diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AnnotationAuditingConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AnnotationAuditingConfiguration.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..82e8d4859
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AnnotationAuditingConfiguration.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+ * 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.auditing.config;
+
+import org.springframework.data.auditing.DateTimeProvider;
+
+/**
+ * Configuration information for auditing.
+ * 
+ * @author Ranie Jade Ramiso
+ * @author Thomas Darimont
+ */
+public interface AnnotationAuditingConfiguration {
+
+	/**
+	 * @return References a bean of type AuditorAware to represent the current principal.
+	 */
+	String getAuditorAwareRef();
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Configures whether the creation and modification dates are set and defaults to {@literal true}.
+	 */
+	boolean isSetDates();
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Configures whether the entity shall be marked as modified on creation and defaults to {@literal true}.
+	 */
+	boolean isModifyOnCreate();
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Configures a {@link DateTimeProvider} that allows customizing which DateTime shall be used for setting
+	 *         creation and modification dates.
+	 */
+	String getDateTimeProviderRef();
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c79302ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+ * 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.auditing.config;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
+
+import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationAttributes;
+import org.springframework.core.type.AnnotationMetadata;
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+
+/**
+ * Default implementation for {@link AnnotationAuditingConfiguration}.
+ * 
+ * @author Ranie Jade Ramiso
+ * @author Thomas Darimont
+ */
+public class AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport implements AnnotationAuditingConfiguration {
+
+	private final AnnotationAttributes attributes;
+
+	/**
+	 * Creates a new instance of {@link AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport}.
+	 * 
+	 * @param metadata, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @param annotation, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 */
+	public AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport(AnnotationMetadata metadata, Class<? extends Annotation> annotation) {
+
+		Assert.notNull(metadata, "metadata must not be null!");
+		Assert.notNull(annotation, "annotation must not be null!");
+		attributes = new AnnotationAttributes(metadata.getAnnotationAttributes(annotation.getName()));
+	}
+
+	/* (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.auditing.config.AnnotationAuditingConfiguration#getAuditorAwareRef()
+	 */
+	public String getAuditorAwareRef() {
+		return attributes.getString("auditorAwareRef");
+	}
+
+	/* (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.auditing.config.AnnotationAuditingConfiguration#isSetDates()
+	 */
+	public boolean isSetDates() {
+		return attributes.getBoolean("setDates");
+	}
+
+	/* (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.auditing.config.AnnotationAuditingConfiguration#getDateTimeProviderRef()
+	 */
+	public String getDateTimeProviderRef() {
+		return attributes.getString("dateTimeProviderRef");
+	}
+
+	/* (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.auditing.config.AnnotationAuditingConfiguration#isModifyOnCreate()
+	 */
+	public boolean isModifyOnCreate() {
+		return attributes.getBoolean("modifyOnCreate");
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..60cb340dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport.java
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+/*
+ * 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.auditing.config;
+
+import static org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionBuilder.*;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
+
+import org.springframework.aop.framework.ProxyFactoryBean;
+import org.springframework.aop.target.LazyInitTargetSource;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.AutowireCapableBeanFactory;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinition;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionBuilder;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionReaderUtils;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionRegistry;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.ImportBeanDefinitionRegistrar;
+import org.springframework.core.type.AnnotationMetadata;
+import org.springframework.data.auditing.AuditingHandler;
+import org.springframework.data.auditing.CurrentDateTimeProvider;
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
+
+/**
+ * A {@link ImportBeanDefinitionRegistrar} that serves as a base class for store specific implementations for
+ * configuring audit support. Registers a {@link AuditingHandler} based on the provided configuration(
+ * {@link AnnotationAuditingConfiguration}).
