diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 82a22f4922c..09a4ff20a8d 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -766,6 +766,7 @@ configure(rootProject) {
 
 	apply plugin: "docbook-reference"
 	apply plugin: "groovy"
+	apply plugin: "detect-split-packages"
 	apply from: "${gradleScriptDir}/jdiff.gradle"
 
 	reference {
@@ -773,6 +774,10 @@ configure(rootProject) {
 		pdfFilename = "spring-framework-reference.pdf"
 	}
 
+	detectSplitPackages {
+		projectsToScan -= project(":spring-instrument-tomcat")
+	}
+
 	// don"t publish the default jar for the root project
 	configurations.archives.artifacts.clear()
 
@@ -973,6 +978,7 @@ configure(rootProject) {
 				"set GRADLE_OPTS=$gradleBatOpts %GRADLE_OPTS%\nset DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=")
 		}
 	}
+
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/build/gradle/DetectSplitPackagesPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/build/gradle/DetectSplitPackagesPlugin.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8b73878694e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/build/gradle/DetectSplitPackagesPlugin.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 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.build.gradle
+
+import org.gradle.api.DefaultTask
+import org.gradle.api.GradleException
+import org.gradle.api.Plugin
+import org.gradle.api.Project
+import org.gradle.api.Task
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.Input
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.TaskAction
+
+/**
+ * Gradle plugin that detects identically named, non-empty packages split across multiple
+ * subprojects, e.g. "org.springframework.context.annotation" existing in both spring-core
+ * and spring-aspects. Adds a 'detectSplitPackages' task to the current project's task
+ * collection. If the project already contains a 'check' task (i.e. is a typical Gradle
+ * project with the "java" plugin applied), the 'check' task will be updated to depend on
+ * the execution of 'detectSplitPackages'.
+ *
+ * By default, all subprojects will be scanned. Use the 'projectsToScan' task property to
+ * modify this value. Example usage:
+ *
+ *     apply plugin: 'detect-split-packages // typically applied to root project
+ *
+ *     detectSplitPackages {
+ *         packagesToScan -= project(":spring-xyz") // scan every project but spring-xyz
+ *     }
+ *
+ * @author Rob Winch
+ * @author Glyn Normington
+ * @author Chris Beams
+ */
+public class DetectSplitPackagesPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
+	public void apply(Project project) {
+		def tasks = project.tasks
+		Task detectSplitPackages = tasks.add('detectSplitPackages', DetectSplitPackagesTask.class)
+		if (tasks.asMap.containsKey('check')) {
+			tasks.getByName('check').dependsOn detectSplitPackages
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+public class DetectSplitPackagesTask extends DefaultTask {
+
+	private static final String JAVA_FILE_SUFFIX = ".java"
+	private static final String PACKAGE_SEPARATOR = "."
+	private static final String HIDDEN_DIRECTORY_PREFIX = "."
+
+	@Input
+	Set<Project> projectsToScan = project.subprojects
+
+	public DetectSplitPackagesTask() {
+		this.group = 'Verification'
+		this.description = 'Detects packages split across two or more subprojects.'
+	}
+
+	@TaskAction
+	public void detectSplitPackages() {
+		def splitPackages = doDetectSplitPackages()
+		if (!splitPackages.isEmpty()) {
+			def message = "The following split package(s) have been detected:\n"
+			splitPackages.each { pkg, mod ->
+				message += " - ${pkg} (split across ${mod[0].name} and ${mod[1].name})\n"
+			}
+			throw new GradleException(message)
+		}
+	}
+
+	private Map<String, List<Project>> doDetectSplitPackages() {
+		def splitPackages = [:]
+		def mergedProjects = findMergedProjects()
+		def packagesByProject = mapPackagesByProject()
+
+		def projects = packagesByProject.keySet().toArray()
+		def nProjects = projects.length
+
+		for (int i = 0; i < nProjects - 1; i++) {
+			for (int j = i + 1; j < nProjects - 1; j++) {
+				def prj_i = projects[i]
+				def prj_j = projects[j]
+
+				def pkgs_i = new HashSet(packagesByProject.get(prj_i))
+				def pkgs_j = packagesByProject.get(prj_j)
+				pkgs_i.retainAll(pkgs_j)
+
+				if (!pkgs_i.isEmpty()
+						&& mergedProjects.get(prj_i) != prj_j
+						&& mergedProjects.get(prj_j) != prj_i) {
+					pkgs_i.each { pkg ->
+						def readablePkg = pkg.substring(1).replaceAll(File.separator, PACKAGE_SEPARATOR)
+						splitPackages[readablePkg] = [prj_i, prj_j]
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return splitPackages;
+	}
+
+	private Map<Project, Set<String>> mapPackagesByProject() {
+		def packagesByProject = [:]
+		this.projectsToScan.each { Project p ->
+			def packages = new HashSet<String>()
+			p.sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs.each { File dir ->
+				findPackages(packages, dir, "")
+			}
+			if (!packages.isEmpty()) {
+				packagesByProject.put(p, packages)
+			}
+		}
+		return packagesByProject;
+	}
+
+	private Map<Project, Project> findMergedProjects() {
+		def mergedProjects = [:]
+		this.projectsToScan.findAll { p ->
+			p.plugins.findPlugin(MergePlugin)
+		}.findAll { p ->
+			p.merge.into
+		}.each { p ->
+			mergedProjects.put(p, p.merge.into)
+		}
+		return mergedProjects
+	}
+
+	private static void findPackages(Set<String> packages, File dir, String packagePath) {
+		def scanDir = new File(dir, packagePath)
+		def File[] javaFiles = scanDir.listFiles({ file ->
+			!file.isDirectory() && file.name.endsWith(JAVA_FILE_SUFFIX)
+		} as FileFilter)
+
+		if (javaFiles != null && javaFiles.length != 0) {
+			packages.add(packagePath)
+		}
+
+		scanDir.listFiles({ File file ->
+			file.isDirectory() && !file.name.startsWith(HIDDEN_DIRECTORY_PREFIX)
+		} as FileFilter).each { File subDir ->
+			findPackages(packages, dir, packagePath + File.separator + subDir.name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/resources/META-INF/gradle-plugins/detect-split-packages.properties b/buildSrc/src/main/resources/META-INF/gradle-plugins/detect-split-packages.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..10b1e4e981d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/resources/META-INF/gradle-plugins/detect-split-packages.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+implementation-class=org.springframework.build.gradle.DetectSplitPackagesPlugin