diff --git a/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/ContextConfiguration.java b/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/ContextConfiguration.java
index 377cbc910cb..b256a5e2916 100644
--- a/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/ContextConfiguration.java
+++ b/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/ContextConfiguration.java
@@ -45,6 +45,13 @@ public @interface ContextConfiguration {
 	 */
 	String[] locations() default {};
 
+	/**
+	 * Alias for {@link #locations()}.
+	 * 
+	 * @since 3.0
+	 */
+	String[] value() default {};
+
 	/**
 	 * Whether or not {@link #locations() resource locations} from superclasses
 	 * should be <em>inherited</em>.
diff --git a/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContext.java b/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContext.java
index 65d5555ea51..575d14b4f0f 100644
--- a/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContext.java
+++ b/org.springframework.test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContext.java
@@ -184,7 +184,25 @@ public class TestContext extends AttributeAccessorSupport {
 				logger.trace("Retrieved @ContextConfiguration [" + contextConfiguration + "] for declaring class ["
 						+ declaringClass + "]");
 			}
-			String[] locations = contextLoader.processLocations(declaringClass, contextConfiguration.locations());
+
+			String[] valueLocations = contextConfiguration.value();
+			String[] locations = contextConfiguration.locations();
+			if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(valueLocations) && !ObjectUtils.isEmpty(locations)) {
+				String msg = "Test class ["
+						+ declaringClass
+						+ "] has been configured with @ContextConfiguration's 'value' ["
+						+ ObjectUtils.nullSafeToString(valueLocations)
+						+ "] and 'locations' ["
+						+ ObjectUtils.nullSafeToString(locations)
+						+ "] attributes. Only one declaration of resource locations is permitted per @ContextConfiguration annotation.";
+				logger.error(msg);
+				throw new IllegalStateException(msg);
+			}
+			else if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(valueLocations)) {
+				locations = valueLocations;
+			}
+
+			locations = contextLoader.processLocations(declaringClass, locations);
 			locationsList.addAll(0, Arrays.<String> asList(locations));
 			declaringClass = contextConfiguration.inheritLocations() ? AnnotationUtils.findAnnotationDeclaringClass(
 				annotationType, declaringClass.getSuperclass()) : null;
diff --git a/org.springframework.test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.java b/org.springframework.test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.java
index ea739e24c58..3790fc2188d 100644
--- a/org.springframework.test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2007 the original author or authors.
+ * 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.
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package org.springframework.test.context.junit4;
 
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
-
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.util.ResourceUtils;
 
@@ -25,13 +24,19 @@ import org.springframework.util.ResourceUtils;
  * Extension of {@link SpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests}, which verifies that
  * we can specify multiple resource locations for our application context, each
  * configured differently.
- *
+ * <p>
+ * As of Spring 3.0,
+ * <code>MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests</code> is also used
+ * to verify support for the new <code>value</code> attribute alias for
+ * <code>&#064;ContextConfiguration</code>'s <code>locations</code> attribute.
+ * </p>
+ * 
  * @author Sam Brannen
  * @since 2.5
  * @see SpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests
  */
 @RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
-@ContextConfiguration(locations = { MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.CLASSPATH_RESOURCE_PATH,
+@ContextConfiguration( { MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.CLASSPATH_RESOURCE_PATH,
 	MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.LOCAL_RESOURCE_PATH,
 	MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests.ABSOLUTE_RESOURCE_PATH })
 public class MultipleResourcesSpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests extends SpringJUnit4ClassRunnerAppCtxTests {