diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/alt-data-source-context.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/alt-data-source-context.xml
index d1cc53ac4..c96b08d55 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/alt-data-source-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/alt-data-source-context.xml
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
 			<bean
 				class="test.jdbc.datasource.DerbyDataSourceFactoryBean" />
 		</property>
-		<property name="isolationLevelName" value="ISOLATION_SERIALIZABLE"/>
+		<!--  Keep the isolation level low so that a cursor in an ItemReader will not lock the table -->
+		<property name="isolationLevelName"
+			value="ISOLATION_READ_COMMITTED" />
 	</bean>
 
 	<bean
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/data-source-context.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/data-source-context.xml
index bd99ed601..bc2985f8f 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/data-source-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/data-source-context.xml
@@ -1,24 +1,25 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" 
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
 	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd
 	http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-2.0.xsd">
 
-	<!--  Initialise the database before every test case: -->
-	<import resource="data-source-context-init.xml"/>
+	<!--  Initialise the database before every test case: -->
+	<import resource="data-source-context-init.xml" />
 
-	<bean id="dataSource" class="org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DriverManagerDataSource">
+	<bean id="dataSource"
+		class="org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DriverManagerDataSource">
 		<property name="driverClassName" value="${batch.jdbc.driver}" />
 		<property name="url" value="${batch.jdbc.url}" />
 		<property name="username" value="${batch.jdbc.user}" />
 		<property name="password" value="${batch.jdbc.password}" />
-	</bean>
+	</bean>
 
 	<bean id="sessionFactory"
 		class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.LocalSessionFactoryBean">
 		<property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource" />
-		<property name="mappingLocations" value="classpath*:/*.hbm.xml"/>
+		<property name="mappingLocations" value="classpath*:/*.hbm.xml" />
 		<property name="hibernateProperties">
 			<value>
 				<![CDATA[
@@ -29,30 +30,37 @@
 		</property>
 	</bean>
 
-	<bean id="transactionManager" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.HibernateTransactionManager" lazy-init="true">
+	<bean id="transactionManager"
+		class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.HibernateTransactionManager"
+		lazy-init="true">
 		<property name="sessionFactory" ref="sessionFactory" />
 	</bean>
 
 	<!--  Use this to set additional properties on beans at run time -->
-	<bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyOverrideConfigurer">
+	<bean
+		class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyOverrideConfigurer">
 		<property name="location" value="classpath:batch.properties" />
 		<!-- Allow system properties (-D) to override those from file -->
-		<property name="localOverride" value="true"/>
+		<property name="localOverride" value="true" />
 		<property name="properties">
-			<bean class="java.lang.System" factory-method="getProperties"/>
+			<bean class="java.lang.System"
+				factory-method="getProperties" />
 		</property>
 		<property name="ignoreInvalidKeys" value="true" />
-		<property name="order" value="2"/>
+		<property name="order" value="2" />
 	</bean>
 
-	<bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
+	<bean
+		class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
 		<property name="location" value="classpath:batch.properties" />
-		<property name="systemPropertiesModeName" value="SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_MODE_OVERRIDE"/>
+		<property name="systemPropertiesModeName"
+			value="SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_MODE_OVERRIDE" />
 		<property name="ignoreUnresolvablePlaceholders" value="false" />
-		<property name="order" value="1"/>
+		<property name="order" value="1" />
 	</bean>
 
-	<bean id="incrementerParent" class="${batch.database.incrementer.class}" abstract="true">
+	<bean id="incrementerParent"
+		class="${batch.database.incrementer.class}" abstract="true">
 		<property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource" />
 	</bean>
 
@@ -61,7 +69,8 @@
 	</bean>
 
 	<bean id="jobExecutionIncrementer" parent="incrementerParent">
-		<property name="incrementerName" value="BATCH_JOB_EXECUTION_SEQ" />
+		<property name="incrementerName"
+			value="BATCH_JOB_EXECUTION_SEQ" />
 	</bean>
 
 	<bean id="stepIncrementer" parent="incrementerParent">
@@ -69,17 +78,20 @@
 	</bean>
 
 	<bean id="stepExecutionIncrementer" parent="incrementerParent">
-		<property name="incrementerName" value="BATCH_STEP_EXECUTION_SEQ" />
+		<property name="incrementerName"
+			value="BATCH_STEP_EXECUTION_SEQ" />
 	</bean>
 
 	<bean id="partitionIncrementer" parent="incrementerParent">
 		<property name="incrementerName" value="BATCH_PARTITION_SEQ" />
 	</bean>
 
-	<bean id="partitionInstanceIncrementer" parent="incrementerParent">
-		<property name="incrementerName" value="BATCH_PARTITION_EXECUTION_SEQ" />
+	<bean id="partitionInstanceIncrementer"
+		parent="incrementerParent">
+		<property name="incrementerName"
+			value="BATCH_PARTITION_EXECUTION_SEQ" />
 	</bean>
 
-	<!-- import resource="alt-data-source-context.xml" /-->
+	<!--import resource="alt-data-source-context.xml" /-->
 
 </beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml
index ab4ece662..b0a27e1b4 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
 
 	<tx:advice id="txAdvice" transaction-manager="transactionManager">
 		<tx:attributes>
-			<tx:method name="*" />
+			<tx:method name="*Create*" propagation="REQUIRES_NEW" isolation="SERIALIZABLE"/>
+			<tx:method name="*"/>
 		</tx:attributes>
 	</tx:advice>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/sample/AbstractCustomerCreditIncreaseTests.java b/spring-batch-samples/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/sample/AbstractCustomerCreditIncreaseTests.java
index 3a6c9ce19..126f7a23d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/sample/AbstractCustomerCreditIncreaseTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/sample/AbstractCustomerCreditIncreaseTests.java
@@ -75,17 +75,22 @@ public abstract class AbstractCustomerCreditIncreaseTests extends AbstractValida
 
 		final List matches = new ArrayList();
 
-		jdbcTemplate.query(ALL_CUSTOMERS, new RowMapper() {
+		new TransactionTemplate(transactionManager).execute(new TransactionCallback() {
+			public Object doInTransaction(TransactionStatus status) {
+				jdbcTemplate.query(ALL_CUSTOMERS, new RowMapper() {
 
-			public Object mapRow(ResultSet rs, int rowNum) throws SQLException {
-				final BigDecimal creditBeforeUpdate = (BigDecimal) creditsBeforeUpdate.get(rowNum);
-				final BigDecimal expectedCredit = creditBeforeUpdate.add(CREDIT_INCREASE);
-				if (expectedCredit.equals(rs.getBigDecimal(CREDIT_COLUMN))) {
-					matches.add(rs.getBigDecimal(ID_COLUMN));
-				}
+					public Object mapRow(ResultSet rs, int rowNum) throws SQLException {
+						final BigDecimal creditBeforeUpdate = (BigDecimal) creditsBeforeUpdate.get(rowNum);
+						final BigDecimal expectedCredit = creditBeforeUpdate.add(CREDIT_INCREASE);
+						if (expectedCredit.equals(rs.getBigDecimal(CREDIT_COLUMN))) {
+							matches.add(rs.getBigDecimal(ID_COLUMN));
+						}
+						return null;
+					}
+
+				});
 				return null;
 			}
-
 		});
 
 		assertEquals(getExpectedMatches(), matches.size());