diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 8451b38356..ab7ab92c62 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -701,6 +701,7 @@ project("spring-web") {
 		optional("javax.portlet:portlet-api:2.0")
 		optional("javax.el:javax.el-api:2.2.5")
 		optional("javax.faces:javax.faces-api:2.2")
+		optional("javax.validation:validation-api:1.0.0.GA")
 		optional("aopalliance:aopalliance:1.0")
 		optional("org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:${groovyVersion}")
 		optional("com.caucho:hessian:4.0.38")
diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/beanvalidation/SpringConstraintValidatorFactory.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/beanvalidation/SpringConstraintValidatorFactory.java
index c6394d76b1..a2c718a7a9 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/beanvalidation/SpringConstraintValidatorFactory.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/beanvalidation/SpringConstraintValidatorFactory.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2015 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.
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
  * JSR-303 {@link ConstraintValidatorFactory} implementation that delegates to a
  * Spring BeanFactory for creating autowired {@link ConstraintValidator} instances.
  *
+ * <p>Note that this class is meant for programmatic use, not for declarative use
+ * in a standard {@code validation.xml} file. Consider
+ * {@link org.springframework.web.bind.support.SpringWebConstraintValidatorFactory}
+ * for declarative use in a web application, e.g. with JAX-RS or JAX-WS.
+ *
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
  * @since 3.0
  * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.config.AutowireCapableBeanFactory#createBean(Class)
@@ -51,6 +56,7 @@ public class SpringConstraintValidatorFactory implements ConstraintValidatorFact
 		return this.beanFactory.createBean(key);
 	}
 
+	// Bean Validation 1.1 releaseInstance method
 	public void releaseInstance(ConstraintValidator<?, ?> instance) {
 		this.beanFactory.destroyBean(instance);
 	}
diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/bind/support/SpringWebConstraintValidatorFactory.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/bind/support/SpringWebConstraintValidatorFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..09b6966355
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/bind/support/SpringWebConstraintValidatorFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2015 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.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.web.bind.support;
+
+import javax.validation.ConstraintValidator;
+import javax.validation.ConstraintValidatorFactory;
+
+import org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader;
+import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
+
+/**
+ * JSR-303 {@link ConstraintValidatorFactory} implementation that delegates to
+ * the current Spring {@link WebApplicationContext} for creating autowired
+ * {@link ConstraintValidator} instances.
+ *
+ * <p>In contrast to
+ * {@link org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.SpringConstraintValidatorFactory},
+ * this variant is meant for declarative use in a standard {@code validation.xml} file,
+ * e.g. in combination with JAX-RS or JAX-WS.
+ *
+ * @author Juergen Hoeller
+ * @since 4.2.1
+ * @see ContextLoader#getCurrentWebApplicationContext()
+ * @see org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.SpringConstraintValidatorFactory
+ */
+public class SpringWebConstraintValidatorFactory implements ConstraintValidatorFactory {
+
+	@Override
+	public <T extends ConstraintValidator<?, ?>> T getInstance(Class<T> key) {
+		return getWebApplicationContext().getAutowireCapableBeanFactory().createBean(key);
+	}
+
+	// Bean Validation 1.1 releaseInstance method
+	public void releaseInstance(ConstraintValidator<?, ?> instance) {
+		getWebApplicationContext().getAutowireCapableBeanFactory().destroyBean(instance);
+	}
+
+
+	/**
+	 * Retrieve the Spring {@link WebApplicationContext} to use.
+	 * The default implementation returns the current {@link WebApplicationContext}
+	 * as registered for the thread context class loader.
+	 * @return the current WebApplicationContext (never {@code null})
+	 * @see ContextLoader#getCurrentWebApplicationContext()
+	 */
+	protected WebApplicationContext getWebApplicationContext() {
+		WebApplicationContext wac = ContextLoader.getCurrentWebApplicationContext();
+		if (wac == null) {
+			throw new IllegalStateException("No WebApplicationContext registered for current thread - " +
+					"consider overriding SpringWebConstraintValidatorFactory.getWebApplicationContext()");
+		}
+		return wac;
+	}
+
+}