diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParser.java
index 5e4818f5b..980e68b88 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParser.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ import org.w3c.dom.NamedNodeMap;
  * 
  * @author Dave Syer
  * @author Thomas Risberg
- * 
+ * @since 2.0
  */
 public class StepParser {
 
@@ -293,7 +293,6 @@ public class StepParser {
 		Element listenersElement = 
         	DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "listeners");
 		if (listenersElement != null) {
-			List<String> listenerRefs = new ArrayList<String>(); 
 			List<BeanReference> listenerBeans = new ArrayList<BeanReference>(); 
 			List<Element> listenerElements = 
 	        	DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(listenersElement, "listener");
@@ -316,7 +315,6 @@ public class StepParser {
 								listenerElement.getTagName() + "> element with attributes: " + attributes);
 					}
 					if (StringUtils.hasText(listenerRef)) {
-						listenerRefs.add(listenerRef);
 				        BeanReference bean = new RuntimeBeanReference(listenerRef);
 						listenerBeans.add(bean);
 					}
@@ -340,6 +338,32 @@ public class StepParser {
 		}
 	}
 
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	private void handleStreamsElement(Element element, RootBeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext) {
+		Element streamsElement = 
+        	DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "streams");
+		if (streamsElement != null) {
+			List<BeanReference> listenerBeans = new ArrayList<BeanReference>(); 
+			List<Element> listenerElements = 
+	        	DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(streamsElement, "listener");
+			if (listenerElements != null) {
+				for (Element listenerElement : listenerElements) {
+					String listenerRef = listenerElement.getAttribute("ref");
+					if (StringUtils.hasText(listenerRef)) {
+				        BeanReference bean = new RuntimeBeanReference(listenerRef);
+						listenerBeans.add(bean);
+					}
+					else {
+						throw new BeanCreationException("ref not specified for <" + listenerElement.getTagName() + "> element");
+					}
+				}
+			}
+	        ManagedList arguments = new ManagedList();
+	        arguments.addAll(listenerBeans);
+        	bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("streams", arguments);
+		}
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @param element
 	 * @param parserContext
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
index 1f1194c1e..2e4d140b3 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
@@ -242,6 +242,23 @@
 							</xsd:sequence>
 						</xsd:complexType>
 					</xsd:element>
+					<xsd:element name="streams" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
+						<xsd:annotation>
+							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+							List of all streams to be included for the step definition
+							]]>
+							</xsd:documentation>
+						</xsd:annotation>
+						<xsd:complexType>
+							<xsd:sequence>
+								<xsd:element name="stream" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="unbounded">
+									<xsd:complexType>
+										<xsd:attribute name="ref" type="xsd:string"/>
+									</xsd:complexType>
+								</xsd:element>
+							</xsd:sequence>
+						</xsd:complexType>
+					</xsd:element>
 					<xsd:element name="skippable-exception-classes" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
 						<xsd:annotation>
 							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithChunkJobParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithChunkJobParserTests-context.xml
index 159687878..8b81ef79c 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithChunkJobParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithChunkJobParserTests-context.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener"/>
 					<listener ref="listener"/>
 				</listeners>
+				<streams>
+					<stream ref="reader"/>
+				</streams>
 			</chunk>
 		</step>
 	</job>