diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/support/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/support/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean.java
index ec06c4b3..489b7deb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/support/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/support/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean.java
@@ -37,11 +37,14 @@ import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
  * {@link FactoryBean} adapter for {@link GemfireRepositoryFactory}.
  * 
  * @author Oliver Gierke
+ * @author John Blum
  */
 @SuppressWarnings("unused")
 public class GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean<T extends Repository<S, ID>, S, ID extends Serializable>
 		extends RepositoryFactoryBeanSupport<T, S, ID> implements ApplicationContextAware {
 
+	private ApplicationContext applicationContext;
+
 	private Iterable<Region<?, ?>> regions;
 
 	private MappingContext<? extends GemfirePersistentEntity<?>, GemfirePersistentProperty> context;
@@ -58,6 +61,7 @@ public class GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean<T extends Repository<S, ID>, S, ID ext
 	public void setApplicationContext(ApplicationContext applicationContext) throws BeansException {
 		Collection<Region> regions = applicationContext.getBeansOfType(Region.class).values();
 		this.regions = (Iterable) Collections.unmodifiableCollection(regions);
+		this.applicationContext = applicationContext;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -66,6 +70,7 @@ public class GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean<T extends Repository<S, ID>, S, ID ext
 	 * @param context the context to set
 	 */
 	public void setGemfireMappingContext(MappingContext<? extends GemfirePersistentEntity<?>, GemfirePersistentProperty> context) {
+		setMappingContext(context);
 		this.context = context;
 	}
 
@@ -87,10 +92,9 @@ public class GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean<T extends Repository<S, ID>, S, ID ext
 	 */
 	@Override
 	public void afterPropertiesSet() {
-
 		if (this.context == null) {
-			this.context = new GemfireMappingContext();
-			setMappingContext(context);
+			// TODO register the GemfireMappingContext instance as a (Singleton) bean in the Spring context
+			setGemfireMappingContext(new GemfireMappingContext());
 		}
 
 		super.afterPropertiesSet();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/config/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBeanTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/config/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBeanTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ca0a914
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/repository/config/GemfireRepositoryFactoryBeanTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+package org.springframework.data.gemfire.repository.config;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.notNullValue;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.sameInstance;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.data.gemfire.TestUtils;
+import org.springframework.data.gemfire.repository.support.GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean;
+import org.springframework.data.mapping.context.MappingContext;
+
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
+
+/**
+ * The GemfireRepositoryFactoryBeanTest class is test suite of test cases testing the contract and functionality
+ * of the GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean class.
+ *
+ * @author John Blum
+ * @see org.junit.Test
+ * @see org.mockito.Mockito
+ * @since 1.6.3
+ */
+public class GemfireRepositoryFactoryBeanTest {
+
+	private GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean repositoryFactoryBean;
+
+	@Before
+	public void setup() {
+		repositoryFactoryBean = new GemfireRepositoryFactoryBean();
+	}
+
+	protected <T> List<T> toList(Iterable<T> iterable) {
+		List<T> list = new ArrayList<T>();
+
+		if (iterable != null) {
+			for (T element : iterable) {
+				list.add(element);
+			}
+		}
+
+		return list;
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void setApplicationContext() throws Exception {
+		Map<String, Region> expectedRegions = new HashMap<String, Region>(2);
+
+		expectedRegions.put("regionOne", mock(Region.class));
+		expectedRegions.put("regionTwo", mock(Region.class));
+
+		ApplicationContext mockApplicationContext = mock(ApplicationContext.class);
+
+		when(mockApplicationContext.getBeansOfType(eq(Region.class))).thenReturn(expectedRegions);
+
+		repositoryFactoryBean.setApplicationContext(mockApplicationContext);
+
+		Iterable<Region> actualRegions = TestUtils.readField("regions", repositoryFactoryBean);
+
+		assertThat(actualRegions, is(notNullValue()));
+
+		List<Region> regions = toList(actualRegions);
+
+		assertThat(regions.size(), is(equalTo(2)));
+		assertThat(regions.containsAll(expectedRegions.values()), is(true));
+
+		ApplicationContext actualApplicationContext = TestUtils.readField("applicationContext", repositoryFactoryBean);
+
+		assertThat(actualApplicationContext, is(sameInstance(mockApplicationContext)));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	public void setGemfireMappingContextAlsoSetsMappingContext() throws Exception {
+		MappingContext mockMappingContext = mock(MappingContext.class);
+
+		repositoryFactoryBean.setGemfireMappingContext(mockMappingContext);
+
+		MappingContext actualMappingContext = TestUtils.readField("context", repositoryFactoryBean);
+
+		assertThat(actualMappingContext, is(sameInstance(mockMappingContext)));
+
+		actualMappingContext = TestUtils.readField("mappingContext", repositoryFactoryBean);
+
+		assertThat(actualMappingContext, is(sameInstance(mockMappingContext)));
+	}
+
+}