diff --git a/org.springframework.oxm/src/main/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2Marshaller.java b/org.springframework.oxm/src/main/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2Marshaller.java
index a98c2a6acdd..6720d512da6 100644
--- a/org.springframework.oxm/src/main/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2Marshaller.java
+++ b/org.springframework.oxm/src/main/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2Marshaller.java
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public class Jaxb2Marshaller
 	 * Set multiple JAXB context paths. The given array of context paths is converted to a
 	 * colon-delimited string, as supported by JAXB.
 	 */
-	public void setContextPaths(String[] contextPaths) {
+	public void setContextPaths(String... contextPaths) {
 		Assert.notEmpty(contextPaths, "'contextPaths' must not be empty");
 		this.contextPath = StringUtils.arrayToDelimitedString(contextPaths, ":");
 	}
@@ -193,7 +193,8 @@ public class Jaxb2Marshaller
 	 * Set the list of Java classes to be recognized by a newly created JAXBContext.
 	 * Setting this property or {@link #setContextPath "contextPath"} is required.
 	 */
-	public void setClassesToBeBound(Class<?>[] classesToBeBound) {
+	public void setClassesToBeBound(Class<?>... classesToBeBound) {
+		Assert.notEmpty(classesToBeBound, "'classesToBeBound' must not be empty");
 		this.classesToBeBound = classesToBeBound;
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2MarshallerTests.java b/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2MarshallerTests.java
index 0e9771dbe96..96094c8a480 100644
--- a/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2MarshallerTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2MarshallerTests.java
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ public class Jaxb2MarshallerTests extends AbstractMarshallerTests {
 	@Test(expected = XmlMappingException.class)
 	public void marshalInvalidClass() throws Exception {
 		Jaxb2Marshaller marshaller = new Jaxb2Marshaller();
-		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(new Class[]{FlightType.class});
+		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(FlightType.class);
 		marshaller.afterPropertiesSet();
 		Result result = new StreamResult(new StringWriter());
 		Flights flights = new Flights();
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ public class Jaxb2MarshallerTests extends AbstractMarshallerTests {
 	@Test
 	public void supportsClassesToBeBound() throws Exception {
 		marshaller = new Jaxb2Marshaller();
-		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(new Class[]{Flights.class, FlightType.class});
+		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(Flights.class, FlightType.class);
 		marshaller.afterPropertiesSet();
 		testSupports();
 	}
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ public class Jaxb2MarshallerTests extends AbstractMarshallerTests {
 	@Test
 	public void supportsXmlRootElement() throws Exception {
 		marshaller = new Jaxb2Marshaller();
-		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(new Class[]{DummyRootElement.class, DummyType.class});
+		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(DummyRootElement.class, DummyType.class);
 		marshaller.afterPropertiesSet();
 		assertTrue("Jaxb2Marshaller does not support XmlRootElement class", marshaller.supports(DummyRootElement.class));
 		assertTrue("Jaxb2Marshaller does not support XmlRootElement generic type", marshaller.supports((Type)DummyRootElement.class));
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ public class Jaxb2MarshallerTests extends AbstractMarshallerTests {
 	@Test
 	public void marshalAttachments() throws Exception {
 		marshaller = new Jaxb2Marshaller();
-		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(new Class[]{BinaryObject.class});
+		marshaller.setClassesToBeBound(BinaryObject.class);
 		marshaller.setMtomEnabled(true);
 		marshaller.afterPropertiesSet();
 		MimeContainer mimeContainer = createMock(MimeContainer.class);
diff --git a/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2UnmarshallerTests.java b/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2UnmarshallerTests.java
index 95482cbe68e..8b4ce76a802 100644
--- a/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2UnmarshallerTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.oxm/src/test/java/org/springframework/oxm/jaxb/Jaxb2UnmarshallerTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public class Jaxb2UnmarshallerTests extends AbstractUnmarshallerTests {
 	@Test
 	public void marshalAttachments() throws Exception {
 		unmarshaller = new Jaxb2Marshaller();
-		unmarshaller.setClassesToBeBound(new Class[]{BinaryObject.class});
+		unmarshaller.setClassesToBeBound(BinaryObject.class);
 		unmarshaller.setMtomEnabled(true);
 		unmarshaller.afterPropertiesSet();
 		MimeContainer mimeContainer = createMock(MimeContainer.class);
diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/converter/xml/MarshallingHttpMessageConverter.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/converter/xml/MarshallingHttpMessageConverter.java
index 97770b6e68e..a5709921670 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/converter/xml/MarshallingHttpMessageConverter.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/converter/xml/MarshallingHttpMessageConverter.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import javax.xml.transform.Result;
 import javax.xml.transform.Source;
 
+import org.springframework.beans.TypeMismatchException;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpHeaders;
 import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotReadableException;
 import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotWritableException;
@@ -110,7 +111,11 @@ public class MarshallingHttpMessageConverter extends AbstractXmlHttpMessageConve
 	protected Object readFromSource(Class<?> clazz, HttpHeaders headers, Source source) throws IOException {
 		Assert.notNull(this.unmarshaller, "Property 'unmarshaller' is required");
 		try {
-			return this.unmarshaller.unmarshal(source);
+			Object result = this.unmarshaller.unmarshal(source);
+			if (!clazz.isInstance(result)) {
+				throw new TypeMismatchException(result, clazz);
+			}
+			return result;
 		}
 		catch (UnmarshallingFailureException ex) {
 			throw new HttpMessageNotReadableException("Could not read [" + clazz + "]", ex);