diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherParserSupport.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherParserSupport.java
index d84acdfaa4..5e6205f9e3 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherParserSupport.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherParserSupport.java
@@ -85,24 +85,27 @@ public abstract class HeaderEnricherParserSupport extends AbstractTransformerPar
 				Class<?> headerType = null;
 				if ("header".equals(elementName)) {
 					headerName = headerElement.getAttribute("name");
-					String headerTypeName = headerElement.getAttribute("type");
-					if (StringUtils.hasText(headerTypeName)) {
-						ClassLoader classLoader = parserContext.getReaderContext().getBeanClassLoader();
-						if (classLoader != null) {
-							try {
-								headerType = ClassUtils.forName(headerTypeName, classLoader);
-							}
-							catch (Exception e) {
-								parserContext.getReaderContext().error("unable to resolve type [" +
-										headerTypeName + "] for header '" + headerName + "'", element, e);
-							}
-						}
-					}
 				}
 				else {
 					headerName = elementToNameMap.get(elementName);
 					headerType = elementToTypeMap.get(elementName);
 				}
+				if (headerType == null) {
+					String headerTypeName = headerElement.getAttribute("type");
+					if (StringUtils.hasText(headerTypeName)) {
+						ClassLoader classLoader = parserContext.getReaderContext().getBeanClassLoader();
+						if (classLoader == null) {
+							classLoader = getClass().getClassLoader();
+						}
+						try {
+							headerType = ClassUtils.forName(headerTypeName, classLoader);
+						}
+						catch (Exception e) {
+							parserContext.getReaderContext().error("unable to resolve type [" +
+									headerTypeName + "] for header '" + headerName + "'", element, e);
+						}
+					}
+				}
 				if (headerName != null) {
 					String value = headerElement.getAttribute("value");
 					String ref = headerElement.getAttribute("ref");
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-2.0.xsd b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-2.0.xsd
index 991fc709bd..727e593a83 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-2.0.xsd
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/spring-integration-2.0.xsd
@@ -937,6 +937,14 @@
 	</xsd:complexType>
 
 	<xsd:complexType name="referenceOrValueHeaderType">
+		<xsd:annotation>
+			<xsd:documentation>
+	Provides a header value for the given header name. Requires
+	exactly one of the 'ref', 'value', or 'expression' attributes.
+	The 'type' attribute allows for the specification of the expected
+	type when using a 'value' or 'expression', but it is optional.
+			</xsd:documentation>
+		</xsd:annotation>
 		<xsd:complexContent>
 			<xsd:extension base="referenceHeaderType">
 				<xsd:attribute name="value" type="xsd:string">
@@ -954,6 +962,13 @@
 						</xsd:documentation>
 					</xsd:annotation>
 				</xsd:attribute>
+				<xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string">
+					<xsd:annotation>
+						<xsd:documentation source="java:java.lang.Class"><![CDATA[
+	The fully qualified class name of the header value's expected type.
+						]]></xsd:documentation>
+					</xsd:annotation>
+				</xsd:attribute>
 			</xsd:extension>
 		</xsd:complexContent>
 	</xsd:complexType>
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests-context.xml b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests-context.xml
index 0be000d44b..9553385091 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests-context.xml
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests-context.xml
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@
 		<correlation-id value="ABC"/> 
 	</header-enricher>
 
+	<header-enricher input-channel="correlationIdValueWithTypeInput">
+		<correlation-id value="123" type="java.lang.Long"/> 
+	</header-enricher>
+
 	<header-enricher input-channel="correlationIdRefInput">
 		<correlation-id ref="testCorrelationId"/> 
 	</header-enricher>
@@ -70,4 +74,12 @@
 		<header name="testHeader2" expression="headers.testHeader1 + 'bar'"/>
 	</header-enricher>
 
+	<header-enricher input-channel="expressionWithDateTypeInput">
+		<header name="currentDate" expression="new java.util.Date()" type="java.util.Date"/>
+	</header-enricher>
+
+	<header-enricher input-channel="expressionWithLongTypeInput">
+		<header name="number" expression="12345" type="java.lang.Long"/>
+	</header-enricher>
+
 </beans:beans>
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests.java
index e5633bed5f..72745c3fbf 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/HeaderEnricherTests.java
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ package org.springframework.integration.config.xml;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import java.util.Date;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
@@ -80,6 +83,17 @@ public class HeaderEnricherTests {
 		assertEquals("ABC", result.getHeaders().getCorrelationId());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void correlationIdValueWithType() {
+		SimpleMessagingGateway gateway = new SimpleMessagingGateway();
+		gateway.setRequestChannel(context.getBean("correlationIdValueWithTypeInput", MessageChannel.class));
+		Message<?> result = gateway.sendAndReceiveMessage("test");
+		assertNotNull(result);
+		Object correlationId = result.getHeaders().getCorrelationId();
+		assertEquals(Long.class, correlationId.getClass());
+		assertEquals(new Long(123), correlationId);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void correlationIdRef() {
 		SimpleMessagingGateway gateway = new SimpleMessagingGateway();
@@ -135,6 +149,28 @@ public class HeaderEnricherTests {
 		assertEquals("foobar", result.getHeaders().get("testHeader2"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void expressionWithDateType() {
+		SimpleMessagingGateway gateway = new SimpleMessagingGateway();
+		gateway.setRequestChannel(context.getBean("expressionWithDateTypeInput", MessageChannel.class));
+		Message<?> result = gateway.sendAndReceiveMessage("test");
+		assertNotNull(result);
+		Object headerValue = result.getHeaders().get("currentDate");
+		assertEquals(Date.class, headerValue.getClass());
+		Date date = (Date) headerValue;
+		assertTrue(new Date().getTime() - date.getTime() < 1000);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void expressionWithLongType() {
+		SimpleMessagingGateway gateway = new SimpleMessagingGateway();
+		gateway.setRequestChannel(context.getBean("expressionWithLongTypeInput", MessageChannel.class));
+		Message<?> result = gateway.sendAndReceiveMessage("test");
+		assertNotNull(result);
+		assertEquals(Long.class, result.getHeaders().get("number").getClass());
+		assertEquals(new Long(12345), result.getHeaders().get("number"));
+	}
+
 
 	public static class TestBean {