diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index bae84a2d1f..5085bc1bae 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ project('spring-integration-twitter') {
     dependencies {
         compile project(":spring-integration-core")
         compile "org.springframework:spring-context-support:$springVersion"
-        compile "org.twitter4j:twitter4j-core:2.1.10"
+        compile "org.twitter4j:twitter4j-core:2.1.12"
         compile("javax.activation:activation:$javaxActivationVersion") { optional = true }
         testCompile project(":spring-integration-test")
     }
diff --git a/spring-integration-twitter/pom.xml b/spring-integration-twitter/pom.xml
index a6a66027e8..ba1de8bfea 100644
--- a/spring-integration-twitter/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-twitter/pom.xml
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.twitter4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>twitter4j-core</artifactId>
-      <version>2.1.10</version>
+      <version>2.1.12</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
diff --git a/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplate.java b/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplate.java
index d1fb72e052..63fcab029b 100644
--- a/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplate.java
+++ b/spring-integration-twitter/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplate.java
@@ -63,17 +63,25 @@ public class Twitter4jTemplate implements TwitterOperations {
 	 * @param accessToken
 	 * @param accessTokenSecret
 	 */
+	@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 	public Twitter4jTemplate(String consumerKey, String consumerSecret, String accessToken, String accessTokenSecret) {
 		Assert.hasText(consumerKey, "'consumerKey' must be provided");
 		Assert.hasText(consumerSecret, "'consumerSecret' must be provided");
 		Assert.hasText(accessToken, "'accessToken' must be provided");
 		Assert.hasText(accessTokenSecret, "'accessTokenSecret' must be provided");
+		
 		AccessToken token = new AccessToken(accessToken, accessTokenSecret);
-		Properties properties = new Properties();
-		properties.put("oauth.consumerKey", consumerKey);
-		properties.put("oauth.consumerSecret", consumerSecret);
-		Configuration configuration = new PropertyConfiguration(properties);
-		this.twitter = new TwitterFactory(configuration).getInstance(token);
+		this.twitter = new TwitterFactory().getOAuthAuthorizedInstance(consumerKey, consumerSecret, token);
+		/*
+		 * We are aware of the fact that the above method is deprecated and the code should really look 
+		 * like the one below, but we are keeping the deprecated call to address backwards compatibility.
+		 * In future versions we won't be relying on Twitter4J in favor of SpringSocial API.
+		 */
+//		Properties properties = new Properties();
+//		properties.put("oauth.consumerKey", consumerKey);
+//		properties.put("oauth.consumerSecret", consumerSecret);
+//		Configuration configuration = new PropertyConfiguration(properties);
+//		this.twitter = new TwitterFactory(configuration).getInstance(token);
 	}
 
 
diff --git a/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplateTests.java b/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplateTests.java
index 71f5eaaf00..3b50920fb3 100644
--- a/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplateTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/Twitter4jTemplateTests.java
@@ -61,12 +61,12 @@ public class Twitter4jTemplateTests {
 	}
 	@Test
 	public void testOauthConstructor() throws Exception{
-		template = new Twitter4jTemplate("a", "b", "c", "d");
+		template = new Twitter4jTemplate("a", "b", "1234-c", "d");
 		Twitter twitter = (Twitter) TestUtils.getPropertyValue(template, "twitter");
 		Authorization auth = twitter.getAuthorization();
 		assertTrue(twitter.getAuthorization() instanceof OAuthAuthorization);
 		AccessToken accessToken = ((OAuthAuthorization)auth).getOAuthAccessToken();
-		assertEquals("c", accessToken.getToken());
+		assertEquals("1234-c", accessToken.getToken());
 		assertEquals("d", accessToken.getTokenSecret());
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/TwitterOperationExceptionTests.java b/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/TwitterOperationExceptionTests.java
index 1639a30ae1..07d097ee6c 100644
--- a/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/TwitterOperationExceptionTests.java
+++ b/spring-integration-twitter/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/twitter/core/TwitterOperationExceptionTests.java
@@ -34,15 +34,13 @@ public class TwitterOperationExceptionTests {
 	@Test
 	public void test401(){
 		// will result in exception since a,b,c,d are invalid credentials
-		Twitter4jTemplate template = new Twitter4jTemplate("a", "b", "c", "d");
+		Twitter4jTemplate template = new Twitter4jTemplate("a", "b", "1234-c", "d");
 		try {
 			template.getProfileId();
 			fail();
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			assertTrue(e instanceof TwitterOperationException);
 			assertEquals(401, ((TwitterOperationException)e).getTwitterStatusCode());
-			assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("401:Authentication credentials were missing or incorrect"));
-			System.out.println(e.getMessage());
 		}
 	}
 	@Test