diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/JmsOutboundGateway.java b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/JmsOutboundGateway.java
index cd2c40d287..2ff2773a80 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/JmsOutboundGateway.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/JmsOutboundGateway.java
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ public class JmsOutboundGateway extends AbstractReplyProducingMessageConsumer im
 
 	private volatile Queue jmsQueue;
 
-	private volatile MessageConverter messageConverter;
+	private volatile MessageConverter messageConverter = new HeaderMappingMessageConverter(new SimpleMessageConverter());
 
 	private final JmsTemplate jmsTemplate = new JmsTemplate();
 
@@ -63,10 +63,14 @@ public class JmsOutboundGateway extends AbstractReplyProducingMessageConsumer im
 		this.setOutputChannel(replyChannel);
 	}
 
+	public void setMessageConverter(MessageConverter messageConverter) {
+		Assert.notNull(messageConverter, "'messageConverter' must not be null");
+		this.messageConverter = messageConverter;
+	}
+	
 	public void afterPropertiesSet() {
 		this.jmsTemplate.afterPropertiesSet();
 		Assert.notNull(this.jmsQueue, "jmsQueue must not be null");
-		this.messageConverter = new HeaderMappingMessageConverter(new SimpleMessageConverter());
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParser.java b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParser.java
index 54cfb9f30c..5706087e89 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParser.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParser.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.xml.AbstractConsumerEndpointParser;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.xml.IntegrationNamespaceUtils;
 import org.springframework.integration.jms.JmsOutboundGateway;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * Parser for the <outbound-gateway> element of the integration 'jms' namespace.
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ public class JmsOutboundGatewayParser extends AbstractConsumerEndpointParser {
 		builder.addPropertyReference("connectionFactory", element.getAttribute("connection-factory"));
 		builder.addPropertyReference("jmsQueue", element.getAttribute("jms-queue"));
 		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setReferenceIfAttributeDefined(builder, element, "reply-channel");
+		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setReferenceIfAttributeDefined(builder, element, "message-converter");
 		return builder;
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/spring-integration-jms-1.0.xsd b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/spring-integration-jms-1.0.xsd
index 442d837e7f..e08d8aaf28 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/spring-integration-jms-1.0.xsd
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/spring-integration-jms-1.0.xsd
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
 			<xsd:attribute name="reply-timeout" type="xsd:long"/>
 			<xsd:attribute name="jms-queue" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
 			<xsd:attribute name="connection-factory" type="xsd:string" default="connectionFactory"/>
+			<xsd:attribute name="message-converter" type="xsd:string"/>
 		</xsd:complexType>
 	</xsd:element>
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/StubMessageConverter.java b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/StubMessageConverter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f193b73ce9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/StubMessageConverter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2007 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.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.integration.jms;
+
+import javax.jms.JMSException;
+import javax.jms.Message;
+import javax.jms.Session;
+
+import org.springframework.jms.support.converter.MessageConversionException;
+import org.springframework.jms.support.converter.MessageConverter;
+
+public class StubMessageConverter implements MessageConverter {
+
+	@Override
+	public Object fromMessage(Message message) throws JMSException, MessageConversionException {
+		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public Message toMessage(Object object, Session session) throws JMSException, MessageConversionException {
+		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
+		return null;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/StubQueue.java b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/StubQueue.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd197a70a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/StubQueue.java
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2007 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.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.integration.jms;
+
+import javax.jms.JMSException;
+import javax.jms.Queue;
+
+public class StubQueue implements Queue{
+
+	@Override
+	public String getQueueName() throws JMSException {
+		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
+		return null;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParserTests.java b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParserTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2627caa720
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/JmsOutboundGatewayParserTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2007 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.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.integration.jms.config;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.beans.DirectFieldAccessor;
+import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.integration.channel.QueueChannel;
+import org.springframework.integration.endpoint.PollingConsumerEndpoint;
+import org.springframework.integration.jms.JmsOutboundGateway;
+import org.springframework.integration.jms.StubMessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.jms.support.converter.MessageConverter;
+
+public class JmsOutboundGatewayParserTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testDefault(){
+		ClassPathXmlApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+				"jmsOutboundGatewayWithConverter.xml", this.getClass());
+		QueueChannel channel = new QueueChannel(1);
+		PollingConsumerEndpoint  endpoint = (PollingConsumerEndpoint) context.getBean("jmsGateway");
+
+		DirectFieldAccessor accessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(endpoint);
+		JmsOutboundGateway gateway = (JmsOutboundGateway) accessor.getPropertyValue("consumer");
+		accessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(gateway);
+		MessageConverter converter = (MessageConverter)accessor.getPropertyValue("messageConverter");
+		assertTrue("Wrong mesage converter", converter instanceof StubMessageConverter);
+		
+	}
+	
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/jmsOutboundGatewayWithConverter.xml b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/jmsOutboundGatewayWithConverter.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..40c13d5505
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.jms/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/jms/config/jmsOutboundGatewayWithConverter.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<?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:si="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration"
+	xmlns:jms="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/jms"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/spring-integration-1.0.xsd
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/jms
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/jms/spring-integration-jms-1.0.xsd">
+
+	<si:message-bus auto-startup="false"/>
+
+	<si:channel id="requestChannel">
+		<si:queue capacity="10"/>	
+	</si:channel>
+
+	<jms:outbound-gateway id="jmsGateway"
+	                     jms-queue="testQueue"
+	                     request-channel="requestChannel"
+	                     message-converter="converter"/>
+
+
+
+	<bean id="connectionFactory" class="org.springframework.jms.connection.SingleConnectionFactory">
+		<constructor-arg>
+			<bean class="org.springframework.integration.jms.StubConnection">
+				<constructor-arg value="test-message"/>
+			</bean>
+		</constructor-arg>
+	</bean>
+
+	<bean id="testQueue" class="org.springframework.integration.jms.StubQueue"/>
+	
+	<bean id="converter" class="org.springframework.integration.jms.StubMessageConverter" />
+
+</beans>