diff --git a/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/synchronization/AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSychronizer.java b/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/synchronization/AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSychronizer.java
index a78bea992f..cd65c0a7bf 100644
--- a/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/synchronization/AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSychronizer.java
+++ b/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/synchronization/AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSychronizer.java
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@
 
 package org.springframework.integration.file.synchronization;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
-import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.AcceptAllFileListFilter;
 import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.FileListFilter;
 
 /**
@@ -48,23 +50,27 @@ public abstract class AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSychronizer<F> implements I
 	/**
 	 * The directory to which we write our synchronizations.
 	 */
-	protected volatile Resource localDirectory;
+	private volatile Resource localDirectory;
 
 	/**
 	 * An {@link FileListFilter} that runs against the <emphasis>remote</emphasis> file system view.
 	 */
-	protected volatile FileListFilter<F> filter = new AcceptAllFileListFilter<F>();
+	private volatile FileListFilter<F> filter;
 
 	/**
 	 * The {@link EntryAcknowledgmentStrategy} implementation.
 	 */
-	protected EntryAcknowledgmentStrategy<F> entryAcknowledgmentStrategy;
+	private EntryAcknowledgmentStrategy<F> entryAcknowledgmentStrategy;
 
 
 	public void setLocalDirectory(Resource localDirectory) {
 		this.localDirectory = localDirectory;
 	}
 
+	protected Resource getLocalDirectory() {
+		return this.localDirectory;
+	}
+
 	public void setFilter(FileListFilter<F> filter) {
 		this.filter = filter;
 	}
@@ -91,12 +97,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSychronizer<F> implements I
 	 * @throws Exception
 	 *             escape hatch exception, let the adapter deal with it.
 	 */
-	protected void acknowledge(Object usefulContextOrClientData, F file) throws Exception {
+	protected final void acknowledge(Object usefulContextOrClientData, F file) throws Exception {
 		if (this.entryAcknowledgmentStrategy != null) {
 			this.entryAcknowledgmentStrategy.acknowledge(usefulContextOrClientData, file);
 		}
 	}
 
+	protected final List<F> filterFiles(F[] files) {
+		return (this.filter != null) ? this.filter.filterFiles(files) : Arrays.asList(files);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * This is the callback where the subclasses must synchronize.
 	 */
diff --git a/spring-integration-ftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/ftp/inbound/FtpInboundRemoteFileSystemSynchronizer.java b/spring-integration-ftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/ftp/inbound/FtpInboundRemoteFileSystemSynchronizer.java
index 3ddc018f75..6cf1eab8ec 100644
--- a/spring-integration-ftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/ftp/inbound/FtpInboundRemoteFileSystemSynchronizer.java
+++ b/spring-integration-ftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/ftp/inbound/FtpInboundRemoteFileSystemSynchronizer.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public class FtpInboundRemoteFileSystemSynchronizer extends AbstractInboundRemot
 	public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
 		Assert.notNull(this.clientPool, "clientPool must not be null");
 		if (this.shouldDeleteSourceFile) {
-			this.entryAcknowledgmentStrategy = new DeletionEntryAcknowledgmentStrategy();
+			this.setEntryAcknowledgmentStrategy(new DeletionEntryAcknowledgmentStrategy());
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -69,11 +69,11 @@ public class FtpInboundRemoteFileSystemSynchronizer extends AbstractInboundRemot
 					FtpClientPool.class.getSimpleName() +
 							" returned a 'null' client. " +
 							"This is most likely a bug in the pool implementation.");
-			Collection<FTPFile> fileList = this.filter.filterFiles(client.listFiles());
+			Collection<FTPFile> fileList = this.filterFiles(client.listFiles());
 			try {
 				for (FTPFile ftpFile : fileList) {
 					if ((ftpFile != null) && ftpFile.isFile()) {
-						copyFileToLocalDirectory(client, ftpFile, this.localDirectory);
+						copyFileToLocalDirectory(client, ftpFile, this.getLocalDirectory());
 					}
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizer.java b/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizer.java
index 63eb36730a..216ef3196e 100644
--- a/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizer.java
+++ b/spring-integration-sftp/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/sftp/inbound/SftpInboundSynchronizer.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public class SftpInboundSynchronizer extends AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSych
 	public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
 		Assert.notNull(this.remotePath, "'remotePath' must not be null");
 		if (this.shouldDeleteSourceFile) {
-			this.entryAcknowledgmentStrategy = new DeletionEntryAcknowledgmentStrategy();
+			this.setEntryAcknowledgmentStrategy(new DeletionEntryAcknowledgmentStrategy());
 		}
 	}
 	
@@ -129,10 +129,10 @@ public class SftpInboundSynchronizer extends AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSych
 			Collection<ChannelSftp.LsEntry> beforeFilter = channelSftp.ls(remotePath);
 			ChannelSftp.LsEntry[] entries = (beforeFilter == null) ? new ChannelSftp.LsEntry[0] : 
 				beforeFilter.toArray(new ChannelSftp.LsEntry[beforeFilter.size()]);
-			Collection<ChannelSftp.LsEntry> files = this.filter.filterFiles(entries);
+			Collection<ChannelSftp.LsEntry> files = this.filterFiles(entries);
 			for (ChannelSftp.LsEntry lsEntry : files) {
 				if ((lsEntry != null) && !lsEntry.getAttrs().isDir() && !lsEntry.getAttrs().isLink()) {
-					copyFromRemoteToLocalDirectory(session, lsEntry, this.localDirectory);
+					copyFromRemoteToLocalDirectory(session, lsEntry, this.getLocalDirectory());
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ public class SftpInboundSynchronizer extends AbstractInboundRemoteFileSystemSych
 					IOUtils.closeQuietly(in);
 					IOUtils.closeQuietly(fileOutputStream);
 				}
-				if (tmpLocalTarget.renameTo(localFile) && this.entryAcknowledgmentStrategy != null) {
+				if (tmpLocalTarget.renameTo(localFile)) {
 					this.acknowledge(sftpSession, entry);
 				}
 				return true;