diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParser.java
index ff13ed4e1..468b781b4 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParser.java
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ public class JobRepositoryParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
         
         String tablePrefix = element.getAttribute("table-prefix");
         
+        String maxVarCharLength = element.getAttribute("max-varchar-length");
+        
         String lobHandler = element.getAttribute("lob-handler");
         
         RuntimeBeanReference ds = new RuntimeBeanReference(dataSource);
@@ -66,6 +68,9 @@ public class JobRepositoryParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
         if (StringUtils.hasText(lobHandler)) {
             builder.addPropertyReference("lobHandler", lobHandler);
         }
+        if (StringUtils.hasText(maxVarCharLength)) {
+            builder.addPropertyValue("maxVarCharLength", maxVarCharLength);
+        }
 
         builder.setRole(BeanDefinition.ROLE_SUPPORT);
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/repository/support/JobRepositoryFactoryBean.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/repository/support/JobRepositoryFactoryBean.java
index a21b2d12f..5f97a8162 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/repository/support/JobRepositoryFactoryBean.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/repository/support/JobRepositoryFactoryBean.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class JobRepositoryFactoryBean extends AbstractJobRepositoryFactoryBean i
 
 	private DataFieldMaxValueIncrementerFactory incrementerFactory;
 
-	private int exitMessageLength = AbstractJdbcBatchMetadataDao.DEFAULT_EXIT_MESSAGE_LENGTH;
+	private int maxVarCharLength = AbstractJdbcBatchMetadataDao.DEFAULT_EXIT_MESSAGE_LENGTH;
 
 	private LobHandler lobHandler;
 
@@ -86,14 +86,19 @@ public class JobRepositoryFactoryBean extends AbstractJobRepositoryFactoryBean i
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Public setter for the exit message length in database. Do not set this if
-	 * you haven't modified the schema. Note this value will be used for both
-	 * {@link JdbcJobExecutionDao} and {@link JdbcStepExecutionDao}.
+	 * Public setter for the length of long string columns in database. Do not
+	 * set this if you haven't modified the schema. Note this value will be used
+	 * for the exit message in both {@link JdbcJobExecutionDao} and
+	 * {@link JdbcStepExecutionDao} and also the short version of the execution
+	 * context in {@link JdbcExecutionContextDao} . For databases with
+	 * multi-byte character sets this number can be smaller (by up to a factor
+	 * of 2 for 2-byte characters) than the declaration of the column length in
+	 * the DDL for the tables.
 	 * 
-	 * @param exitMessageLength the exitMessageLength to set
+	 * @param maxVarCharLength the exitMessageLength to set
 	 */
-	public void setExitMessageLength(int exitMessageLength) {
-		this.exitMessageLength = exitMessageLength;
+	public void setMaxVarCharLength(int maxVarCharLength) {
+		this.maxVarCharLength = maxVarCharLength;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -139,8 +144,8 @@ public class JobRepositoryFactoryBean extends AbstractJobRepositoryFactoryBean i
 			databaseType = DatabaseType.fromMetaData(dataSource).name();
 			logger.info("No database type set, using meta data indicating: " + databaseType);
 		}
-		
-		if (lobHandler==null && databaseType.equalsIgnoreCase(DatabaseType.ORACLE.toString())) {
+
+		if (lobHandler == null && databaseType.equalsIgnoreCase(DatabaseType.ORACLE.toString())) {
 			lobHandler = new OracleLobHandler();
 		}
 
@@ -170,7 +175,7 @@ public class JobRepositoryFactoryBean extends AbstractJobRepositoryFactoryBean i
 				+ "JOB_EXECUTION_SEQ"));
 		dao.setTablePrefix(tablePrefix);
 		dao.setClobTypeToUse(determineClobTypeToUse(this.databaseType));
-		dao.setExitMessageLength(exitMessageLength);
+		dao.setExitMessageLength(maxVarCharLength);
 		dao.afterPropertiesSet();
 		return dao;
 	}
@@ -183,7 +188,7 @@ public class JobRepositoryFactoryBean extends AbstractJobRepositoryFactoryBean i
 				+ "STEP_EXECUTION_SEQ"));
 		dao.setTablePrefix(tablePrefix);
 		dao.setClobTypeToUse(determineClobTypeToUse(this.databaseType));
-		dao.setExitMessageLength(exitMessageLength);
+		dao.setExitMessageLength(maxVarCharLength);
 		dao.afterPropertiesSet();
 		return dao;
 	}
@@ -198,6 +203,8 @@ public class JobRepositoryFactoryBean extends AbstractJobRepositoryFactoryBean i
 			dao.setLobHandler(lobHandler);
 		}
 		dao.afterPropertiesSet();
+		// Assume the same length.
+		dao.setShortContextLength(maxVarCharLength);
 		return dao;
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.1.xsd b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.1.xsd
index 8f643784e..552d373d5 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.1.xsd
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.1.xsd
@@ -182,6 +182,15 @@
 							]]></xsd:documentation>
 						</xsd:annotation>
 					</xsd:attribute>
+					<xsd:attribute name="max-varchar-length" type="xsd:int">
+						<xsd:annotation>
+							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+							The maximum length for a Java String that will fit in the long VARCHAR
+							columns in the database.  Can be less than the declared length in the DDL
+							if the database	supports multi-byte characters.
+							]]></xsd:documentation>
+						</xsd:annotation>
+					</xsd:attribute>
 					<xsd:attribute name="table-prefix" type="xsd:string">
 						<xsd:annotation>
 							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParserTests-context.xml
index e9e1950bb..d12dca2c9 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobRepositoryParserTests-context.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@
 	</beans:bean>
 	<beans:bean id="lobHandler" class="org.springframework.jdbc.support.lob.DefaultLobHandler"/>
 
-	<job-repository id="jobRepo1" data-source="dataSource" transaction-manager="transactionManager" lob-handler="lobHandler"/>
+	<job-repository id="jobRepo1" data-source="dataSource" transaction-manager="transactionManager" lob-handler="lobHandler" max-varchar-length="100"/>
 
 </beans:beans>
\ No newline at end of file