diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
index 00b6e2bd7..dbe577e5f 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
 import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.channels.FileChannel;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -110,9 +109,9 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implemen
 
 	private boolean saveState = true;
 
-	private List<?> headerItems = new ArrayList<Object>();
+	private StaxWriterCallback headerCallback;
 
-	private List<?> footerItems = new ArrayList<Object>();
+	private StaxWriterCallback footerCallback;
 
 	public StaxEventItemWriter() {
 		setName(ClassUtils.getShortName(StaxEventItemWriter.class));
@@ -136,6 +135,21 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implemen
 		this.marshaller = marshaller;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * headerCallback is called before writing any items.
+	 */
+	public void setHeaderCallback(StaxWriterCallback headerCallback) {
+		this.headerCallback = headerCallback;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * footerCallback is called after writing all items but before closing the
+	 * file
+	 */
+	public void setFooterCallback(StaxWriterCallback footerCallback) {
+		this.footerCallback = footerCallback;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Get used encoding.
 	 * 
@@ -219,28 +233,6 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implemen
 		this.overwriteOutput = overwriteOutput;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Setter for the headerItems. This list will be marshalled and output
-	 * before any calls to {@link #write(List)}. Header item type is not
-	 * restricted, but note the {@link #setMarshaller(Marshaller)} needs to
-	 * support the type.
-	 * @param headerItems
-	 */
-	public void setHeaderItems(List<?> headerItems) {
-		this.headerItems = headerItems;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Setter for the footerItems. This list will be marshalled and output
-	 * immediately before the writer is closed. Footer item type is not
-	 * restricted, but note the {@link #setMarshaller(Marshaller)} needs to
-	 * support the type.
-	 * @param footerItems
-	 */
-	public void setFooterItems(List<?> footerItems) {
-		this.footerItems = footerItems;
-	}
-
 	public void setSaveState(boolean saveState) {
 		this.saveState = saveState;
 	}
@@ -275,7 +267,9 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implemen
 
 		if (startAtPosition == 0) {
 			try {
-				doWrite(headerItems);
+				if (headerCallback != null) {
+					headerCallback.write(delegateEventWriter);
+				}
 			}
 			catch (IOException e) {
 				throw new ItemStreamException("Failed to write headerItems", e);
@@ -396,7 +390,9 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implemen
 		}
 
 		try {
-			doWrite(footerItems);
+			if (footerCallback != null) {
+				footerCallback.write(delegateEventWriter);
+			}
 			delegateEventWriter.flush();
 			endDocument(delegateEventWriter);
 		}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxWriterCallback.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxWriterCallback.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b6065b63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxWriterCallback.java
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package org.springframework.batch.item.xml;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLEventWriter;
+
+/**
+ * Callback interface for writing to an XML file - useful e.g. for handling headers
+ * and footers.
+ * 
+ * @author Robert Kasanicky
+ */
+public interface StaxWriterCallback {
+
+	/**
+	 * Write contents using the supplied {@link XMLEventWriter}. It is not
+	 * required to flush the writer inside this method.
+	 */
+	void write(XMLEventWriter writer) throws IOException;
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriterTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriterTests.java
index 5f1f495c4..14ac9107d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriterTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriterTests.java
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLEventFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLEventWriter;
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
 import javax.xml.transform.Result;
 
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriterTests {
 		// check the output is concatenation of 'before restart' and 'after
 		// restart' writes.
 		String outputFile = outputFileContent();
-		System.out.println(outputFile);
 		assertEquals(2, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(outputFile, TEST_STRING));
 		assertTrue(outputFile.contains("<root>" + TEST_STRING + TEST_STRING + "</root>"));
 	}
@@ -105,19 +104,26 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriterTests {
 	 */
 	@Test
 	public void testWriteWithHeader() throws Exception {
-		final Object header1 = new Object();
-		final Object header2 = new Object();
-		writer.setHeaderItems(new ArrayList<Object>() {
-			{
-				add(header1);
-				add(header2);
+		
+		writer.setHeaderCallback(new StaxWriterCallback(){
+
+			public void write(XMLEventWriter writer) throws IOException {
+				XMLEventFactory factory = XMLEventFactory.newInstance();
+				try {
+					writer.add(factory.createStartElement("", "", "header"));
+					writer.add(factory.createEndElement("", "", "header"));
+				}
+				catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+					throw new RuntimeException(e);
+				}
+				
 			}
+			
 		});
 		writer.open(executionContext);
 		writer.write(items);
 		String content = outputFileContent();
-		assertTrue("Wrong content: " + content, content.contains(("<!--" + header1 + "-->")));
-		assertTrue("Wrong content: " + content, content.contains(("<!--" + header2 + "-->")));
+		assertTrue("Wrong content: " + content, content.contains(("<header></header>")));
 		assertTrue("Wrong content: " + content, content.contains(TEST_STRING));
 	}
 
