diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java
index f759498dd75..f6fb83bce86 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ public class GenericConversionService implements ConversionService, ConverterReg
 		addGenericConverter(Collection.class, String.class, new CollectionToStringGenericConverter(this));
 		addGenericConverter(Collection.class, Object.class, new CollectionToObjectGenericConverter(this));
 		addGenericConverter(Map.class, Map.class, new MapToMapGenericConverter(this));
+		addGenericConverter(Map.class, String[].class, new MapToStringArrayGenericConverter(this));
 		addGenericConverter(String.class, Object[].class, new StringToArrayGenericConverter(this));
 		addGenericConverter(String.class, Collection.class, new StringToCollectionGenericConverter(this));
 		addGenericConverter(String.class, Map.class, new StringToMapGenericConverter(this));
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/MapToStringArrayGenericConverter.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/MapToStringArrayGenericConverter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4f710981717
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/MapToStringArrayGenericConverter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+package org.springframework.core.convert.support;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Array;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor;
+
+final class MapToStringArrayGenericConverter implements GenericConverter {
+
+	private final GenericConversionService conversionService;
+
+	public MapToStringArrayGenericConverter(GenericConversionService conversionService) {
+		this.conversionService = conversionService;
+	}
+
+	public Object convert(Object source, TypeDescriptor sourceType, TypeDescriptor targetType) {
+		Map sourceMap = (Map) source;
+		TypeDescriptor sourceKeyType = sourceType.getMapKeyTypeDescriptor();
+		TypeDescriptor sourceValueType = sourceType.getMapValueTypeDescriptor();		
+		TypeDescriptor targetElementType = targetType.getElementTypeDescriptor();
+		boolean keysCompatible = false;
+		if (sourceKeyType.isAssignableTo(targetElementType)) {
+			keysCompatible = true;
+		}
+		boolean valuesCompatible = false;
+		if (sourceValueType.isAssignableTo(targetElementType)) {
+			valuesCompatible = true;
+		}		
+		Object array = Array.newInstance(targetElementType.getType(), sourceMap.size());
+		MapEntryConverter converter = new MapEntryConverter(sourceKeyType, sourceValueType, targetElementType, targetElementType, keysCompatible, valuesCompatible, conversionService);		
+		int i = 0;
+		for (Object entry : sourceMap.entrySet()) {
+			Map.Entry mapEntry = (Map.Entry) entry;
+			Object key = mapEntry.getKey();
+			Object value = mapEntry.getValue();
+			String property = converter.convertKey(key) + "=" + converter.convertValue(value);
+			Array.set(array, i, property);
+			i++;
+		}
+		return array;		
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionServiceTests.java b/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionServiceTests.java
index d9f55108c27..9fd56fe004b 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionServiceTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionServiceTests.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -307,6 +308,29 @@ public class GenericConversionServiceTests {
 		assertEquals(FooEnum.BAZ, map.get(2));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void convertMapToStringArray() throws Exception {
+		Map<String, String> foo = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
+		foo.put("1", "BAR");
+		foo.put("2", "BAZ");
+		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToNumberConverterFactory());
+		String[] result = conversionService.convert(foo, String[].class);
+		assertEquals("1=BAR", result[0]);
+		assertEquals("2=BAZ", result[1]);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void convertMapToStringArrayWithElementConversion() throws Exception {
+		Map<Integer, FooEnum> foo = new LinkedHashMap<Integer, FooEnum>();
+		foo.put(1, FooEnum.BAR);
+		foo.put(2, FooEnum.BAZ);
+		conversionService.addConverter(new ObjectToStringConverter());
+		String[] result = (String[]) conversionService.convert(foo, new TypeDescriptor(getClass()
+				.getField("genericMap")), TypeDescriptor.valueOf(String[].class));
+		assertEquals("1=BAR", result[0]);
+		assertEquals("2=BAZ", result[1]);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void convertStringToArray() {
 		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToNumberConverterFactory());
@@ -403,8 +427,8 @@ public class GenericConversionServiceTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void convertStringArrayToMapWithElementConversion() throws Exception {
-		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToNumberConverterFactory());		
-		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToEnumConverterFactory());		
+		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToNumberConverterFactory());
+		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToEnumConverterFactory());
 		Map result = (Map) conversionService.convert(new String[] { "1=BAR", "2=BAZ" }, TypeDescriptor
 				.valueOf(String[].class), new TypeDescriptor(getClass().getField("genericMap")));
 		assertEquals(FooEnum.BAR, result.get(1));
@@ -421,10 +445,10 @@ public class GenericConversionServiceTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void convertStringToMapWithElementConversion() throws Exception {
-		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToNumberConverterFactory());		
-		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToEnumConverterFactory());		
-		Map result = (Map) conversionService.convert("1=BAR 2=BAZ", TypeDescriptor
-				.valueOf(String.class), new TypeDescriptor(getClass().getField("genericMap")));
+		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToNumberConverterFactory());
+		conversionService.addConverterFactory(new StringToEnumConverterFactory());
+		Map result = (Map) conversionService.convert("1=BAR 2=BAZ", TypeDescriptor.valueOf(String.class),
+				new TypeDescriptor(getClass().getField("genericMap")));
 		assertEquals(FooEnum.BAR, result.get(1));
 		assertEquals(FooEnum.BAZ, result.get(2));
 	}