diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParser.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParser.java
index 6b68b056d6..66cdeb32cb 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParser.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParser.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.RootBeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.BeanDefinitionParser;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.DispatcherPolicy;
+import org.springframework.integration.channel.PriorityChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.SimpleChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.interceptor.MessageSelectingInterceptor;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.selector.MessageSelector;
@@ -56,9 +57,13 @@ public class ChannelParser implements BeanDefinitionParser {
 
 	private static final String INTERCEPTORS_PROPERTY = "interceptors";
 
+	private static final String COMPARATOR_REF_ATTRIBUTE = "comparator-ref";
+
 
 	public BeanDefinition parse(Element element, ParserContext parserContext) {
-		RootBeanDefinition channelDef = new RootBeanDefinition(SimpleChannel.class);
+		boolean isPriorityChannel = (element.getLocalName().equals("priority-channel"));
+		Class<?> channelClass = (isPriorityChannel) ? PriorityChannel.class : SimpleChannel.class;
+		RootBeanDefinition channelDef = new RootBeanDefinition(channelClass);
 		channelDef.setSource(parserContext.extractSource(element));
 		boolean isPublishSubscribe = "true".equals(element.getAttribute(PUBLISH_SUBSCRIBE_ATTRIBUTE));
 		DispatcherPolicy dispatcherPolicy = new DispatcherPolicy(isPublishSubscribe);
@@ -81,6 +86,12 @@ public class ChannelParser implements BeanDefinitionParser {
 		int capacity = (StringUtils.hasText(capAttr)) ? Integer.parseInt(capAttr) : SimpleChannel.DEFAULT_CAPACITY;
 		channelDef.getConstructorArgumentValues().addIndexedArgumentValue(0, capacity);
 		channelDef.getConstructorArgumentValues().addIndexedArgumentValue(1, dispatcherPolicy);
+		if (isPriorityChannel) {
+			String comparatorRef = element.getAttribute(COMPARATOR_REF_ATTRIBUTE);
+			if (StringUtils.hasText(comparatorRef)) {
+				channelDef.getConstructorArgumentValues().addIndexedArgumentValue(2, new RuntimeBeanReference(comparatorRef));
+			}
+		}
 		String datatypeAttr = element.getAttribute(DATATYPE_ATTRIBUTE);
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(datatypeAttr)) {
 			String[] datatypes = StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(datatypeAttr);
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/IntegrationNamespaceHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/IntegrationNamespaceHandler.java
index 49c89610f6..3ee613657c 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/IntegrationNamespaceHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/IntegrationNamespaceHandler.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public class IntegrationNamespaceHandler extends NamespaceHandlerSupport {
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("message-bus", new MessageBusParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("annotation-driven", new AnnotationDrivenParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("channel", new ChannelParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("priority-channel", new ChannelParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("source-adapter", new ChannelAdapterParser(true));
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("target-adapter", new ChannelAdapterParser(false));
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("endpoint", new EndpointParser());
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-core-1.0.xsd b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-core-1.0.xsd
index 91634b179e..5975357374 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-core-1.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/spring-integration-core-1.0.xsd
@@ -44,24 +44,39 @@
 		</xsd:complexType>
 	</xsd:element>
 
-	<xsd:element name="channel">
+	<xsd:element name="channel" type="channelType"/>
+
+	<xsd:element name="priority-channel">
 		<xsd:complexType>
 			<xsd:annotation>
 				<xsd:documentation>
-	Defines a message channel.
+	Defines a channel with priority-ordering for message reception.
 				</xsd:documentation>
 			</xsd:annotation>
-			<xsd:sequence>
-				<xsd:element ref="dispatcher-policy" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
-				<xsd:element ref="interceptor" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
-			</xsd:sequence>
-			<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID" use="required"/>
-			<xsd:attribute name="capacity" type="xsd:integer"/>
-			<xsd:attribute name="publish-subscribe" type="xsd:boolean" default="false"/>
-			<xsd:attribute name="datatype" type="xsd:string"/>
+			<xsd:complexContent>
+				<xsd:extension base="channelType">
+					<xsd:attribute name="comparator-ref" type="xsd:string"/>
+				</xsd:extension>
+			</xsd:complexContent>
 		</xsd:complexType>
 	</xsd:element>
 