@@ -144,12 +150,45 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriterTests {
 	 */
 	@Test
 	public void testOpenAndClose() throws Exception {
+		writer.setHeaderCallback(new StaxWriterCallback(){
+
+			public void write(XMLEventWriter writer) throws IOException {
+				XMLEventFactory factory = XMLEventFactory.newInstance();
+				try {
+					writer.add(factory.createStartElement("", "", "header"));
+					writer.add(factory.createEndElement("", "", "header"));
+				}
+				catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+					throw new RuntimeException(e);
+				}
+				
+			}
+			
+		});
+		writer.setFooterCallback(new StaxWriterCallback() {
+
+			public void write(XMLEventWriter writer) throws IOException {
+				XMLEventFactory factory = XMLEventFactory.newInstance();
+				try {
+					writer.add(factory.createStartElement("", "", "footer"));
+					writer.add(factory.createEndElement("", "", "footer"));
+				}
+				catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+					throw new RuntimeException(e);
+				}
+				
+			}
+			
+		});
 		writer.setRootTagName("testroot");
 		writer.setRootElementAttributes(Collections.<String, String> singletonMap("attribute", "value"));
 		writer.open(executionContext);
 		writer.close(null);
 		String content = outputFileContent();
+		
 		assertTrue(content.contains("<testroot attribute=\"value\">"));
+		assertTrue(content.contains("<header></header>"));
+		assertTrue(content.contains("<footer></footer>"));
 		assertTrue(content.endsWith("</testroot>"));
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests.java
index 272e94ed5..6a8ec11a7 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLEventFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLEventWriter;
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
 import javax.xml.transform.Result;
 
@@ -92,8 +93,21 @@ public class TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests {
 	 */
 	@Test
 	public void testWriteWithHeaderAfterRollback() throws Exception {
-		Object header = new Object();
-		writer.setHeaderItems(Collections.singletonList(header));
+		writer.setHeaderCallback(new StaxWriterCallback(){
+
+			public void write(XMLEventWriter writer) throws IOException {
+				XMLEventFactory factory = XMLEventFactory.newInstance();
+				try {
+					writer.add(factory.createStartElement("", "", "header"));
+					writer.add(factory.createEndElement("", "", "header"));
+				}
+				catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+					throw new RuntimeException(e);
+				}
+				
+			}
+			
+		});
 		writer.open(executionContext);
 		try {
 			new TransactionTemplate(transactionManager).execute(new TransactionCallback() {
@@ -127,7 +141,7 @@ public class TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests {
 		});
 		writer.close(executionContext);
 		String content = outputFileContent();
-		assertEquals("Wrong content: " + content, 1, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(content, ("<!--" + header + "-->")));
+		assertEquals("Wrong content: " + content, 1, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(content, ("<header></header>")));
 		assertEquals("Wrong content: " + content, 1, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(content, TEST_STRING));
 	}
 
@@ -136,8 +150,21 @@ public class TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests {
 	 */
 	@Test
 	public void testWriteWithHeaderAfterFlushAndRollback() throws Exception {
-		Object header = new Object();
-		writer.setHeaderItems(Collections.singletonList(header));
+		writer.setHeaderCallback(new StaxWriterCallback(){
+
+			public void write(XMLEventWriter writer) throws IOException {
+				XMLEventFactory factory = XMLEventFactory.newInstance();
+				try {
+					writer.add(factory.createStartElement("", "", "header"));
+					writer.add(factory.createEndElement("", "", "header"));
+				}
+				catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+					throw new RuntimeException(e);
+				}
+				
+			}
+			
+		});
 		writer.open(executionContext);
 		new TransactionTemplate(transactionManager).execute(new TransactionCallback() {
 			public Object doInTransaction(TransactionStatus status) {
@@ -172,7 +199,7 @@ public class TransactionalStaxEventItemWriterTests {
 		}
 		writer.close(executionContext);
 		String content = outputFileContent();
-		assertEquals("Wrong content: " + content, 1, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(content, ("<!--" + header + "-->")));
+		assertEquals("Wrong content: " + content, 1, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(content, ("<header></header>")));
 		assertEquals("Wrong content: " + content, 1, StringUtils.countOccurrencesOf(content, TEST_STRING));
 	}