diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractIntegrationNamespaceHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractIntegrationNamespaceHandler.java
index 928ebe2c5b..dc4d8a1164 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractIntegrationNamespaceHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/AbstractIntegrationNamespaceHandler.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import org.springframework.integration.channel.DefaultHeaderChannelRegistry;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.IntegrationEvaluationContextFactoryBean;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.xml.ChannelInitializer.AutoCreateCandidatesCollector;
 import org.springframework.integration.context.IntegrationContextUtils;
+import org.springframework.integration.context.IntegrationProperties;
 import org.springframework.integration.expression.IntegrationEvaluationContextAwareBeanPostProcessor;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
@@ -145,7 +146,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractIntegrationNamespaceHandler implements NamespaceHa
 			alreadyRegistered = parserContext.getRegistry().isBeanNameInUse(CHANNEL_INITIALIZER_BEAN_NAME);
 		}
 		if (!alreadyRegistered) {
-			BeanDefinitionBuilder channelDef = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(ChannelInitializer.class);
+			String channelsAutoCreateExpression = "#{@" +IntegrationContextUtils.INTEGRATION_PROPERTIES_BEAN_NAME +
+												"['" + IntegrationProperties.CHANNELS_AUTOCREATE + "']}";
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder channelDef = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(ChannelInitializer.class)
+					.addPropertyValue("autoCreate", channelsAutoCreateExpression);
 			BeanDefinitionHolder channelCreatorHolder = new BeanDefinitionHolder(channelDef.getBeanDefinition(), CHANNEL_INITIALIZER_BEAN_NAME);
 			BeanDefinitionReaderUtils.registerBeanDefinition(channelCreatorHolder, parserContext.getRegistry());
 		}
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/context/IntegrationProperties.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/context/IntegrationProperties.java
index fb86ed38f3..c54cb0dae3 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/context/IntegrationProperties.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/context/IntegrationProperties.java
@@ -26,4 +26,6 @@ public interface IntegrationProperties {
 
 	String LATE_REPLY_LOGGING_LEVEL = "messagingTemplate.lateReply.logging.level";
 
+	String CHANNELS_AUTOCREATE = "channels.autoCreate";
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.default.properties b/spring-integration-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.default.properties
index f8e341af95..199b366130 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.default.properties
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.default.properties
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
+channels.autoCreate=true
 messagingTemplate.lateReply.logging.level=warn
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-after-context.xml b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-after-context.xml
index d96e063f15..b177646005 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-after-context.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-after-context.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 	<int:service-activator input-channel="inputChannel" expression="'hello'"/>
 
-	<bean id="ChannelInitializer" class="org.springframework.integration.config.xml.ChannelInitializer">
+	<bean id="channelInitializer" class="org.springframework.integration.config.xml.ChannelInitializer">
 		<property name="autoCreate" value="true"/>
 	</bean>
 
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-before-context.xml b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-before-context.xml
index 5ce379cb63..ece1f92d91 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-before-context.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/TestEnableChannelAutoCreation-before-context.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/spring-integration.xsd">
 
-	<bean id="ChannelInitializer" class="org.springframework.integration.config.xml.ChannelInitializer">
+	<bean id="channelInitializer" class="org.springframework.integration.config.xml.ChannelInitializer">
 		<property name="autoCreate" value="true"/>
 	</bean>
 
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.properties b/spring-integration-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.properties
index 89b14918d2..38ffd39c66 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.properties
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/spring.integration.properties
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
+#channels.autoCreate=false
 messagingTemplate.lateReply.logging.level=error