
+            if (controllerContext == null)
+                throw new ArgumentNullException("controllerContext");
+            if (actionDescriptor == null)
+                throw new ArgumentNullException("actionDescriptor");
+
             return new AuthorizationContext(controllerContext, actionDescriptor);
         }