diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f91941a92..31a0d44f1 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>joda-time</groupId>
 			<artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-			<version>1.6</version>
+			<version>${jodatime}</version>
 			<optional>true</optional>
 		</dependency>
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/convert/JodaTimeConverters.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/convert/JodaTimeConverters.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b049ff7d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/convert/JodaTimeConverters.java
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.convert;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Date;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.joda.time.DateMidnight;
+import org.joda.time.DateTime;
+import org.joda.time.LocalDate;
+import org.joda.time.LocalDateTime;
+import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.Converter;
+import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
+
+/**
+ * Helper class to register JodaTime specific {@link Converter} implementations in case the library is present on the
+ * classpath.
+ * 
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
+ */
+public abstract class JodaTimeConverters {
+
+	private static final boolean JODA_TIME_IS_PRESENT = ClassUtils.isPresent("org.joda.time.LocalDate", null);
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the converters to be registered. Will only return converters in case JodaTime is present on the class.
+	 * 
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static Collection<Converter<?, ?>> getConvertersToRegister() {
+
+		if (!JODA_TIME_IS_PRESENT) {
+			return Collections.emptySet();
+		}
+
+		List<Converter<?, ?>> converters = new ArrayList<Converter<?, ?>>();
+		converters.add(LocalDateToDateConverter.INSTANCE);
+		converters.add(LocalDateTimeToDateConverter.INSTANCE);
+		converters.add(DateTimeToDateConverter.INSTANCE);
+		converters.add(DateMidnightToDateConverter.INSTANCE);
+
+		converters.add(DateToLocalDateConverter.INSTANCE);
+		converters.add(DateToLocalDateTimeConverter.INSTANCE);
+		converters.add(DateToDateTimeConverter.INSTANCE);
+		converters.add(DateToDateMidnightConverter.INSTANCE);
+
+		return converters;
+	}
+
+	public static enum LocalDateToDateConverter implements Converter<LocalDate, Date> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public Date convert(LocalDate source) {
+			return source == null ? null : source.toDate();
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum LocalDateTimeToDateConverter implements Converter<LocalDateTime, Date> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public Date convert(LocalDateTime source) {
+			return source == null ? null : source.toDate();
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum DateTimeToDateConverter implements Converter<DateTime, Date> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public Date convert(DateTime source) {
+			return source == null ? null : source.toDate();
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum DateMidnightToDateConverter implements Converter<DateMidnight, Date> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public Date convert(DateMidnight source) {
+			return source == null ? null : source.toDate();
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum DateToLocalDateConverter implements Converter<Date, LocalDate> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public LocalDate convert(Date source) {
+			return source == null ? null : new LocalDate(source.getTime());
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum DateToLocalDateTimeConverter implements Converter<Date, LocalDateTime> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public LocalDateTime convert(Date source) {
+			return source == null ? null : new LocalDateTime(source.getTime());
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum DateToDateTimeConverter implements Converter<Date, DateTime> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public DateTime convert(Date source) {
+			return source == null ? null : new DateTime(source.getTime());
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static enum DateToDateMidnightConverter implements Converter<Date, DateMidnight> {
+
+		INSTANCE;
+
+		public DateMidnight convert(Date source) {
+			return source == null ? null : new DateMidnight(source.getTime());
+		}
+	}
+}