diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/AbstractStaxXMLReader.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/AbstractStaxXMLReader.java
index 379436d1b08..46bbe39b1af 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/AbstractStaxXMLReader.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/AbstractStaxXMLReader.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 package org.springframework.util.xml;
 
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 import javax.xml.stream.Location;
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ abstract class AbstractStaxXMLReader extends AbstractXMLReader {
 
 	private Boolean isStandalone;
 
+	private final Map<String, String> namespaces = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
 
 	@Override
 	public boolean getFeature(String name) throws SAXNotRecognizedException, SAXNotSupportedException {
@@ -169,6 +172,37 @@ abstract class AbstractStaxXMLReader extends AbstractXMLReader {
 	 */
 	protected abstract void parseInternal() throws SAXException, XMLStreamException;
 
+	/**
+	 * Starts the prefix mapping for the given prefix.
+	 * @see org.xml.sax.ContentHandler#startPrefixMapping(String, String)
+	 */
+	protected void startPrefixMapping(String prefix, String namespace) throws SAXException {
+		if (getContentHandler() != null) {
+			if (prefix == null) {
+				prefix = "";
+			}
+			if (!StringUtils.hasLength(namespace)) {
+				return;
+			}
+			if (!namespace.equals(namespaces.get(prefix))) {
+				getContentHandler().startPrefixMapping(prefix, namespace);
+				namespaces.put(prefix, namespace);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Ends the prefix mapping for the given prefix.
+	 * @see org.xml.sax.ContentHandler#endPrefixMapping(String)
+	 */
+	protected void endPrefixMapping(String prefix) throws SAXException {
+		if (getContentHandler() != null) {
+			if (namespaces.containsKey(prefix)) {
+				getContentHandler().endPrefixMapping(prefix);
+				namespaces.remove(prefix);
+			}
+		}
+	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Implementation of the <code>Locator</code> interface that is based on a StAX <code>Location</code>.
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxEventXMLReader.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxEventXMLReader.java
index af667773cb3..9fdd05ae7a8 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxEventXMLReader.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxEventXMLReader.java
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 package org.springframework.util.xml;
 
 import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 import javax.xml.stream.Location;
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLEventReader;
@@ -61,6 +63,8 @@ class StaxEventXMLReader extends AbstractStaxXMLReader {
 
 	private final XMLEventReader reader;
 
+	private final Map<String, String> namespaces = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
+
 	private String xmlVersion = DEFAULT_XML_VERSION;
 
 	private String encoding;
@@ -199,19 +203,12 @@ class StaxEventXMLReader extends AbstractStaxXMLReader {
 			if (hasNamespacesFeature()) {
 				for (Iterator i = startElement.getNamespaces(); i.hasNext();) {
 					Namespace namespace = (Namespace) i.next();
-					getContentHandler().startPrefixMapping(namespace.getPrefix(), namespace.getNamespaceURI());
+					startPrefixMapping(namespace.getPrefix(), namespace.getNamespaceURI());
 				}
 				for (Iterator i = startElement.getAttributes(); i.hasNext();){
 					Attribute attribute = (Attribute) i.next();
-					String prefix = attribute.getName().getPrefix();
-					if (prefix == null) {
-						prefix = "";
-					}
-					String namespace = attribute.getName().getNamespaceURI();
-					if (namespace == null) {
-						continue;
-					}
-					getContentHandler().startPrefixMapping(prefix, namespace);
+					QName attributeName = attribute.getName();
+					startPrefixMapping(attributeName.getPrefix(), attributeName.getNamespaceURI());
 				}
 
 				getContentHandler().startElement(qName.getNamespaceURI(), qName.getLocalPart(), toQualifiedName(qName),
@@ -247,7 +244,7 @@ class StaxEventXMLReader extends AbstractStaxXMLReader {
 				getContentHandler().endElement(qName.getNamespaceURI(), qName.getLocalPart(), toQualifiedName(qName));
 				for (Iterator i = endElement.getNamespaces(); i.hasNext();) {
 					Namespace namespace = (Namespace) i.next();
-					getContentHandler().endPrefixMapping(namespace.getPrefix());
+					endPrefixMapping(namespace.getPrefix());
 				}
 			}
 			else {
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxStreamXMLReader.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxStreamXMLReader.java
index 1168dd1f044..035fa54fa4d 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxStreamXMLReader.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/xml/StaxStreamXMLReader.java
@@ -178,22 +178,14 @@ class StaxStreamXMLReader extends AbstractStaxXMLReader {
 			QName qName = reader.getName();
 			if (hasNamespacesFeature()) {
 				for (int i = 0; i < reader.getNamespaceCount(); i++) {
-					String prefix = reader.getNamespacePrefix(i);
-					if (prefix == null) {
-						prefix = "";
-					}
-					getContentHandler().startPrefixMapping(prefix, reader.getNamespaceURI(i));
+					startPrefixMapping(reader.getNamespacePrefix(i), reader.getNamespaceURI(i));
 				}
 				for (int i = 0; i < reader.getAttributeCount(); i++) {
 					String prefix = reader.getAttributePrefix(i);
-					if (prefix == null) {
-						prefix = "";
-					}
 					String namespace = reader.getAttributeNamespace(i);
-					if (namespace == null) {
-						continue;
+					if (StringUtils.hasLength(namespace)) {
+						startPrefixMapping(prefix, namespace);
 					}
-					getContentHandler().startPrefixMapping(prefix, namespace);
 				}
 				getContentHandler().startElement(qName.getNamespaceURI(), qName.getLocalPart(), toQualifiedName(qName),
 						getAttributes());
@@ -214,7 +206,7 @@ class StaxStreamXMLReader extends AbstractStaxXMLReader {
 					if (prefix == null) {
 						prefix = "";
 					}
-					getContentHandler().endPrefixMapping(prefix);
+					endPrefixMapping(prefix);
 				}
 			}
 			else {