diff --git a/docs/src/reference/docbook/twitter.xml b/docs/src/reference/docbook/twitter.xml
index 4460b25d62..62d6294834 100644
--- a/docs/src/reference/docbook/twitter.xml
+++ b/docs/src/reference/docbook/twitter.xml
@@ -258,24 +258,26 @@ received.
   		The only extra configuration that is required for this adapter is the <code>twitter-template</code> reference.
   		</para>
   		<para>
-  		When it comes to Twitter Direct Message you must specify who you sending this message to - <emphasis>target userid</emphasis>. 
-  		Twitter Outbound Direct Message Channel Adapter provides several ways you can specify target user.
-        By default it will look for target userid in the Message headers under the name <code>twitter_dmTargetUserId</code> which 
-        is also identified by the following constant - <classname>TwitterHeaders.DM_TARGET_USER_ID</classname>.
-		So when creating a Message all you need to do is add this header:
+  	    When it comes to Twitter Direct Messages, you must specify who you are sending the message to - the <emphasis>target userid</emphasis>. 
+  	    The Twitter Outbound Direct Message Channel Adapter provides two ways you can specify that target user.
+        </para>
+        <para>
+        The first (and default) way is that it will look for a target userid in the Message headers under the name <code>twitter_dmTargetUserId</code> which 
+        is also identified by the following constant: <classname>TwitterHeaders.DM_TARGET_USER_ID</classname>.
+        So when creating a Message all you need to do is add a value for that header.
 		
 		<programlisting language="java"><![CDATA[Message message = MessageBuilder.withPayload("hello")
 		.setHeader(TwitterHeaders.DM_TARGET_USER_ID, "z_oleg").build();]]></programlisting>
   		</para>
   		<para>
-  		The above approach works well if you know the target userid in advance. However there are times when such 
-  		value must be determined dynamically. For those cases you can utilize SpEL support by providing valid SpEL 
-  		expression via <code>target-user-expression</code> attribute.
+  		The above approach works well if you know the target userid in advance. However there are times when that
+  		value must be determined dynamically. For those cases you can utilize the second approach: SpEL support.
+        Simply provide a valid SpEL expression via the <code>target-user-expression</code> attribute.
   		
   		<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[<twitter:dm-outbound-channel-adapter id="dmAdapter"
 		twitter-template="twitter" 
 		channel="inputChannel" 
-		target-user-expression="'z' + '_oleg'"/>]]></programlisting>
+		target-user-expression="payload.user.twitterId"/>]]></programlisting>
   		</para>
   	</section>
   	<para>
diff --git a/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/outbound/DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler.java b/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/outbound/DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler.java
index 4d5cb4caf7..9915210574 100644
--- a/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/outbound/DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/outbound/DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler.java
@@ -35,15 +35,22 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
  *
  * @author Josh Long
  * @author Oleg Zhurakousky
+ * @author Mark Fisher
  * @since 2.0
  */
 public class DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageHandler {
 
-	private final TwitterOperations twitterOperations;
-	private final StandardEvaluationContext evaluationContext = new StandardEvaluationContext();
 	private static final ExpressionParser PARSER = new SpelExpressionParser();
-	
-	private volatile Expression targetUserExpression;
+
+	private static final Expression DEFAULT_TARGET_USER_EXPRESSION = PARSER.parseExpression(
+			"headers[T(org.springframework.integration.twitter.core.TwitterHeaders).DM_TARGET_USER_ID]");
+
+
+	private final TwitterOperations twitterOperations;
+
+	private final StandardEvaluationContext evaluationContext = new StandardEvaluationContext();
+
+	private volatile Expression targetUserExpression = DEFAULT_TARGET_USER_EXPRESSION;
 
 
 	public DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler(TwitterOperations twitterOperations) {
@@ -51,18 +58,29 @@ public class DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageHandler {
 		this.twitterOperations = twitterOperations;
 	}
 
+
 	public void setTargetUserExpression(Expression targetUserExpression) {
-		Assert.notNull(targetUserExpression, "'targetUserExpression' must not be null");
-		this.targetUserExpression = targetUserExpression;
+		this.targetUserExpression = (targetUserExpression != null) ? targetUserExpression : DEFAULT_TARGET_USER_EXPRESSION;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void onInit() throws Exception {
+		super.onInit();
+		BeanFactory beanFactory = this.getBeanFactory();
+		if (beanFactory != null) {
+			this.evaluationContext.setBeanResolver(new BeanFactoryResolver(beanFactory));
+		}
+		ConversionService conversionService = this.getConversionService();
+		if (conversionService != null) {
+			this.evaluationContext.setTypeConverter(new StandardTypeConverter(conversionService));
+		}
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	protected void handleMessageInternal(Message<?> message) throws Exception {
-		Assert.isInstanceOf(String.class, message.getPayload(), "Only payload of type String is supported. If your payload " +
-				"is not of type String consider adding a transformer to the message flow in front of this adapter.");
-
-		Object toUser = targetUserExpression.getValue(this.evaluationContext, message);
-		
+		Assert.isTrue(message.getPayload() instanceof String, "Only payload of type String is supported. " +
+				"Consider adding a transformer to the message flow in front of this adapter.");
+		Object toUser = this.targetUserExpression.getValue(this.evaluationContext, message);
 		Assert.isTrue(toUser instanceof String || toUser instanceof Integer,
 				"the header '" + TwitterHeaders.DM_TARGET_USER_ID + 
 				"' must be either a String (a screenname) or an int (a user ID)");
@@ -74,22 +92,5 @@ public class DirectMessageSendingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageHandler {
 			this.twitterOperations.sendDirectMessage((String) toUser, payload);
 		}
 	}
-	
-	@Override
-	public void onInit() throws Exception{
-		super.onInit();
-		BeanFactory beanFactory = this.getBeanFactory();
-		if (beanFactory != null) {
-			this.evaluationContext.setBeanResolver(new BeanFactoryResolver(beanFactory));
-		}
-		ConversionService conversionService = this.getConversionService();
-		if (conversionService != null) {
-			this.evaluationContext.setTypeConverter(new StandardTypeConverter(conversionService));
-		}
-		if (targetUserExpression == null){
-			targetUserExpression = 
-				PARSER.parseExpression("headers[T(org.springframework.integration.twitter.core.TwitterHeaders).DM_TARGET_USER_ID]");
-		}
-	}
 
 }