diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/scope/StepScope.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/scope/StepScope.java
index 8cedf3b84..644b3617a 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/scope/StepScope.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/scope/StepScope.java
@@ -144,7 +144,6 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryPostProcessor, Ordered {
 	@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
 	@Override
 	public Object get(String name, ObjectFactory objectFactory) {
-
 		StepContext context = getContext();
 		Object scopedObject = context.getAttribute(name);
 
@@ -239,7 +238,8 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryPostProcessor, Ordered {
 			boolean scoped = name.equals(definition.getScope());
 			Scopifier scopifier = new Scopifier(registry, name, proxyTargetClass, scoped);
 			scopifier.visitBeanDefinition(definition);
-			if (scoped) {
+
+			if (scoped && !definition.isAbstract()) {
 				createScopedProxy(beanName, definition, registry, proxyTargetClass);
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTests.java b/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTests.java
index eb8ade51a..5c51a9321 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTests.java
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ public class StepScopeConfigurationTests {
 		assertEquals("STEP", value.call());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testXmlStepScopeWithInheritence() throws Exception {
+		context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTestsInheritence-context.xml");
+		StepSynchronizationManager.register(stepExecution);
+		SimpleHolder value = (SimpleHolder) context.getBean("child");
+		assertEquals("STEP", value.call());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testStepScopeWithProxyTargetClass() throws Exception {
 		init(StepScopeConfigurationRequiringProxyTargetClass.class);
@@ -165,7 +174,7 @@ public class StepScopeConfigurationTests {
 			return value;
 		}
 	}
-	
+
 	public static class Wrapper {
 
 		private SimpleHolder value;
@@ -173,17 +182,17 @@ public class StepScopeConfigurationTests {
 		public Wrapper(SimpleHolder value) {
 			this.value = value;
 		}
-		
+
 		public SimpleHolder getValue() {
 			return value;
 		}
-		
+
 	}
 
 	@Configuration
 	@EnableBatchProcessing
 	public static class StepScopeConfigurationInjectingProxy {
-		
+
 		@Bean
 		public Wrapper wrapper(SimpleHolder value) {
 			return new Wrapper(value);
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTestsInheritence-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTestsInheritence-context.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b8506ff6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/annotation/StepScopeConfigurationTestsInheritence-context.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.1.xsd">
+
+	<bean class="org.springframework.batch.core.scope.StepScope">
+		<property name="proxyTargetClass" value="true" />
+	</bean>
+	
+	<bean id="parent" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.annotation.StepScopeConfigurationTests.SimpleHolder" scope="step" abstract="true">
+		<constructor-arg value="#{stepExecution.stepName}" />
+	</bean>
+	
+	<bean id="child" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.annotation.StepScopeConfigurationTests.SimpleHolder" parent="parent"/>
+
+</beans>
\ No newline at end of file