diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractConsumerEndpointParser.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractConsumerEndpointParser.java
index 7b34ca6855..2c02b7bdc5 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractConsumerEndpointParser.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractConsumerEndpointParser.java
@@ -66,8 +66,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractConsumerEndpointParser extends AbstractBeanDefinit
 		String inputChannelAttributeName = this.getInputChannelAttributeName();
 		if (!element.hasAttribute(inputChannelAttributeName)) {
 			if (!parserContext.isNested()) {
+				String elementDescription = IntegrationNamespaceUtils.createElementDescription(element);
 				parserContext.getReaderContext().error("The '" + inputChannelAttributeName
-						+ "' attribute is required for this top-level endpoint element.", element);
+						+ "' attribute is required for the top-level endpoint element "
+						+ elementDescription + ".", element);
 			}
 			return handlerBeanDefinition;
 		}
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 629e6ebc06..3f28cf52c0 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
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2009 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.
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * 
  * @author Mark Fisher
  * @author Marius Bogoevici
+ * @author Alex Peters
  */
 public abstract class IntegrationNamespaceUtils {
 
@@ -122,6 +123,20 @@ public abstract class IntegrationNamespaceUtils {
 				Conventions.attributeNameToPropertyName(attributeName));
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Provides a user friendly description of an element based on its node
+	 * name and, if available, its "id" attribute value. This is useful for
+	 * creating error messages from within bean definition parsers.
+	 */
+	public static String createElementDescription(Element element) {
+		String elementId = "'" + element.getNodeName() + "'";
+		String id = element.getAttribute("id");
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(id)) {
+			elementId += " with id='" + id + "'";
+		}
+		return elementId;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Parse a "poller" element to provide a reference for the target
 	 * BeanDefinitionBuilder. If the poller element does not contain a "ref"
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/ServiceActivatorParser.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/ServiceActivatorParser.java
index b00b738804..c6b2575526 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/ServiceActivatorParser.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/ServiceActivatorParser.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2009 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.
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ public class ServiceActivatorParser extends AbstractConsumerEndpointParser {
 				IntegrationNamespaceUtils.BASE_PACKAGE + ".handler.ServiceActivatingHandler");
 		String ref = element.getAttribute(REF_ATTRIBUTE);
 		if (!StringUtils.hasText(ref)) {
-			parserContext.getReaderContext().error("The '" + REF_ATTRIBUTE + "' attribute is required.", element);
+			parserContext.getReaderContext().error("The '" + REF_ATTRIBUTE + "' attribute is required for element "
+					+ IntegrationNamespaceUtils.createElementDescription(element) + ".", element);
 		}
 		builder.addConstructorArgReference(ref);
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(element.getAttribute(METHOD_ATTRIBUTE))) {