diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolver.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolver.java
index 596a925ebdf..211b7d41984 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolver.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolver.java
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public abstract class GenericTypeResolver {
 	 * the given target class which is assumed to implement the generic interface
 	 * and possibly declare a concrete type for its type variable.
 	 * @param clazz the target class to check against
-	 * @param genericIfc the generic interface to resolve the type argument from
+	 * @param genericIfc the generic interface or superclass to resolve the type argument from
 	 * @return the resolved type of the argument, or <code>null</code> if not resolvable
 	 */
 	public static Class<?> resolveTypeArgument(Class clazz, Class genericIfc) {
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ public abstract class GenericTypeResolver {
 	 * target class which is assumed to implement the generic interface and possibly
 	 * declare concrete types for its type variables.
 	 * @param clazz the target class to check against
-	 * @param genericIfc the generic interface to resolve the type argument from
+	 * @param genericIfc the generic interface or superclass to resolve the type argument from
 	 * @return the resolved type of each argument, with the array size matching the
 	 * number of actual type arguments, or <code>null</code> if not resolvable
 	 */
@@ -137,26 +137,20 @@ public abstract class GenericTypeResolver {
 
 	private static Class[] doResolveTypeArguments(Class ownerClass, Class classToIntrospect, Class genericIfc) {
 		while (classToIntrospect != null) {
-			Type[] ifcs = classToIntrospect.getGenericInterfaces();
-			for (Type ifc : ifcs) {
-				if (ifc instanceof ParameterizedType) {
-					ParameterizedType paramIfc = (ParameterizedType) ifc;
-					Type rawType = paramIfc.getRawType();
-					if (genericIfc.equals(rawType)) {
-						Type[] typeArgs = paramIfc.getActualTypeArguments();
-						Class[] result = new Class[typeArgs.length];
-						for (int i = 0; i < typeArgs.length; i++) {
-							Type arg = typeArgs[i];
-							result[i] = extractClass(ownerClass, arg);
-						}
+			if (genericIfc.isInterface()) {
+				Type[] ifcs = classToIntrospect.getGenericInterfaces();
+				for (Type ifc : ifcs) {
+					Class[] result = doResolveTypeArguments(ownerClass, ifc, genericIfc);
+					if (result != null) {
 						return result;
 					}
-					else if (genericIfc.isAssignableFrom((Class) rawType)) {
-						return doResolveTypeArguments(ownerClass, (Class) rawType, genericIfc);
-					}
 				}
-				else if (genericIfc.isAssignableFrom((Class) ifc)) {
-					return doResolveTypeArguments(ownerClass, (Class) ifc, genericIfc);
+			}
+			else {
+				Class[] result = doResolveTypeArguments(
+						ownerClass, classToIntrospect.getGenericSuperclass(), genericIfc);
+				if (result != null) {
+					return result;
 				}
 			}
 			classToIntrospect = classToIntrospect.getSuperclass();
@@ -164,11 +158,43 @@ public abstract class GenericTypeResolver {
 		return null;
 	}
 	
+	private static Class[] doResolveTypeArguments(Class ownerClass, Type ifc, Class genericIfc) {
+		if (ifc instanceof ParameterizedType) {
+			ParameterizedType paramIfc = (ParameterizedType) ifc;
+			Type rawType = paramIfc.getRawType();
+			if (genericIfc.equals(rawType)) {
+				Type[] typeArgs = paramIfc.getActualTypeArguments();
+				Class[] result = new Class[typeArgs.length];
+				for (int i = 0; i < typeArgs.length; i++) {
+					Type arg = typeArgs[i];
+					result[i] = extractClass(ownerClass, arg);
+				}
+				return result;
+			}
+			else if (genericIfc.isAssignableFrom((Class) rawType)) {
+				return doResolveTypeArguments(ownerClass, (Class) rawType, genericIfc);
+			}
+		}
+		else if (genericIfc.isAssignableFrom((Class) ifc)) {
+			return doResolveTypeArguments(ownerClass, (Class) ifc, genericIfc);
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Extract a class instance from given Type.
 	 */
 	private static Class extractClass(Class ownerClass, Type arg) {
-		if (arg instanceof TypeVariable) {
+		if (arg instanceof ParameterizedType) {
+			return extractClass(ownerClass, ((ParameterizedType) arg).getRawType());
+		}
+		else if (arg instanceof GenericArrayType) {
+			GenericArrayType gat = (GenericArrayType) arg;
+			Type gt = gat.getGenericComponentType();
+			Class<?> componentClass = extractClass(ownerClass, gt);
+			return Array.newInstance(componentClass, 0).getClass();
+		}
+		else if (arg instanceof TypeVariable) {
 			TypeVariable tv = (TypeVariable) arg;
 			arg = getTypeVariableMap(ownerClass).get(tv);
 			if (arg == null) {
@@ -178,12 +204,6 @@ public abstract class GenericTypeResolver {
 				arg = extractClass(ownerClass, arg);
 			}
 		}
-		else if (arg instanceof GenericArrayType) {
-			GenericArrayType gat = (GenericArrayType) arg;
-			Type gt = gat.getGenericComponentType();
-			Class<?> componentClass = extractClass(ownerClass, gt);
-			arg = Array.newInstance(componentClass, 0).getClass();
-		}
 		return (arg instanceof Class ? (Class) arg : Object.class);
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolverTests.java b/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolverTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..df595e3f2c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/GenericTypeResolverTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ * 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.core;
+
+import java.util.Collection;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * @author Juergen Hoeller
+ */
+public class GenericTypeResolverTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleInterfaceType() {
+		assertEquals(String.class, GenericTypeResolver.resolveTypeArgument(MySimpleInterfaceType.class, MyInterfaceType.class));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleCollectionInterfaceType() {
+		assertEquals(Collection.class, GenericTypeResolver.resolveTypeArgument(MyCollectionInterfaceType.class, MyInterfaceType.class));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleSuperclassType() {
+		assertEquals(String.class, GenericTypeResolver.resolveTypeArgument(MySimpleSuperclassType.class, MySuperclassType.class));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleCollectionSuperclassType() {
+		assertEquals(Collection.class, GenericTypeResolver.resolveTypeArgument(MyCollectionSuperclassType.class, MySuperclassType.class));
+	}
+
+
+	public interface MyInterfaceType<T> {
+	}
+
+	public class MySimpleInterfaceType implements MyInterfaceType<String> {
+	}
+
+	public class MyCollectionInterfaceType implements MyInterfaceType<Collection<String>> {
+	}
+
+
+	public abstract class MySuperclassType<T> {
+	}
+
+	public class MySimpleSuperclassType extends MySuperclassType<String> {
+	}
+
+	public class MyCollectionSuperclassType extends MySuperclassType<Collection<String>> {
+	}
+
+}