+	<xsd:complexType name="channelType">
+		<xsd:annotation>
+			<xsd:documentation>
+	Defines a message channel.
+			</xsd:documentation>
+		</xsd:annotation>
+		<xsd:sequence>
+			<xsd:element ref="dispatcher-policy" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
+			<xsd:element ref="interceptor" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+		</xsd:sequence>
+		<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID" use="required"/>
+		<xsd:attribute name="capacity" type="xsd:integer"/>
+		<xsd:attribute name="publish-subscribe" type="xsd:boolean" default="false"/>
+		<xsd:attribute name="datatype" type="xsd:string"/>
+	</xsd:complexType>
+
 	<xsd:element name="interceptor">
 		<xsd:complexType>
 			<xsd:annotation>
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/PriorityChannelTests.java b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/PriorityChannelTests.java
index 94f1bef8f8..3cdefe36f6 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/PriorityChannelTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/PriorityChannelTests.java
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public class PriorityChannelTests {
 	}
 
 
-	private static class StringPayloadComparator implements Comparator<Message<?>> {
+	public static class StringPayloadComparator implements Comparator<Message<?>> {
 
 		public int compare(Message<?> message1, Message<?> message2) {
 			String s1 = (String) message1.getPayload();
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParserTests.java b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParserTests.java
index 25821fe921..f1484bba9a 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/ChannelParserTests.java
@@ -205,6 +205,47 @@ public class ChannelParserTests {
 		assertEquals(1, interceptor.getReceiveCount());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testPriorityChannelWithDefaultComparator() {
+		ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"priorityChannelParserTests.xml", this.getClass());
+		MessageChannel channel = (MessageChannel) context.getBean("priorityChannelWithDefaultComparator");
+		Message<?> lowPriorityMessage = new StringMessage("low");
+		lowPriorityMessage.getHeader().setPriority(777);
+		Message<?> midPriorityMessage = new StringMessage("mid");
+		midPriorityMessage.getHeader().setPriority(77);
+		Message<?> highPriorityMessage = new StringMessage("high");
+		highPriorityMessage.getHeader().setPriority(7);
+		channel.send(lowPriorityMessage);
+		channel.send(highPriorityMessage);
+		channel.send(midPriorityMessage);
+		Message<?> reply1 = channel.receive(0);
+		Message<?> reply2 = channel.receive(0);
+		Message<?> reply3 = channel.receive(0);
+		assertEquals("high", reply1.getPayload());
+		assertEquals("mid", reply2.getPayload());
+		assertEquals("low", reply3.getPayload());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testPriorityChannelWithCustomComparator() {
+		ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"priorityChannelParserTests.xml", this.getClass());
+		MessageChannel channel = (MessageChannel) context.getBean("priorityChannelWithCustomComparator");
+		channel.send(new StringMessage("C"));
+		channel.send(new StringMessage("A"));
+		channel.send(new StringMessage("D"));
+		channel.send(new StringMessage("B"));
+		Message<?> reply1 = channel.receive(0);
+		Message<?> reply2 = channel.receive(0);
+		Message<?> reply3 = channel.receive(0);
+		Message<?> reply4 = channel.receive(0);
+		assertEquals("A", reply1.getPayload());
+		assertEquals("B", reply2.getPayload());
+		assertEquals("C", reply3.getPayload());
+		assertEquals("D", reply4.getPayload());
+	}
+
 
 	private static class TestHandler implements MessageHandler {
 
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/priorityChannelParserTests.xml b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/priorityChannelParserTests.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fd4d2aa40c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/priorityChannelParserTests.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?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-core-1.0.xsd">
+
+	<priority-channel id="priorityChannelWithDefaultComparator"/>
+
+	<priority-channel id="priorityChannelWithCustomComparator" comparator-ref="stringPayloadComparator"/>
+
+	<beans:bean id="stringPayloadComparator"
+			class="org.springframework.integration.channel.PriorityChannelTests$StringPayloadComparator"/>
+
+</beans:beans>