diff --git a/execution/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepScope.java b/execution/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepScope.java
index 27af7e8b0..a7f9f80b9 100644
--- a/execution/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepScope.java
+++ b/execution/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepScope.java
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactoryAware;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.ObjectFactory;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanFactoryPostProcessor;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanPostProcessor;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ConfigurableListableBeanFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.Scope;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory;
 
@@ -31,12 +33,14 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory;
  * @author Dave Syer
  * 
  */
-public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
+public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor,
+		BeanFactoryPostProcessor {
 
 	/**
 	 * Context key for clients to use for conversation identifier.
 	 */
 	public static final String ID_KEY = "JOB_IDENTIFIER";
+	private String name = "step";
 
 	/**
 	 * Injection callback for BeanFactory. Ensures that the bean factory
@@ -56,8 +60,9 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
 
 	/*
 	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * 
 	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.Scope#get(java.lang.String,
-	 * org.springframework.beans.factory.ObjectFactory)
+	 *      org.springframework.beans.factory.ObjectFactory)
 	 */
 	public Object get(String name, ObjectFactory objectFactory) {
 		SimpleStepContext context = getContext();
@@ -71,6 +76,7 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
 
 	/*
 	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * 
 	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.Scope#getConversationId()
 	 */
 	public String getConversationId() {
@@ -81,8 +87,9 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
 
 	/*
 	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * 
 	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.Scope#registerDestructionCallback(java.lang.String,
-	 * java.lang.Runnable)
+	 *      java.lang.Runnable)
 	 */
 	public void registerDestructionCallback(String name, Runnable callback) {
 		StepContext context = getContext();
@@ -91,6 +98,7 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
 
 	/*
 	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * 
 	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.Scope#remove(java.lang.String)
 	 */
 	public Object remove(String name) {
@@ -103,31 +111,36 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
 	 * can be used to store scoped bean instances.
 	 * 
 	 * @return the current step context which we can use as a scope storage
-	 * medium
+	 *         medium
 	 */
 	private SimpleStepContext getContext() {
 		SimpleStepContext context = StepSynchronizationManager.getContext();
 		if (context == null) {
-			throw new IllegalStateException("No context holder available for step scope");
+			throw new IllegalStateException(
+					"No context holder available for step scope");
 		}
 		return context;
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * No-op.
+	 * 
 	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanPostProcessor#postProcessAfterInitialization(java.lang.Object,
-	 * java.lang.String)
+	 *      java.lang.String)
 	 */
-	public Object postProcessAfterInitialization(Object bean, String beanName) throws BeansException {
+	public Object postProcessAfterInitialization(Object bean, String beanName)
+			throws BeansException {
 		return bean;
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Check for {@link StepContextAware} and set context.
+	 * 
 	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanPostProcessor#postProcessBeforeInitialization(java.lang.Object,
-	 * java.lang.String)
+	 *      java.lang.String)
 	 */
-	public Object postProcessBeforeInitialization(Object bean, String beanName) throws BeansException {
+	public Object postProcessBeforeInitialization(Object bean, String beanName)
+			throws BeansException {
 		if (bean instanceof StepContextAware) {
 			SimpleStepContext context = getContext();
 			((StepContextAware) bean).setStepScopeContext(context);
@@ -135,4 +148,28 @@ public class StepScope implements Scope, BeanFactoryAware, BeanPostProcessor {
 		return bean;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Register this scope with the enclosing BeanFactory.
+	 * 
+	 * @param beanFactory
+	 *            the BeanFactory to register with
+	 * @throws BeansException
+	 *             if there is a problem.
+	 */
+	public void postProcessBeanFactory(
+			ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory) throws BeansException {
+		beanFactory.registerScope(name, this);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Public setter for the name property. This can then be used as a bean
+	 * definition attribute, e.g. scope="step".  Defaults to "step".
+	 * 
+	 * @param name
+	 *            the name to set for this scope.
+	 */
+	public void setName(String name) {
+		this.name = name;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/execution/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepContextAwareStepScopeTests.java b/execution/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepContextAwareStepScopeTests.java
index a18e25f4f..ec3f6e2ac 100644
--- a/execution/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepContextAwareStepScopeTests.java
+++ b/execution/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/StepContextAwareStepScopeTests.java
@@ -66,6 +66,16 @@ public class StepContextAwareStepScopeTests extends TestCase {
 		assertEquals(context, bean.context);
 	}
 
+//	public void testScopedBeanWithInner() throws Exception {
+//		StepSynchronizationManager.open();
+//		ClassPathXmlApplicationContext applicationContext = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("scope-tests.xml", getClass());
+//		TestBean bean = ((TestBean) applicationContext.getBean("inner")).child;
+//		assertNotNull(bean);
+//		assertEquals("bar", bean.name);
+//		StepSynchronizationManager.close();
+//		assertEquals(1, list.size());
+//	}
+
 	public static class TestBean {
 		String name;
 		TestBean child;
diff --git a/execution/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/scope-tests.xml b/execution/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/scope-tests.xml
index 1786acf8e..4fbd6a7e1 100644
--- a/execution/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/scope-tests.xml
+++ b/execution/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/execution/scope/scope-tests.xml
@@ -1,35 +1,39 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
-	xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx" xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
-	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
+	xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx"
+	xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+	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-2.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-2.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-2.0.xsd">
 
-	<bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.CustomScopeConfigurer">
-		<property name="scopes">
-			<map>
-				<!-- ideally we want the scope to be an inner bean - it's fine if it isn't a BeanFactoryPostProcessor -->
-				<entry key="step" value-ref="scope"/>
-			</map>
-		</property>
-	</bean>
-	
-	<bean id="scope" class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepScope" />
-	
-	<bean id="bean" class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBean" scope="step" destroy-method="close">
-		<property name="name" value="foo"/>
-	</bean>
-
-	<bean id="inner" class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBean" scope="step">
-		<property name="child">
-			<bean class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBean" destroy-method="close"/>
-		</property>
-	</bean>
-
-	<bean id="aware" class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBeanAware" scope="step">
-		<property name="name" value="bar"/>
-	</bean>
-
-</beans>
+	<bean class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepScope" />
+
+	<bean id="bean"
+		class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBean"
+		scope="step" destroy-method="close">
+		<property name="name" value="foo" />
+	</bean>
+
+	<bean id="inner"
+		class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBean"
+		scope="step">
+		<property name="child">
+			<bean
+				class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBean"
+				destroy-method="close" scope="step">
+				<property name="name" value="bar" />
+			</bean>
+		</property>
+		<property name="name" value="foo" />
+	</bean>
+
+	<bean id="aware"
+		class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepContextAwareStepScopeTests$TestBeanAware"
+		scope="step">
+		<property name="name" value="bar" />
+	</bean>
+
+</beans>
diff --git a/samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml b/samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml
index fa46c1d1b..8b0017c82 100644
--- a/samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml
+++ b/samples/src/main/resources/simple-container-definition.xml
@@ -9,16 +9,9 @@
 
 	<import resource="data-source-context.xml" />
 	<import resource="data-source-context-init.xml" />
-
-	<bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.CustomScopeConfigurer">
-		<property name="scopes">
-			<map>
-				<entry key="step">
-					<bean class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepScope" />
-				</entry>
-			</map>
-		</property>
-	</bean>
+
+	<!-- register the step scope with the application context -->
+	<bean class="org.springframework.batch.execution.scope.StepScope" />
 
 	<bean id="jobExecutorFacade" class="org.springframework.batch.execution.facade.SimpleJobExecutorFacade">
 		<property name="jobRepository" ref="simpleJobRepository" />