diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/TypeConverterDelegate.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/TypeConverterDelegate.java
index 92ebc7c2a6a..ced0e15bfe8 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/TypeConverterDelegate.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/TypeConverterDelegate.java
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ package org.springframework.beans;
 import java.beans.PropertyDescriptor;
 import java.beans.PropertyEditor;
 import java.lang.reflect.Array;
-import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
+import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -214,6 +214,11 @@ class TypeConverterDelegate {
 							logger.trace("No String constructor found on type [" + requiredType.getName() + "]", ex);
 						}
 					}
+					catch (Exception ex) {
+						if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
+							logger.trace("Construction via String failed for type [" + requiredType.getName() + "]", ex);
+						}
+					}
 					String trimmedValue = ((String) convertedValue).trim();
 					if (requiredType.isEnum() && "".equals(trimmedValue)) {
 						// It's an empty enum identifier: reset the enum value to null.
diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/ui/format/date/DateFormatterTests.java b/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/ui/format/date/DateFormatterTests.java
index 8c12c709219..4214838d7e4 100644
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/ui/format/date/DateFormatterTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/ui/format/date/DateFormatterTests.java
@@ -1,17 +1,34 @@
-package org.springframework.ui.format.date;
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+package org.springframework.ui.format.date;
 
 import java.text.ParseException;
 import java.util.Calendar;
 import java.util.Locale;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import org.junit.Test;
-import org.springframework.ui.format.date.DateFormatter;
 
+/**
+ * @author Keith Donald
+ */
 public class DateFormatterTests {
 
-	private DateFormatter formatter = new DateFormatter();
+	private DateFormatter formatter = new DateFormatter("yyyy-MM-dd");
 	
 	@Test
 	public void formatValue() {