+ * 
+ * @author Ranie Jade Ramiso
+ * @author Thomas Darimont
+ */
+public abstract class AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport implements ImportBeanDefinitionRegistrar {
+
+	private static final String AUDITOR_AWARE = "auditorAware";
+	private static final String DATE_TIME_PROVIDER = "dateTimeProvider";
+	private static final String MODIFY_ON_CREATE = "modifyOnCreation";
+	private static final String SET_DATES = "dateTimeForNow";
+
+	/**
+	 * @param annotationMetadata, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @param registry, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @see org.springframework.context.annotation.ImportBeanDefinitionRegistrar#registerBeanDefinitions(org.springframework.core.type.AnnotationMetadata,
+	 *      org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionRegistry)
+	 */
+	public void registerBeanDefinitions(AnnotationMetadata annotationMetadata, BeanDefinitionRegistry registry) {
+
+		Assert.notNull(annotationMetadata, "annotationMetadata must not be null!");
+		Assert.notNull(annotationMetadata, "registry must not be null!");
+
+		AbstractBeanDefinition ahbd = registerAuditHandlerBeanDefinition(registry, getConfiguration(annotationMetadata));
+		registerAuditListenerBeanDefinition(ahbd, registry);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Registers an appropriate BeanDefinition for an {@link AuditingHandler}.
+	 * 
+	 * @param registry, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @param configuration, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	private AbstractBeanDefinition registerAuditHandlerBeanDefinition(BeanDefinitionRegistry registry,
+			AnnotationAuditingConfiguration configuration) {
+
+		Assert.notNull(registry, "registry must not be null!");
+		Assert.notNull(configuration, "registry must not be null!");
+
+		AbstractBeanDefinition ahbd = getAuditHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder(configuration).getBeanDefinition();
+		registry.registerBeanDefinition(BeanDefinitionReaderUtils.generateBeanName(ahbd, registry), ahbd);
+		return ahbd;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Creates a {@link BeanDefinitionBuilder} to ease the definition of store specific {@link AuditingHandler}
+	 * implementations.
+	 * 
+	 * @param configuration, must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	protected BeanDefinitionBuilder getAuditHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder(AnnotationAuditingConfiguration configuration) {
+
+		Assert.notNull(configuration, "configuration must not be null!");
+
+		return configureDefaultAuditHandlerAttributes(configuration,
+				BeanDefinitionBuilder.rootBeanDefinition(AuditingHandler.class));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Configures the given {@link BeanDefinitionBuilder} with the default attributes from the given
+	 * {@link AnnotationAuditingConfiguration}.
+	 * 
+	 * @param configuration
+	 * @param builder
+	 * @return the builder with the audit attributes configured.
+	 */
+	protected BeanDefinitionBuilder configureDefaultAuditHandlerAttributes(AnnotationAuditingConfiguration configuration,
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder) {
+
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(configuration.getAuditorAwareRef())) {
+			builder.addPropertyValue(AUDITOR_AWARE,
+					createLazyInitTargetSourceBeanDefinition(configuration.getAuditorAwareRef()));
+		} else {
+			builder.setAutowireMode(AutowireCapableBeanFactory.AUTOWIRE_BY_TYPE);
+		}
+
+		builder.addPropertyValue(SET_DATES, configuration.isSetDates());
+		builder.addPropertyValue(MODIFY_ON_CREATE, configuration.isModifyOnCreate());
+
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(configuration.getDateTimeProviderRef())) {
+			builder.addPropertyReference(DATE_TIME_PROVIDER, configuration.getDateTimeProviderRef());
+		} else {
+			builder.addPropertyValue(DATE_TIME_PROVIDER, CurrentDateTimeProvider.INSTANCE);
+		}
+
+		return builder;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Retrieve auditing configuration information.
+	 * 
+	 * @param annotationMetadata
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	protected AnnotationAuditingConfiguration getConfiguration(AnnotationMetadata annotationMetadata) {
+		return new AnnotationAuditingConfigurationSupport(annotationMetadata, getAnnotation());
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @return the annotation to use for the configuration of the auditing feature.
