diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/IntegrationNamespaceUtils.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/IntegrationNamespaceUtils.java
index ea47efaeac..fb680a8cff 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/IntegrationNamespaceUtils.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/IntegrationNamespaceUtils.java
@@ -145,6 +145,10 @@ public abstract class IntegrationNamespaceUtils {
 	public static void configurePollerMetadata(Element pollerElement, BeanDefinitionBuilder targetBuilder, ParserContext parserContext) {
 		String pollerMetadataRef = null;
 		if (pollerElement.hasAttribute("ref")) {
+			Assert.isTrue(pollerElement.getAttributes().getLength() == 1,
+					"a 'poller' element that provides a 'ref' must have no other attributes");
+			Assert.isTrue(pollerElement.getChildNodes().getLength() == 0,
+					"a 'poller' element that provides a 'ref' must have no child elements");
 			pollerMetadataRef = pollerElement.getAttribute("ref");
 		}
 		else {
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 eba65a5c88..bd7bb69892 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
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ public class PollerParser extends AbstractBeanDefinitionParser {
 	@Override
 	protected AbstractBeanDefinition parseInternal(Element element, ParserContext parserContext) {
 		BeanDefinitionBuilder metadataBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(PollerMetadata.class);
+		Assert.isTrue(!element.hasAttribute("ref"),
+				"the 'ref' attribute must not be present on a 'poller' element submitted to the parser");
 		configureTrigger(element, metadataBuilder, parserContext);
 		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setValueIfAttributeDefined(metadataBuilder, element, "max-messages-per-poll");
 		Element txElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "transactional");
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-1.0.xsd b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
index ebdd4b7bd8..de84f158db 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@
 	Defines an interval-based trigger.
 				</xsd:documentation>
 			</xsd:annotation>
-			<xsd:attribute name="interval" type="xsd:string"/>
+			<xsd:attribute name="interval" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
 			<xsd:attribute name="initial-delay" type="xsd:string"/>
 			<xsd:attribute name="fixed-rate" type="xsd:string" default="false"/>
 			<xsd:attribute name="time-unit" default="MILLISECONDS">
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@
 	Defines an cron-based trigger.
 				</xsd:documentation>
 			</xsd:annotation>
-			<xsd:attribute name="expression" type="xsd:string"/>
+			<xsd:attribute name="expression" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
 		</xsd:complexType>
 	</xsd:element>