diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/pom.xml b/spring-data-mongodb/pom.xml
index 0d7fb7449..7d8e59dd5 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/pom.xml
@@ -152,6 +152,13 @@
       <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
+    
+    <dependency>
+	  <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
+	  <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
+	  <version>1.6</version>
+	  <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
 
 	</dependencies>
 	<build>
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/convert/SimpleMongoConverter.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/convert/SimpleMongoConverter.java
index 404226d45..11661eed6 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/convert/SimpleMongoConverter.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/convert/SimpleMongoConverter.java
@@ -32,12 +32,9 @@ import org.bson.types.ObjectId;
 import org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.CollectionFactory;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionFailedException;
-import org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor;
-import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.ConditionalGenericConverter;
+import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionService;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.Converter;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.ConverterFactory;
-import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.GenericConverter;
-import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.GenericConverter.ConvertiblePair;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.support.ConversionServiceFactory;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.support.GenericConversionService;
 import org.springframework.data.document.mongodb.MongoPropertyDescriptors.MongoPropertyDescriptor;
@@ -54,6 +51,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.comparator.CompoundComparator;
 public class SimpleMongoConverter implements MongoConverter {
 
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(SimpleMongoConverter.class);
+  private static final List<Class<?>> MONGO_TYPES = Arrays.asList(Number.class, Date.class, String.class, DBObject.class);
   private static final Set<String> SIMPLE_TYPES;
 
   static {
@@ -112,8 +110,8 @@ public class SimpleMongoConverter implements MongoConverter {
    * Creates a {@link SimpleMongoConverter}.
    */
   public SimpleMongoConverter() {
-    this.conversionService = new SimpleToStringSuppressingGenericConversionService();
-    ConversionServiceFactory.addDefaultConverters(conversionService);
+    this.conversionService = ConversionServiceFactory.createDefaultConversionService();
+    this.conversionService.removeConvertible(Object.class, String.class);
     initializeConverters();
   }
 
@@ -123,12 +121,10 @@ public class SimpleMongoConverter implements MongoConverter {
    */
   protected void initializeConverters() {
 
-    
     conversionService.addConverter(ObjectIdToStringConverter.INSTANCE);
     conversionService.addConverter(StringToObjectIdConverter.INSTANCE);
     conversionService.addConverter(ObjectIdToBigIntegerConverter.INSTANCE);
     conversionService.addConverter(BigIntegerToIdConverter.INSTANCE);
-    
   }
 
   /**
@@ -237,15 +233,32 @@ public class SimpleMongoConverter implements MongoConverter {
       return;
     }
     
-    if (conversionService.canConvert(value.getClass(), String.class)) {
-      dbo.put(keyToUse, conversionService.convert(value, String.class));
+    Class<?> customTargetType = getCustomTargetType(value);
+    if (customTargetType != null) {
+      dbo.put(keyToUse, conversionService.convert(value, customTargetType));
       return;
     }
     
     DBObject nestedDbo = new BasicDBObject();
     write(value, nestedDbo);
     dbo.put(keyToUse, nestedDbo);
-
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Returns whether the {@link ConversionService} has a custom {@link Converter} registered that can convert the given
+   * object into one of the types supported by MongoDB.
+   * 
+   * @param obj
+   * @return
+   */
+  private Class<?> getCustomTargetType(Object obj) {
+    
+    for (Class<?> mongoType : MONGO_TYPES) {
+      if (conversionService.canConvert(obj.getClass(), mongoType)) {
+        return mongoType;
+      }
+    }
+    return null;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -510,30 +523,6 @@ public class SimpleMongoConverter implements MongoConverter {
   public ObjectId convertObjectId(Object id) {
     return conversionService.convert(id, ObjectId.class);
   }
-  
-  private static class SimpleToStringSuppressingGenericConversionService extends GenericConversionService {
-    
-    private static final Set<ConvertiblePair> REFERENCE = Collections.singleton(new ConvertiblePair(Object.class, String.class));
-    
-    /* (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.springframework.core.convert.support.GenericConversionService#getConverter(org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor, org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor)
-     */
-    @Override
-    protected GenericConverter getConverter(TypeDescriptor sourceType, TypeDescriptor targetType) {
-     
-      GenericConverter converter = super.getConverter(sourceType, targetType);
-      
-      if (converter instanceof ConditionalGenericConverter) {
-        
-        Set<ConvertiblePair> convertibleTypes = ((ConditionalGenericConverter) converter).getConvertibleTypes();
-        if (REFERENCE.equals(convertibleTypes)) {
-          return null;
-        }
-      }
-      
-      return converter;
-    }
-  }
 
