diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParser.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParser.java
index ac18c44252..a4054a4e44 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParser.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParser.java
@@ -43,9 +43,18 @@ public class PollerParser extends AbstractBeanDefinitionParser {
 		String id = super.resolveId(element, definition, parserContext);
 		if (element.getAttribute("default").equals("true")) {
 			if (parserContext.getRegistry().isBeanNameInUse(IntegrationContextUtils.DEFAULT_POLLER_METADATA_BEAN_NAME)) {
-				parserContext.getReaderContext().error("only one default <poller/> element is allowed per context", element);
+				parserContext.getReaderContext().error("Only one default <poller/> element is allowed per context.", element);
 			}
-			parserContext.getRegistry().registerAlias(id, IntegrationContextUtils.DEFAULT_POLLER_METADATA_BEAN_NAME);
+			if (StringUtils.hasText(id)) {
+				parserContext.getRegistry().registerAlias(id, IntegrationContextUtils.DEFAULT_POLLER_METADATA_BEAN_NAME);
+			}
+			else {
+				id = IntegrationContextUtils.DEFAULT_POLLER_METADATA_BEAN_NAME;
+			}
+		}
+		else if (!StringUtils.hasText(id)) {
+			parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+					"The 'id' attribute is required for a top-level poller element unless it is the default poller.", element);
 		}
 		return id;
 	}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParserTests.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParserTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23c7fb96aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PollerParserTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2008 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.xml;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.BeanDefinitionParsingException;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.integration.context.IntegrationContextUtils;
+
+/**
+ * @author Mark Fisher
+ */
+public class PollerParserTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void defaultPollerWithId() {
+		ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"defaultPollerWithId.xml", PollerParserTests.class);
+		Object poller = context.getBean("defaultPollerWithId");
+		assertNotNull(poller);
+		Object defaultPoller = context.getBean(IntegrationContextUtils.DEFAULT_POLLER_METADATA_BEAN_NAME);
+		assertNotNull(defaultPoller);
+		assertEquals(defaultPoller, context.getBean("defaultPollerWithId"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void defaultPollerWithoutId() {
+		ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"defaultPollerWithoutId.xml", PollerParserTests.class);
+		Object defaultPoller = context.getBean(IntegrationContextUtils.DEFAULT_POLLER_METADATA_BEAN_NAME);
+		assertNotNull(defaultPoller);
+	}
+
+	@Test(expected = BeanDefinitionParsingException.class)
+	public void multipleDefaultPollers() {
+		new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"multipleDefaultPollers.xml", PollerParserTests.class);
+	}
+
+	@Test(expected = BeanDefinitionParsingException.class)
+	public void topLevelPollerWithoutId() {
+		new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"topLevelPollerWithoutId.xml", PollerParserTests.class);
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/defaultPollerWithId.xml b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/defaultPollerWithId.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3eb26ceb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/defaultPollerWithId.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?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">
+
+	<poller id="defaultPollerWithId" default="true">
+		<interval-trigger interval="5000"/>
+	</poller>
+
+</beans:beans>
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/defaultPollerWithoutId.xml b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/defaultPollerWithoutId.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c66114030a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/defaultPollerWithoutId.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?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">
+
+	<poller default="true">
+		<interval-trigger interval="5000"/>
+	</poller>
+
+</beans:beans>
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/multipleDefaultPollers.xml b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/multipleDefaultPollers.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bdad6c1f93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/multipleDefaultPollers.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?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">
+
+	<poller id="defaultPoller1" default="true">
+		<interval-trigger interval="3000"/>
+	</poller>
+
+	<poller id="defaultPoller2" default="true">
+		<interval-trigger interval="10000"/>
+	</poller>
+
+</beans:beans>
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/topLevelPollerWithoutId.xml b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/topLevelPollerWithoutId.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..62cbc8ddcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/topLevelPollerWithoutId.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?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">
+
+	<poller>
+		<interval-trigger interval="3000"/>
+	</poller>
+
+</beans:beans>