diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java
index 827ce97566a..eee0e160c62 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.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.
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		NodeList nl = ele.getChildNodes();
 		for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 			Node node = nl.item(i);
-			if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, META_ELEMENT)) {
+			if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, META_ELEMENT)) {
 				Element metaElement = (Element) node;
 				String key = metaElement.getAttribute(KEY_ATTRIBUTE);
 				String value = metaElement.getAttribute(VALUE_ATTRIBUTE);
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		NodeList nl = beanEle.getChildNodes();
 		for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 			Node node = nl.item(i);
-			if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, CONSTRUCTOR_ARG_ELEMENT)) {
+			if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, CONSTRUCTOR_ARG_ELEMENT)) {
 				parseConstructorArgElement((Element) node, bd);
 			}
 		}
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		NodeList nl = beanEle.getChildNodes();
 		for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 			Node node = nl.item(i);
-			if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, PROPERTY_ELEMENT)) {
+			if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, PROPERTY_ELEMENT)) {
 				parsePropertyElement((Element) node, bd);
 			}
 		}
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		NodeList nl = beanEle.getChildNodes();
 		for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 			Node node = nl.item(i);
-			if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, QUALIFIER_ELEMENT)) {
+			if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, QUALIFIER_ELEMENT)) {
 				parseQualifierElement((Element) node, bd);
 			}
 		}
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		NodeList nl = beanEle.getChildNodes();
 		for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 			Node node = nl.item(i);
-			if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, LOOKUP_METHOD_ELEMENT)) {
+			if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, LOOKUP_METHOD_ELEMENT)) {
 				Element ele = (Element) node;
 				String methodName = ele.getAttribute(NAME_ATTRIBUTE);
 				String beanRef = ele.getAttribute(BEAN_ELEMENT);
@@ -737,7 +737,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		NodeList nl = beanEle.getChildNodes();
 		for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 			Node node = nl.item(i);
-			if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, REPLACED_METHOD_ELEMENT)) {
+			if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, REPLACED_METHOD_ELEMENT)) {
 				Element replacedMethodEle = (Element) node;
 				String name = replacedMethodEle.getAttribute(NAME_ATTRIBUTE);
 				String callback = replacedMethodEle.getAttribute(REPLACER_ATTRIBUTE);
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 			NodeList nl = ele.getChildNodes();
 			for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 				Node node = nl.item(i);
-				if (node instanceof Element && nodeNameEquals(node, QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE_ELEMENT)) {
+				if (isDefaultElement(node) && nodeNameEquals(node, QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE_ELEMENT)) {
 					Element attributeEle = (Element) node;
 					String attributeName = attributeEle.getAttribute(KEY_ATTRIBUTE);
 					String attributeValue = attributeEle.getAttribute(VALUE_ATTRIBUTE);
@@ -952,7 +952,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 	 * <code>&lt;value&gt;</code> tag that might be created
 	 */
 	public Object parsePropertySubElement(Element ele, BeanDefinition bd, String defaultValueType) {
-		if (!isDefaultNamespace(getNamespaceURI(ele))) {
+		if (!isDefaultNamespace(ele)) {
 			return parseNestedCustomElement(ele, bd);
 		}
 		else if (nodeNameEquals(ele, BEAN_ELEMENT)) {
@@ -1384,10 +1384,6 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		return originalDef;
 	}
 
-	public boolean isDefaultNamespace(String namespaceUri) {
-		return (!StringUtils.hasLength(namespaceUri) || BEANS_NAMESPACE_URI.equals(namespaceUri));
-	}
-
 	private BeanDefinitionHolder parseNestedCustomElement(Element ele, BeanDefinition containingBd) {
 		BeanDefinition innerDefinition = parseCustomElement(ele, containingBd);
 		if (innerDefinition == null) {
@@ -1404,8 +1400,9 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		return new BeanDefinitionHolder(innerDefinition, id);
 	}
 
+
 	/**
-	 * Gets the namespace URI for the supplied node. The default implementation uses {@link Node#getNamespaceURI}.
+	 * Get the namespace URI for the supplied node. The default implementation uses {@link Node#getNamespaceURI}.
 	 * Subclasses may override the default implementation to provide a different namespace identification mechanism.
 	 * @param node the node
 	 * @return the namespace URI of the the node.
@@ -1415,7 +1412,17 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Determines whether the name of the supplied node is equal to the supplied name.
+	 * Ges the local name for the supplied {@link Node}. The default implementation calls {@link Node#getLocalName}.
+	 * Subclasses may override the default implementation to provide a different mechanism for getting the local name.
+	 * @param node the <code>Node</code>
+	 * @return the local name of the supplied <code>Node</code>.
+	 */
+	public String getLocalName(Node node) {
+		return node.getLocalName();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Determine whether the name of the supplied node is equal to the supplied name.
 	 * The default implementation checks the supplied desired name against both {@link Node#getNodeName)
 	 * and {@link #getLoclName}.
 	 * Subclasses may override the default implementation to provide a different mechanism for comparing node names.
@@ -1427,13 +1434,16 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		return desiredName.equals(node.getNodeName()) || desiredName.equals(getLocalName(node));
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Gets the local name for the supplied {@link Node}. The default implementation calls {@link Node#getLocalName}.
-	 * Subclasses may override the default implementation to provide a different mechanism for getting the local name.
-	 * @param node the <code>Node</code>
-	 * @return the local name of the supplied <code>Node</code>.
-	 */
-	public String getLocalName(Node node) {
-		return node.getLocalName();
+	public boolean isDefaultNamespace(String namespaceUri) {
+		return (!StringUtils.hasLength(namespaceUri) || BEANS_NAMESPACE_URI.equals(namespaceUri));
 	}
+
+	public boolean isDefaultNamespace(Node node) {
+		return isDefaultNamespace(getNamespaceURI(node));
+	}
+
+	private boolean isDefaultElement(Node node) {
+		return (node instanceof Element && isDefaultNamespace(node));
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
index 300fe225b44..e5447ada681 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.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.
@@ -122,14 +122,13 @@ public class DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader implements BeanDefinitionDocume
 	 * @param root the DOM root element of the document
 	 */
 	protected void parseBeanDefinitions(Element root, BeanDefinitionParserDelegate delegate) {
-		if (delegate.isDefaultNamespace(delegate.getNamespaceURI(root))) {
+		if (delegate.isDefaultNamespace(root)) {
 			NodeList nl = root.getChildNodes();
 			for (int i = 0; i < nl.getLength(); i++) {
 				Node node = nl.item(i);
 				if (node instanceof Element) {
 					Element ele = (Element) node;
-					String namespaceUri = delegate.getNamespaceURI(ele);
-					if (delegate.isDefaultNamespace(namespaceUri)) {
+					if (delegate.isDefaultNamespace(ele)) {
 						parseDefaultElement(ele, delegate);
 					}
 					else {