   /**
    * Simple singleton to convert {@link ObjectId}s to their {@link String} representation.
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/SimpleMongoConverterTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/SimpleMongoConverterTests.java
index 892f1b3e5..4ca57c3ae 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/SimpleMongoConverterTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/document/mongodb/SimpleMongoConverterTests.java
@@ -21,15 +21,22 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.math.BigInteger;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import com.mongodb.BasicDBObject;
 import com.mongodb.DBObject;
 import com.mongodb.util.JSON;
+
+import org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers;
+import org.joda.time.LocalDate;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.core.convert.converter.Converter;
 import org.springframework.data.document.mongodb.SomeEnumTest.NumberEnum;
 import org.springframework.data.document.mongodb.SomeEnumTest.StringEnum;
 import org.springframework.data.document.mongodb.convert.SimpleMongoConverter;
@@ -292,10 +299,50 @@ public class SimpleMongoConverterTests {
         (DBObject) JSON.parse("{\"_id\" : {\"$oid\" : \"4d24809660413b687f5d323e\" }}"));
     assertThat(result.getId().toString(16), is("4d24809660413b687f5d323e"));
   }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void convertsAddressCorrectly() {
+    
+    Address address = new Address();
+    address.city = "New York";
+    address.street = "Broadway";
+    
+    DBObject dbObject = new BasicDBObject();
+    
+    converter.write(address, dbObject);
+    
+    assertThat(dbObject.get("city").toString(), is("New York"));
+    assertThat(dbObject.get("street").toString(), is("Broadway"));
+    
+    Address result = converter.read(Address.class, dbObject);
+    assertThat(result.city, is("New York"));
+    assertThat(result.street, is("Broadway"));
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void convertsJodaTimeTypesCorrectly() {
+    
+    Set<Converter<?, ?>> converters = new HashSet<Converter<?,?>>();
+    converters.add(new LocalDateToDateConverter());
+    converters.add(new DateToLocalDateConverter());
+    
+    converter.setConverters(converters);
+    
+    AnotherPerson person = new AnotherPerson();
+    person.birthDate = new LocalDate();
+    
+    DBObject dbObject = new BasicDBObject();
+    converter.write(person, dbObject);
+    
+    assertTrue(dbObject.get("birthDate") instanceof Date);
+    
+    AnotherPerson result = converter.read(AnotherPerson.class, dbObject);
+    assertThat(result.getBirthDate(), is(notNullValue()));
+  }
 
   private void assertListOfStringAndLong(List<Class<?>> types) {
 
-    assertThat(types.size(), is(2));
+    assertThat(types.size(), CoreMatchers.is(2));
     assertEquals(String.class, types.get(0));
     assertEquals(Long.class, types.get(1));
   }
@@ -347,4 +394,39 @@ public class SimpleMongoConverterTests {
       return id;
     }
   }
+
+  public static class Address {
+    String street;
+    String city;
+    
+    public String getStreet() {
+      return street;
+    }
+    
+    public String getCity() {
+      return city;
+    }
+  }
+  
+  public static class AnotherPerson {
+    LocalDate birthDate;
+    
+    public LocalDate getBirthDate() {
+      return birthDate;
+    }
+  }
+  
+  private class LocalDateToDateConverter implements Converter<LocalDate, Date> {
+
+    public Date convert(LocalDate source) {
+      return source.toDateMidnight().toDate();
+    }
+  }
+  
+  private class DateToLocalDateConverter implements Converter<Date, LocalDate> {
+
+    public LocalDate convert(Date source) {
+      return new LocalDate(source.getTime());
+    }
+  }
 }