+	 */
+	protected abstract Class<? extends Annotation> getAnnotation();
+
+	/**
+	 * @param auditingHandlerDefinition
+	 * @param registry
+	 */
+	protected abstract void registerAuditListenerBeanDefinition(BeanDefinition auditingHandlerDefinition,
+			BeanDefinitionRegistry registry);
+
+	/**
+	 * Registers the given {@link AbstractBeanDefinition} as a singleton infrastructure bean under the given id.
+	 * 
+	 * @param def
+	 * @param id
+	 * @param registry
+	 */
+	protected void registerInfrastructureBeanWithId(AbstractBeanDefinition def, String id, BeanDefinitionRegistry registry) {
+
+		def.setRole(BeanDefinition.ROLE_INFRASTRUCTURE);
+		def.setScope("singleton");
+		registry.registerBeanDefinition(id, def);
+	}
+
+	private BeanDefinition createLazyInitTargetSourceBeanDefinition(String auditorAwareRef) {
+
+		BeanDefinitionBuilder targetSourceBuilder = rootBeanDefinition(LazyInitTargetSource.class);
+		targetSourceBuilder.addPropertyValue("targetBeanName", auditorAwareRef);
+
+		BeanDefinitionBuilder builder = rootBeanDefinition(ProxyFactoryBean.class);
+		builder.addPropertyValue("targetSource", targetSourceBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+
+		return builder.getBeanDefinition();
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/EnableAuditing.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/EnableAuditing.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64543e18a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/EnableAuditing.java
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * 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.auditing;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+/**
+ * Dummy Annotation to test auditing annotation configuration.
+ * 
+ * @author Thomas Darimont
+ */
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+@Target(ElementType.TYPE)
+public @interface EnableAuditing {
+
+	/**
+	 * @return References a bean of type AuditorAware to represent the current principal.
+	 */
+	String auditorAwareRef() default "";
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Configures whether the creation and modification dates are set and defaults to {@literal true}.
+	 */
+	boolean setDates() default true;
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Configures whether the entity shall be marked as modified on creation and defaults to {@literal true}.
+	 */
+	boolean modifyOnCreate() default true;
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Configures a {@link DateTimeProvider} that allows customizing which DateTime shall be used for setting
+	 *         creation and modification dates.
+	 */
+	String dateTimeProviderRef() default "";
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fb63a228b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/auditing/config/AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+ * 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.auditing.config;
+
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.*;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionRegistry;
+import org.springframework.core.type.AnnotationMetadata;
+import org.springframework.core.type.StandardAnnotationMetadata;
+import org.springframework.data.auditing.EnableAuditing;
+
+/**
+ * @author Ranie Jade Ramiso
+ * @author Thomas Darimont
+ */
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportUnitTests {
+
+	@Mock private BeanDefinitionRegistry registry;
+
+	@Test
+	public void testRegisterBeanDefinitions() {
+
+		AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport registrar = new DummyAuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport();
+		AnnotationMetadata metadata = new StandardAnnotationMetadata(SampleConfig.class);
+
+		registrar.registerBeanDefinitions(metadata, registry);
+		verify(registry, times(1)).registerBeanDefinition(anyString(), any(BeanDefinition.class));
+	}
+
+	static class SampleConfig {}
+
+	static class DummyAuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport extends AuditingBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport {
+
+		@Override
+		protected void registerAuditListenerBeanDefinition(BeanDefinition auditingHandlerDefinition,
+				BeanDefinitionRegistry registry) {}
+
+		@Override
+		protected Class<? extends Annotation> getAnnotation() {
+			return EnableAuditing.class;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected AnnotationAuditingConfiguration getConfiguration(AnnotationMetadata annotationMetadata) {
+
+			return new AnnotationAuditingConfiguration() {
+				public String getAuditorAwareRef() {
+					return "auditor";
+				}
+
+				public boolean isSetDates() {
+					return true;
+				}
+
+				public String getDateTimeProviderRef() {
+					return "dateTimeProvider";
+				}
+
+				public boolean isModifyOnCreate() {
+					return true;
+				}
+			};
+		}
+	}
+}