diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParser.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParser.java
index 63f5d233e4..2f07a0cc0e 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParser.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParser.java
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ public class EndpointParser implements BeanDefinitionParser {
 
 	private static final String HANDLER_PROPERTY = "handler";
 
+	private static final String ERROR_HANDLER_ATTRIBUTE = "error-handler";
+
+	private static final String ERROR_HANDLER_PROPERTY = "errorHandler";
+
 	private static final String OBJECT_PROPERTY = "object";
 
 	private static final String METHOD_NAME_PROPERTY = "methodName";
@@ -170,6 +174,10 @@ public class EndpointParser implements BeanDefinitionParser {
 				endpointDef.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue(HANDLER_PROPERTY, new RuntimeBeanReference(handlerRef));
 			}
 		}
+		String errorHandlerRef = element.getAttribute(ERROR_HANDLER_ATTRIBUTE);
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(errorHandlerRef)) {
+			endpointDef.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue(ERROR_HANDLER_PROPERTY, new RuntimeBeanReference(errorHandlerRef));
+		}
 		String beanName = element.getAttribute(ID_ATTRIBUTE);
 		if (!StringUtils.hasText(beanName)) {
 			beanName = parserContext.getReaderContext().generateBeanName(endpointDef);
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-1.0.xsd b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
index 2952f6721d..d1e4172e59 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@
 					<xsd:attribute name="default-output-channel" type="xsd:string"/>
 					<xsd:attribute name="handler-ref" type="xsd:string"/>
 					<xsd:attribute name="handler-method" type="xsd:string"/>
+					<xsd:attribute name="error-handler" type="xsd:string"/>
 				</xsd:extension>
 			</xsd:complexContent>
 		</xsd:complexType>
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/message/MessageHandlingException.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/message/MessageHandlingException.java
index 21af3caf63..9df16ece94 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/message/MessageHandlingException.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/message/MessageHandlingException.java
@@ -26,16 +26,36 @@ import org.springframework.integration.MessagingException;
 @SuppressWarnings("serial")
 public class MessageHandlingException extends MessagingException {
 
+	private Message<?> failedMessage;
+
+
 	public MessageHandlingException() {
 		super();
 	}
 
-	public MessageHandlingException(String message) {
-		super(message);
+	public MessageHandlingException(Message<?> failedMessage) {
+		this.failedMessage = failedMessage;
 	}
 
-	public MessageHandlingException(String message, Throwable cause) {
-		super(message, cause);
+	public MessageHandlingException(String description) {
+		super(description);
+	}
+
+	public MessageHandlingException(Message<?> failedMessage, String description) {
+		super(description);
+		this.failedMessage = failedMessage;
+	}
+
+	public MessageHandlingException(String description, Throwable cause) {
+		super(description, cause);
+	}
+
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the failed {@link Message} if available, may be null.
+	 */
+	public Message<?> getFailedMessage() {
+		return this.failedMessage;
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParserTests.java b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParserTests.java
index 8c7eea4412..68feeee6cd 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/EndpointParserTests.java
@@ -33,8 +33,10 @@ import org.springframework.integration.endpoint.DefaultMessageEndpoint;
 import org.springframework.integration.handler.MessageHandler;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.GenericMessage;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.Message;
+import org.springframework.integration.message.MessageHandlingException;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.StringMessage;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.selector.MessageSelectorRejectedException;
+import org.springframework.integration.util.ErrorHandler;
 
 /**
  * @author Mark Fisher
@@ -140,4 +142,19 @@ public class EndpointParserTests {
 		endpoint.handle(new GenericMessage<Integer>(123));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testCustomErrorHandler() {
+		ClassPathXmlApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"endpointWithErrorHandler.xml", this.getClass());
+		MessageHandler endpoint = (MessageHandler) context.getBean("endpoint");
+		TestErrorHandler errorHandler = (TestErrorHandler) context.getBean("errorHandler");
+		assertNull(errorHandler.getLastError());
+		Message<?> message = new StringMessage("test");
+		endpoint.handle(message);
+		Throwable error = errorHandler.getLastError();
+		assertEquals(MessageHandlingException.class, error.getClass());
+		MessageHandlingException exception = (MessageHandlingException) error;
+		assertEquals(message, exception.getFailedMessage());
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ExceptionThrowingTestHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ExceptionThrowingTestHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a8708b0d4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ExceptionThrowingTestHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2007 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.integration.config;
+
+import org.springframework.integration.handler.MessageHandler;
+import org.springframework.integration.message.Message;
+import org.springframework.integration.message.MessageHandlingException;
+
+/**
+ * @author Mark Fisher
+ */
+public class ExceptionThrowingTestHandler implements MessageHandler {
+
+	public Message<?> handle(Message<?> message) {
+		throw new MessageHandlingException(message, "intentional test failure");
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/TestErrorHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/TestErrorHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7328c051bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/TestErrorHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2007 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.integration.config;
+
+import org.springframework.integration.util.ErrorHandler;
+
+/**
+ * @author Mark Fisher
+ */
+public class TestErrorHandler implements ErrorHandler {
+
+	private volatile Throwable lastError;
+
+
+	public void handle(Throwable t) {
+		this.lastError = t;
+	}
+
+	public Throwable getLastError() {
+		return this.lastError;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/endpointWithErrorHandler.xml b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/endpointWithErrorHandler.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e6d7af4a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/endpointWithErrorHandler.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans:beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration"
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xmlns:beans="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/spring-integration-1.0.xsd">
+
+	<message-bus/>
+
+	<channel id="testChannel"/>
+
+	<endpoint id="endpoint" input-channel="testChannel" handler-ref="testHandler" error-handler="errorHandler"/>
+
+	<beans:bean id="testHandler" class="org.springframework.integration.config.ExceptionThrowingTestHandler"/>
+
+	<beans:bean id="errorHandler" class="org.springframework.integration.config.TestErrorHandler"/>
+
+</beans:beans>