diff --git a/org.springframework.expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/common/CompositeStringExpression.java b/org.springframework.expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/common/CompositeStringExpression.java
index 8a1667f900d..e31c3612883 100644
--- a/org.springframework.expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/common/CompositeStringExpression.java
+++ b/org.springframework.expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/common/CompositeStringExpression.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor;
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationException;
 import org.springframework.expression.Expression;
-import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 
 /**
  * Represents a template expression broken into pieces. Each piece will be an Expression but pure text parts to the
@@ -58,7 +57,21 @@ public class CompositeStringExpression implements Expression {
 	public String getValue() throws EvaluationException {
 		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
 		for (Expression expression : this.expressions) {
-			sb.append(ObjectUtils.getDisplayString(expression.getValue()));
+			String value = expression.getValue(String.class);
+			if (value != null) {
+				sb.append(value);
+			}	
+		}
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
+
+	public String getValue(Object rootObject) throws EvaluationException {
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+		for (Expression expression : this.expressions) {
+			String value = expression.getValue(rootObject, String.class);
+			if (value != null) {
+				sb.append(value);
+			}	
 		}
 		return sb.toString();
 	}
@@ -66,19 +79,24 @@ public class CompositeStringExpression implements Expression {
 	public String getValue(EvaluationContext context) throws EvaluationException {
 		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
 		for (Expression expression : this.expressions) {
-			sb.append(ObjectUtils.getDisplayString(expression.getValue(context)));
-		}
-		return sb.toString();
-	}
-	
-	public String getValue(Object rootObject) throws EvaluationException {
-		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-		for (Expression expression : this.expressions) {
-			sb.append(ObjectUtils.getDisplayString(expression.getValue(rootObject)));
+			String value = expression.getValue(context, String.class);
+			if (value != null) {
+				sb.append(value);
+			}
 		}
 		return sb.toString();
 	}
 
+	public String getValue(EvaluationContext context, Object rootObject) throws EvaluationException {
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+		for (Expression expression : this.expressions) {
+			String value = expression.getValue(context, rootObject, String.class);
+			if (value != null) {
+				sb.append(value);
+			}				
+		}
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
 
 	public Class getValueType(EvaluationContext context) {
 		return String.class;
@@ -124,14 +142,6 @@ public class CompositeStringExpression implements Expression {
 		return ExpressionUtils.convert(null, value, desiredResultType);
 	}
 
-	public String getValue(EvaluationContext context, Object rootObject) throws EvaluationException {
-		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-		for (Expression expression : this.expressions) {
-			sb.append(ObjectUtils.getDisplayString(expression.getValue(context,rootObject)));
-		}
-		return sb.toString();
-	}
-
 	public <T> T getValue(EvaluationContext context, Object rootObject, Class<T> desiredResultType)
 			throws EvaluationException {
 		Object value = getValue(context,rootObject);