diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java
index 27be69888..aaf8638c2 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java
@@ -228,8 +228,13 @@ public class ExecutionContext implements Serializable {
 	 * @return The value represented by the given key
 	 */
 	public Object get(String key) {
-
-		return map.get(key);
+		Object value = map.get(key);
+		if (value == Constants.NULL) {
+			return null;
+		}
+		else {
+			return value;
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java
index 9d8b34fd1..945310c13 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ public class ExecutionContextTests {
 	public void testPutNull(){
 		//putting null should work
 		context.put("1", null);
+		assertNull(context.get("1"));
 	}
 	
 	@Test