diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PointToPointChannelParser.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PointToPointChannelParser.java
index f92082ae5d..34d2532663 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PointToPointChannelParser.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/config/xml/PointToPointChannelParser.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.
@@ -43,8 +43,12 @@ public class PointToPointChannelParser extends AbstractChannelParser {
 		Element queueElement = null;
 		if ((queueElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "queue")) != null) {
 			builder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(CHANNEL_PACKAGE + ".QueueChannel");
-			this.parseQueueCapacity(builder, queueElement);
-			this.parseQueueRef(builder, queueElement);
+			boolean hasCapacity = this.parseQueueCapacity(builder, queueElement);
+			boolean hasQueueRef = this.parseQueueRef(builder, queueElement);
+			if (hasCapacity && hasQueueRef) {
+				parserContext.getReaderContext().error("The 'capacity' attribute is not allowed" +
+						" when providing a 'ref' to a custom queue.", element);
+			}
 		}
 		else if ((queueElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "priority-queue")) != null) {
 			builder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(CHANNEL_PACKAGE + ".PriorityChannel");
@@ -78,17 +82,22 @@ public class PointToPointChannelParser extends AbstractChannelParser {
 		// rely on the default for round-robin
 	}
 
-	private void parseQueueCapacity(BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, Element queueElement) {
+	private boolean parseQueueCapacity(BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, Element queueElement) {
 		String capacity = queueElement.getAttribute("capacity");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(capacity)) {
 			builder.addConstructorArgValue(capacity);
+			return true;
 		}
+		return false;
 	}
 
-	private void parseQueueRef(BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, Element queueElement) {
+	private boolean parseQueueRef(BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, Element queueElement) {
 		String queueRef = queueElement.getAttribute("ref");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(queueRef)){
 			builder.addConstructorArgReference(queueRef);
+			return true;
 		}
+		return false;
 	}
+
 }
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/ChannelParserTests.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/ChannelParserTests.java
index 6eb21d3e83..2503bbf447 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/ChannelParserTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/ChannelParserTests.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.
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ import org.springframework.core.task.TaskExecutor;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.DirectChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.PollableChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.PublishSubscribeChannel;
+import org.springframework.integration.channel.QueueChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.TestChannelInterceptor;
 import org.springframework.integration.core.Message;
 import org.springframework.integration.core.MessageChannel;
@@ -115,6 +117,17 @@ public class ChannelParserTests {
 		assertEquals(taskExecutorBean, innerExecutor);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void channelWithCustomQueue() {
+		ClassPathXmlApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"channelParserTests.xml", this.getClass());
+		Object customQueue = context.getBean("customQueue");
+		Object channelWithCustomQueue = context.getBean("channelWithCustomQueue");
+		assertEquals(QueueChannel.class, channelWithCustomQueue.getClass());
+		Object actualQueue = new DirectFieldAccessor(channelWithCustomQueue).getPropertyValue("queue");
+		assertSame(customQueue, actualQueue);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testDatatypeChannelWithCorrectType() {
 		ClassPathXmlApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("channelParserTests.xml", this
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/channelParserTests.xml b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/channelParserTests.xml
index 9805bffed8..c62a2e70d4 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/channelParserTests.xml
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/channel/config/channelParserTests.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@
 	
 	<channel id="failOverChannel" dispatcher="failover"/>
 
+	<channel id="channelWithCustomQueue">
+		<queue ref="customQueue"/>
+	</channel>
+
+	<beans:bean id="customQueue" class="java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue"/>
+
 	<publish-subscribe-channel id="publishSubscribeChannel" />
 
 	<publish-subscribe-channel id="publishSubscribeChannelWithTaskExecutorRef"