diff --git a/spring-integration-xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParser.java b/spring-integration-xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParser.java
index e36f3daebe..33a09013e3 100644
--- a/spring-integration-xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParser.java
+++ b/spring-integration-xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParser.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionBuilder;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.xml.AbstractRouterParser;
+import org.springframework.integration.config.xml.IntegrationNamespaceUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ public class XPathRouterParser extends AbstractRouterParser {
 				element.getNamespaceURI(), "xpath-expression");
 		Assert.isTrue(xPathExpressionNodes.getLength() <= 1, "At most one xpath-expression child may be specified.");
 		String xPathExpressionRef = element.getAttribute("xpath-expression-ref");
+		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setValueIfAttributeDefined(xpathRouterBuilder, element, "evaluate-as-node");
 		boolean xPathExpressionChildPresent = (xPathExpressionNodes.getLength() == 1);
 		boolean xPathReferencePresent = StringUtils.hasText(xPathExpressionRef);
 		Assert.isTrue(xPathExpressionChildPresent ^ xPathReferencePresent,
diff --git a/spring-integration-xml/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/spring-integration-xml-2.0.xsd b/spring-integration-xml/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/spring-integration-xml-2.0.xsd
index b8b0836c3b..6dc663f50a 100644
--- a/spring-integration-xml/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/spring-integration-xml-2.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-integration-xml/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/spring-integration-xml-2.0.xsd
@@ -369,6 +369,18 @@
 				</xsd:element>
 			</xsd:sequence>
 			<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID"/>
+			<xsd:attribute name="evaluate-as-node" type="xsd:boolean" default="true">
+				<xsd:annotation>
+					<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+					By default XPath expressions are evaluated as NODESET type and then converted 
+					to a List<String> of channel names, thus handling single channel scenarios as well as multiple.
+					However certain XPath expressions may evaluate as String type from the very 
+					beginning (e.g., 'name(./node())' - which will return the name of the root node) thus resulting in 
+					the exception if default evaluation type (NODESET) is used. This flag will allow you to manage the 
+					evaluation type. It is TRUE by default, however if set to FALSE, the String evaluation type will be used.
+						]]></xsd:documentation>
+				</xsd:annotation>	
+			</xsd:attribute>
 			<xsd:attribute name="input-channel" type="xsd:string">
 				<xsd:annotation>
 					<xsd:appinfo>
diff --git a/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParserTests.java b/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParserTests.java
index 7f972da868..768d9f1688 100644
--- a/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterParserTests.java
@@ -265,5 +265,16 @@ public class XPathRouterParserTests {
 		assertNotNull(channelA.receive(10));
 		assertNotNull(channelB.receive(10));
 	}
+	@Test
+	public void testWithStringEvaluationType() throws Exception {
+		ClassPathXmlApplicationContext ac = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("XPathRouterTests-context.xml", this.getClass());	
+		MessageChannel inputChannel = ac.getBean("xpathStringChannel", MessageChannel.class);
+		PollableChannel channelA = ac.getBean("channelA", PollableChannel.class);
+		Document doc = XmlTestUtil.getDocumentForString("<channelA/>");
+		GenericMessage<Document> docMessage = new GenericMessage<Document>(doc);
+		inputChannel.send(docMessage);
+		assertNotNull(channelA.receive(10));
+		
+	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterTests-context.xml b/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterTests-context.xml
index a6635ee746..6d7c19afb7 100644
--- a/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-xml/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/xml/config/XPathRouterTests-context.xml
@@ -12,13 +12,17 @@
 		<int-xml:xpath-expression expression="/name"/>	
 	</int-xml:xpath-router>
 	
+	<int-xml:xpath-router id="xpathRouterAsString" input-channel="xpathStringChannel" evaluate-as-node="false">
+		<int-xml:xpath-expression expression="name(./node())"/>	
+	</int-xml:xpath-router>
+	
 	<int-xml:xpath-router id="xpathRouterWithMapping" input-channel="xpathRouterWithMappingChannel">
 		<int-xml:xpath-expression expression="/name"/>
 		<int-xml:mapping value="channelA" channel="channelB"/>	
 	</int-xml:xpath-router>
 	
 	<int-xml:xpath-router id="xpathRouterWithMappingMultiChannel" input-channel="multiChannelRouterChannel">
-		<int-xml:xpath-expression expression="/root/name"/>
+		<int-xml:xpath-expression expression="/root/name" />
 		<int-xml:mapping value="channelA" channel="channelA"/>	
 		<int-xml:mapping value="channelB" channel="channelA"/>	
 	</int-xml:xpath-router>