diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCache.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCache.java
index adfea5b9..201690e7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCache.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCache.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2010-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2010-2014 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.
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
  *
  * @author Costin Leau
  * @author John Blum
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
  * @see org.springframework.cache.Cache
  * @see com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region
  */
@@ -68,8 +69,16 @@ public class GemfireCache implements Cache {
 		return (value == null ? null : new SimpleValueWrapper(value));
 	}
 
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	public <T> T get(final Object key, final Class<T> type) {
-		return type.cast(region.get(key));
+
+		Object value = region.get(key);
+
+		if (value != null && type != null && !type.isInstance(value)) {
+			throw new IllegalStateException("Cached value is not of required type [" + type.getName() + "]: " + value);
+		}
+
+		return (T) value;
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -77,4 +86,16 @@ public class GemfireCache implements Cache {
 		region.put(key, value);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Implementation to satisfy extension of the {@link Cache} interface in Spring 4.1. Don't add the {@link Override}
+	 * annotation as this will break the compilation on 4.0.
+	 * 
+	 * @see org.springframework.cache.Cache#putIfAbsent(java.lang.Object, java.lang.Object)
+	 */
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	public ValueWrapper putIfAbsent(Object key, Object value) {
+
+		Object existingValue = region.putIfAbsent(key, value);
+		return existingValue == null ? null : new SimpleValueWrapper(existingValue);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCacheTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCacheTest.java
index 8121316d..21a81f42 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCacheTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/support/GemfireCacheTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2010 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2010-104 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.
@@ -16,8 +16,14 @@
 
 package org.springframework.data.gemfire.support;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
 import java.util.Properties;
 
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 import org.springframework.cache.Cache;
 
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.CacheFactory;
@@ -27,18 +33,21 @@ import com.gemstone.gemfire.distributed.DistributedSystem;
 /**
  * @author Costin Leau
  * @author John Blum
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
  */
 // TODO avoid using actual GemFire Cache and Region instances, thereby creating a distributed system, for this test!
 // TODO Use Mocks!
 public class GemfireCacheTest extends AbstractNativeCacheTest<Region<Object, Object>> {
 
+	@Rule public ExpectedException exception = ExpectedException.none();
+
 	@Override
 	protected Cache createCache(Region<Object, Object> nativeCache) {
 		return new GemfireCache(nativeCache);
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	@SuppressWarnings({"deprecation", "unchecked" })
+	@SuppressWarnings({ "deprecation", "unchecked" })
 	protected Region<Object, Object> createNativeCache() throws Exception {
 		com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Cache instance = null;
 
@@ -62,4 +71,43 @@ public class GemfireCacheTest extends AbstractNativeCacheTest<Region<Object, Obj
 		return region;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @see SGF-317
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void findsTypedValue() throws Exception {
+
+		GemfireCache cache = new GemfireCache(createNativeCache());
+		cache.put("key", "value");
+
+		assertThat(cache.get("key", String.class), is("value"));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @see SGF-317
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void skipTypeChecksIfTargetTypeIsNull() throws Exception {
+
+		GemfireCache cache = new GemfireCache(createNativeCache());
+		cache.put("key", "value");
+
+		assertThat(cache.get("key", null), is((Object) "value"));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @see SGF-317
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void throwsIllegalStateExceptionIfTypedAccessDoesntFindMatchingType() throws Exception {
+
+		GemfireCache cache = new GemfireCache(createNativeCache());
+		cache.put("key", "value");
+
+		exception.expect(IllegalStateException.class);
+		exception.expectMessage(Integer.class.getName());
+		exception.expectMessage("value");
+
+		cache.get("key", Integer.class);
+	}
 }