diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java
index e86ab49793..3e1960870f 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java
@@ -665,16 +665,11 @@ public abstract class StringUtils {
 	 * @return a corresponding <code>Locale</code> instance
 	 */
 	public static Locale parseLocaleString(String localeString) {
-		for (int i = 0; i < localeString.length(); i++) {
-			char ch = localeString.charAt(i);
-			if (ch != '_' && ch != ' ' && !Character.isLetterOrDigit(ch)) {
-				throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-						"Locale value \"" + localeString + "\" contains invalid characters");
-			}
-		}
 		String[] parts = tokenizeToStringArray(localeString, "_ ", false, false);
 		String language = (parts.length > 0 ? parts[0] : "");
 		String country = (parts.length > 1 ? parts[1] : "");
+		validateLocalePart(language);
+		validateLocalePart(country);
 		String variant = "";
 		if (parts.length >= 2) {
 			// There is definitely a variant, and it is everything after the country
@@ -689,6 +684,16 @@ public abstract class StringUtils {
 		return (language.length() > 0 ? new Locale(language, country, variant) : null);
 	}
 
+	private static void validateLocalePart(String localePart) {
+		for (int i = 0; i < localePart.length(); i++) {
+			char ch = localePart.charAt(i);
+			if (ch != '_' && ch != ' ' && !Character.isLetterOrDigit(ch)) {
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+						"Locale part \"" + localePart + "\" contains invalid characters");
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Determine the RFC 3066 compliant language tag,
 	 * as used for the HTTP "Accept-Language" header.
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtilsTests.java b/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtilsTests.java
index 320b7363c6..65cf242724 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtilsTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtilsTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 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.
@@ -268,21 +268,26 @@ public class StringUtilsTests extends TestCase {
 		assertEquals(null, StringUtils.getFilenameExtension(""));
 		assertEquals(null, StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("myfile"));
 		assertEquals(null, StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("myPath/myfile"));
+		assertEquals(null, StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile"));
 		assertEquals("", StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("myfile."));
 		assertEquals("", StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("myPath/myfile."));
 		assertEquals("txt", StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("myfile.txt"));
 		assertEquals("txt", StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("mypath/myfile.txt"));
+		assertEquals("txt", StringUtils.getFilenameExtension("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile.txt"));
 	}
 
 	public void testStripFilenameExtension() {
 		assertEquals(null, StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension(null));
 		assertEquals("", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension(""));
 		assertEquals("myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("myfile"));
-		assertEquals("mypath/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("mypath/myfile"));
 		assertEquals("myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("myfile."));
-		assertEquals("mypath/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("mypath/myfile."));
 		assertEquals("myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("myfile.txt"));
+		assertEquals("mypath/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("mypath/myfile"));
+		assertEquals("mypath/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("mypath/myfile."));
 		assertEquals("mypath/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("mypath/myfile.txt"));
+		assertEquals("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile"));
+		assertEquals("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile."));
+		assertEquals("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile", StringUtils.stripFilenameExtension("/home/user/.m2/settings/myfile.txt"));
 	}
 
 	public void testCleanPath() {
@@ -561,6 +566,16 @@ public class StringUtilsTests extends TestCase {
 		assertNull("When given an empty Locale string, must return null.", locale);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * <a href="http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/spring/browse/SPR-8637">See SPR-8637</a>.
+	 */
+	public void testParseLocaleWithMultiSpecialCharactersInVariant() throws Exception {
+		final String variant = "proper-northern";
+		final String localeString = "en_GB_" + variant;
+		Locale locale = StringUtils.parseLocaleString(localeString);
+		assertEquals("Multi-valued variant portion of the Locale not extracted correctly.", variant, locale.getVariant());
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * <a href="http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/spring/browse/SPR-3671">See SPR-3671</a>.
 	 */
@@ -611,4 +626,17 @@ public class StringUtilsTests extends TestCase {
 		assertEquals("Multi-valued variant portion of the Locale not extracted correctly.", variant, locale.getVariant());
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * <a href="http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/spring/browse/SPR-7779">See SPR-7779</a>.
+	 */
+	public void testParseLocaleWithInvalidCharacters() {
+		try {
+			StringUtils.parseLocaleString("%0D%0AContent-length:30%0D%0A%0D%0A%3Cscript%3Ealert%28123%29%3C/script%3E");
+			fail("Should have thrown IllegalArgumentException");
+		}
+		catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+			// expected
+		}
+	}
+
 }