diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoder.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoder.java
index 363384baae..2221880c49 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoder.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoder.java
@@ -195,11 +195,16 @@ public class Jaxb2XmlDecoder extends AbstractDecoder<Object> {
 			return unmarshal(events, targetType.toClass());
 		}
 		catch (XMLStreamException ex) {
-			throw Exceptions.propagate(ex);
+			throw new DecodingException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
 		}
 		catch (Throwable ex) {
-			ex = (ex.getCause() instanceof XMLStreamException ? ex.getCause() : ex);
-			throw Exceptions.propagate(ex);
+			Throwable cause = ex.getCause();
+			if (cause instanceof XMLStreamException) {
+				throw new DecodingException(cause.getMessage(), cause);
+			}
+			else {
+				throw Exceptions.propagate(ex);
+			}
 		}
 		finally {
 			DataBufferUtils.release(dataBuffer);
diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/XmlEventDecoder.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/XmlEventDecoder.java
index f3008b9487..dac5463039 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/XmlEventDecoder.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/XmlEventDecoder.java
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@ import com.fasterxml.aalto.AsyncXMLStreamReader;
 import com.fasterxml.aalto.evt.EventAllocatorImpl;
 import com.fasterxml.aalto.stax.InputFactoryImpl;
 import org.reactivestreams.Publisher;
-import reactor.core.Exceptions;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
 
 import org.springframework.core.ResolvableType;
 import org.springframework.core.codec.AbstractDecoder;
+import org.springframework.core.codec.DecodingException;
 import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.DataBuffer;
 import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.DataBufferLimitException;
 import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.DataBufferUtils;
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ public class XmlEventDecoder extends AbstractDecoder<XMLEvent> {
 							return result;
 						}
 						catch (XMLStreamException ex) {
-							throw Exceptions.propagate(ex);
+							throw new DecodingException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
 						}
 						finally {
 							DataBufferUtils.release(buffer);
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ public class XmlEventDecoder extends AbstractDecoder<XMLEvent> {
 				return events;
 			}
 			catch (XMLStreamException ex) {
-				throw Exceptions.propagate(ex);
+				throw new DecodingException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
 			}
 			finally {
 				DataBufferUtils.release(dataBuffer);
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoderTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoderTests.java
index e4135a7c5a..0f01d8c47a 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoderTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/codec/xml/Jaxb2XmlDecoderTests.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
-import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
 import javax.xml.stream.events.XMLEvent;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
@@ -32,6 +31,7 @@ import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
 import reactor.test.StepVerifier;
 
 import org.springframework.core.ResolvableType;
+import org.springframework.core.codec.DecodingException;
 import org.springframework.core.io.buffer.DataBuffer;
 import org.springframework.core.testfixture.io.buffer.AbstractLeakCheckingTests;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ public class Jaxb2XmlDecoderTests extends AbstractLeakCheckingTests {
 		Mono<Object> result = this.decoder.decodeToMono(source, ResolvableType.forClass(Pojo.class), null, HINTS);
 
 		StepVerifier.create(result).verifyErrorSatisfies(ex ->
-				assertThat(Exceptions.unwrap(ex)).isInstanceOf(XMLStreamException.class));
+				assertThat(Exceptions.unwrap(ex)).isInstanceOf(DecodingException.class));
 	}
 
 	@Test