diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/WebSocketNamespaceUtils.java b/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/WebSocketNamespaceUtils.java
index bc1763cce1..6d56216ec5 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/WebSocketNamespaceUtils.java
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/WebSocketNamespaceUtils.java
@@ -128,6 +128,10 @@ class WebSocketNamespaceUtils {
 			if (!attrValue.isEmpty()) {
 				sockJsServiceDef.getPropertyValues().add("heartbeatTime", Long.valueOf(attrValue));
 			}
+			attrValue = sockJsElement.getAttribute("message-codec");
+			if (!attrValue.isEmpty()) {
+				sockJsServiceDef.getPropertyValues().add("messageCodec", new RuntimeBeanReference(attrValue));
+			}
 			sockJsServiceDef.setRole(BeanDefinition.ROLE_INFRASTRUCTURE);
 			String sockJsServiceName = context.getReaderContext().registerWithGeneratedName(sockJsServiceDef);
 			return new RuntimeBeanReference(sockJsServiceName);
diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/SockJsServiceRegistration.java b/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/SockJsServiceRegistration.java
index 418b1d3a12..5cb733e5b5 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/SockJsServiceRegistration.java
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/SockJsServiceRegistration.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2014 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.
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.server.HandshakeInterceptor;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.SockJsService;
+import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.frame.SockJsMessageCodec;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.TransportHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.handler.DefaultSockJsService;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.TransportHandlingSockJsService;
@@ -61,6 +62,8 @@ public class SockJsServiceRegistration {
 
 	private final List<HandshakeInterceptor> interceptors = new ArrayList<HandshakeInterceptor>();
 
+	private SockJsMessageCodec messageCodec;
+
 
 	public SockJsServiceRegistration(TaskScheduler defaultTaskScheduler) {
 		this.taskScheduler = defaultTaskScheduler;
@@ -200,6 +203,18 @@ public class SockJsServiceRegistration {
 		return this;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * The codec to use for encoding and decoding SockJS messages.
+	 * <p>By default {@code Jackson2SockJsMessageCodec} is used requiring the
+	 * Jackson library to be present on the classpath.
+	 * @param codec the codec to use.
+	 * @since 4.1
+	 */
+	public SockJsServiceRegistration setMessageCodec(SockJsMessageCodec codec) {
+		this.messageCodec = codec;
+		return this;
+	}
+
 	protected SockJsService getSockJsService() {
 		TransportHandlingSockJsService service = createSockJsService();
 		service.setHandshakeInterceptors(this.interceptors);
@@ -224,6 +239,9 @@ public class SockJsServiceRegistration {
 		if (this.webSocketEnabled != null) {
 			service.setWebSocketEnabled(this.webSocketEnabled);
 		}
+		if (this.messageCodec != null) {
+			service.setMessageCodec(this.messageCodec);
+		}
 		return service;
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/main/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/spring-websocket-4.1.xsd b/spring-websocket/src/main/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/spring-websocket-4.1.xsd
index 447928b262..ea3dfa0fe8 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/main/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/spring-websocket-4.1.xsd
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/main/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/spring-websocket-4.1.xsd
@@ -224,6 +224,14 @@
                 ]]></xsd:documentation>
 			</xsd:annotation>
 		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attribute name="message-codec" type="xsd:string">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation source="java:org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.support.AbstractSockJsService"><![CDATA[
+	The bean name of a SockJsMessageCodec to use for encoding and decoding SockJS messages.
+	By default Jackson2SockJsMessageCodec is used requiring the Jackson library to be present on the classpath.
+                ]]></xsd:documentation>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+		</xsd:attribute>
 	</xsd:complexType>
 
 	<xsd:complexType name="stomp-broker-relay">
diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/HandlersBeanDefinitionParserTests.java b/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/HandlersBeanDefinitionParserTests.java
index bbcc50038c..966850fd5e 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/HandlersBeanDefinitionParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/HandlersBeanDefinitionParserTests.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 package org.springframework.web.socket.config;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -45,6 +47,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.socket.server.HandshakeInterceptor;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.server.support.DefaultHandshakeHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.server.support.WebSocketHttpRequestHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.SockJsService;
+import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.frame.SockJsMessageCodec;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.support.SockJsHttpRequestHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.TransportHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.TransportHandlingSockJsService;
@@ -218,6 +221,7 @@ public class HandlersBeanDefinitionParserTests {
 		assertEquals(256, transportService.getDisconnectDelay());
 		assertEquals(1024, transportService.getHttpMessageCacheSize());
 		assertEquals(20, transportService.getHeartbeatTime());
+		assertEquals(TestMessageCodec.class, transportService.getMessageCodec().getClass());
 	}
 
 	private void loadBeanDefinitions(String fileName) {
@@ -327,4 +331,22 @@ class TestTaskScheduler implements TaskScheduler {
 		return null;
 	}
 
+}
+
+class TestMessageCodec implements SockJsMessageCodec {
+
+	@Override
+	public String encode(String... messages) {
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public String[] decode(String content) throws IOException {
+		return new String[0];
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public String[] decodeInputStream(InputStream content) throws IOException {
+		return new String[0];
+	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/websocket-config-handlers-sockjs-attributes.xml b/spring-websocket/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/websocket-config-handlers-sockjs-attributes.xml
index 4a2476c45c..e937d82c3e 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/websocket-config-handlers-sockjs-attributes.xml
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/socket/config/websocket-config-handlers-sockjs-attributes.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 		<websocket:mapping path="/test" handler="testHandler"/>
 		<websocket:sockjs name="testSockJsService" scheduler="testTaskScheduler" websocket-enabled="false"
 						  session-cookie-needed="false" stream-bytes-limit="2048" disconnect-delay="256"
-						  message-cache-size="1024" heartbeat-time="20">
+						  message-cache-size="1024" heartbeat-time="20" message-codec="messageCodec">
 			<websocket:transport-handlers register-defaults="false">
 				<bean class="org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.handler.XhrPollingTransportHandler"/>
 				<ref bean="xhrStreamingTransportHandler"/>
@@ -20,5 +20,6 @@
 	<bean id="testHandler" class="org.springframework.web.socket.config.TestWebSocketHandler"/>
 	<bean id="testTaskScheduler" class="org.springframework.web.socket.config.TestTaskScheduler"/>
 	<bean id="xhrStreamingTransportHandler" class="org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.handler.XhrStreamingTransportHandler"/>
+	<bean id="messageCodec" class="org.springframework.web.socket.config.TestMessageCodec" />
 
 </beans>