diff --git a/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizingMessageSource.java b/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizingMessageSource.java
index 699f62b993..da7e3a4cc2 100644
--- a/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizingMessageSource.java
+++ b/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizingMessageSource.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import org.springframework.integration.file.synchronization.AbstractInboundRemot
 import org.springframework.integration.sftp.filters.SftpPatternMatchingFileListFilter;
 import org.springframework.integration.sftp.session.SftpSession;
 import org.springframework.integration.sftp.session.SftpSessionPool;
-import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 import com.jcraft.jsch.ChannelSftp;
 import com.jcraft.jsch.SftpATTRS;
diff --git a/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context.xml b/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context.xml
index c1a3c829e7..86fdac73a1 100644
--- a/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context.xml
@@ -69,6 +69,17 @@
 		<poller fixed-rate="1000"/>
 	</sftp:inbound-channel-adapter>
 	
+	<sftp:inbound-channel-adapter id="sftpAdapterNoLocalDir"
+			session-factory="sftpSessionFactory"
+			channel="requestChannel"
+			filename-pattern="pattern"
+			remote-directory="/foo"
+			local-directory="file:foo"
+			auto-create-directories="true"
+			auto-delete-remote-files-on-sync="false">
+		<poller fixed-rate="1000"/>
+	</sftp:inbound-channel-adapter>
+	
 	
 	<beans:bean id="filter" class="org.springframework.integration.sftp.filters.SftpPatternMatchingFileListFilter">
 		<beans:constructor-arg value="."/>
diff --git a/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests.java b/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests.java
index add3df9593..58a75eb6b3 100644
--- a/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.integration.sftp.config;
 
+import static junit.framework.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static junit.framework.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue;
 
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ public class InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests {
 	
 	@Before
 	public void prepare(){
-		new File("target/foo").delete();
+		new File("foo").delete();
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -73,9 +74,16 @@ public class InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests {
 		assertTrue(new File("target").exists());
 	}
 	
+	@Test
+	public void testLocalDirAutoCreated() throws Exception{
+		assertFalse(new File("foo").exists());
+		new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("InboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context.xml", this.getClass());
+		assertTrue(new File("foo").exists());
+	}
+	
 	@After
 	public void cleanUp() throws Exception{
-		new File("target/foo").delete();
+		new File("foo").delete();
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/OutboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context-fail.xml b/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/OutboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context-fail.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..88fc4ee97f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-sftp/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/OutboundChannelAdapaterParserTests-context-fail.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xmlns:int="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration"
+	xmlns:int-sftp="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/sftp"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/spring-integration-2.0.xsd
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/sftp http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/sftp/spring-integration-sftp-2.0.xsd">
+
+
+	<bean id="sftpSessionFactory" class="org.springframework.integration.sftp.session.SftpSessionFactory">
+		<property name="host" value="localhost"/>
+		<property name="knownHosts" value="local, foo.com, bar.foo"/>
+		<property name="privateKey" value="classpath:org/springframework/integration/sftp/config/sftpTest"/>
+		<property name="privateKeyPassphrase" value="ghj"/>
+		<property name="password" value="hello"/>
+		<property name="port" value="2222"/>
+		<property name="user" value="oleg"/>
+	</bean>
+	
+	<int:channel id="inputChannel"/>
+	
+	<int-sftp:outbound-channel-adapter id="sftpOutboundAdapter"
+				session-factory="sftpSessionFactory"
+				channel="inputChannel"
+				charset="UTF-8"
+				filename-generator="fileNameGenerator"
+				remote-directory="foo/bar"
+				remote-directory-expression="'foo'"/>
+				
+	
+	<bean id="fileNameGenerator" class="org.mockito.Mockito" factory-method="mock">
+		<constructor-arg value="org.springframework.integration.file.FileNameGenerator"/>
+	</bean>
+</beans>