diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java
index 8a7581bc7c..54b337124a 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/aggregator/AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 		this.correlationStrategy = correlationStrategy == null ?
 				new HeaderAttributeCorrelationStrategy(IntegrationMessageHeaderAccessor.CORRELATION_ID) : correlationStrategy;
 		this.releaseStrategy = releaseStrategy == null ? new SequenceSizeReleaseStrategy() : releaseStrategy;
-		this.messagingTemplate.setSendTimeout(DEFAULT_SEND_TIMEOUT);
+		setSendTimeout(DEFAULT_SEND_TIMEOUT);
 		sequenceAware = this.releaseStrategy instanceof SequenceSizeReleaseStrategy;
 	}
 
@@ -193,15 +193,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 	@Override
 	protected void onInit() throws Exception {
 		super.onInit();
+		Assert.state(!(this.discardChannelName != null && this.discardChannel != null),
+				"'discardChannelName' and 'discardChannel' are mutually exclusive.");
 		BeanFactory beanFactory = this.getBeanFactory();
 		if (beanFactory != null) {
-			this.messagingTemplate.setBeanFactory(beanFactory);
-			Assert.state(!(this.discardChannelName != null && this.discardChannel != null),
-					"'discardChannelName' and 'discardChannel' are mutually exclusive.");
-
-			Assert.state(!(getOutputChannelName() != null && getOutputChannel() != null),
-					"'outputChannelName' and 'outputChannel' are mutually exclusive.");
-
 			if (this.outputProcessor instanceof BeanFactoryAware) {
 				((BeanFactoryAware) this.outputProcessor).setBeanFactory(beanFactory);
 			}
@@ -559,8 +554,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 		if (sendPartialResultOnExpiry) {
 			if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
 				logger.debug("Prematurely releasing partially complete group with key ["
-						+ correlationKey + "] to: "
-						+ (getOutputChannelName() != null ? getOutputChannelName() : getOutputChannel()));
+						+ correlationKey + "] to: " + getOutputChannel());
 			}
 			completeGroup(correlationKey, group);
 		}
@@ -615,20 +609,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractCorrelatingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessageP
 		if (message != null) {
 			replyChannelHeader = message.getHeaders().getReplyChannel();
 		}
-		if (getOutputChannelName() != null) {
-			synchronized (this) {
-				if (getOutputChannelName() != null) {
-					try {
-						setOutputChannel(getBeanFactory().getBean(getOutputChannelName(), MessageChannel.class));
-						setOutputChannelName(null);
-					}
-					catch (BeansException e) {
-						throw new DestinationResolutionException("Failed to look up MessageChannel with name '"
-								+ getOutputChannelName() + "' in the BeanFactory.");
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
 
 		Object replyChannel = getOutputChannel();
 		if (replyChannel == null) {
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractMessageProducingHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractMessageProducingHandler.java
index 70f222a9d8..d23065eeac 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractMessageProducingHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractMessageProducingHandler.java
@@ -16,14 +16,18 @@
 
 package org.springframework.integration.handler;
 
+import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;
 import org.springframework.integration.core.MessageProducer;
 import org.springframework.integration.core.MessagingTemplate;
 import org.springframework.messaging.MessageChannel;
+import org.springframework.messaging.core.DestinationResolutionException;
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 /**
  * The base {@link AbstractMessageHandler} implementation for the {@link MessageProducer}.
  *
  * @author David Liu
+ * @author Artem Bilan
  * since 4.1
  */
 public abstract class AbstractMessageProducingHandler extends AbstractMessageHandler
@@ -49,15 +53,37 @@ public abstract class AbstractMessageProducingHandler extends AbstractMessageHan
 	}
 
 	public void setOutputChannelName(String outputChannelName) {
+		Assert.hasText(outputChannelName, "'outputChannelName' must not be empty");
 		this.outputChannelName = outputChannelName;
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	protected void onInit() throws Exception {
+		super.onInit();
+		Assert.state(!(this.outputChannelName != null && this.outputChannel != null),
+				"'outputChannelName' and 'outputChannel' are mutually exclusive.");
+		if (getBeanFactory() != null) {
+			this.messagingTemplate.setBeanFactory(getBeanFactory());
+		}
+	}
+
 	public MessageChannel getOutputChannel() {
+		if (this.outputChannelName != null) {
+			synchronized (this) {
+				if (this.outputChannelName != null) {
+					try {
+						Assert.state(getBeanFactory() != null, "A bean factory is required to resolve the outputChannel at runtime.");
+						this.outputChannel = getBeanFactory().getBean(this.outputChannelName, MessageChannel.class);
+						this.outputChannelName = null;
+					}
+					catch (BeansException e) {
+						throw new DestinationResolutionException("Failed to look up MessageChannel with name '"
+								+ this.outputChannelName + "' in the BeanFactory.");
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
 		return outputChannel;
 	}
 
-	public String getOutputChannelName() {
-		return outputChannelName;
-	}
-
 }
diff --git a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler.java b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler.java
index fd78644178..03f3da8dff 100644
--- a/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import java.util.List;
 import org.aopalliance.aop.Advice;
 
 import org.springframework.aop.framework.ProxyFactory;
-import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanClassLoaderAware;
 import org.springframework.integration.support.AbstractIntegrationMessageBuilder;
 import org.springframework.messaging.Message;
@@ -90,12 +89,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessa
 
 
 	@Override
-	protected final void onInit() {
-		Assert.state(!(getOutputChannelName() != null && getOutputChannel() != null),
-				"'outputChannelName' and 'outputChannel' are mutually exclusive.");
-		if (this.getBeanFactory() != null) {
-			this.messagingTemplate.setBeanFactory(getBeanFactory());
-		}
+	protected final void onInit() throws Exception {
+		super.onInit();
 		if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(this.adviceChain)) {
 			ProxyFactory proxyFactory = new ProxyFactory(new AdvisedRequestHandler());
 			for (Advice advice : this.adviceChain) {
@@ -181,27 +176,14 @@ public abstract class AbstractReplyProducingMessageHandler extends AbstractMessa
 	 * @param replyMessage the reply Message to send
 	 * @param replyChannelHeaderValue the 'replyChannel' header value from the original request
 	 */
-	private void sendReplyMessage(Message<?> replyMessage, final Object replyChannelHeaderValue) {
+	private void sendReplyMessage(Message<?> replyMessage, Object replyChannelHeaderValue) {
 		if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
 			logger.debug("handler '" + this + "' sending reply Message: " + replyMessage);
 		}
-		if (getOutputChannelName() != null) {
-			synchronized (this) {
-				if (getOutputChannelName() != null) {
-					try {
-						setOutputChannel(this.getBeanFactory().getBean(getOutputChannelName(), MessageChannel.class));
-						setOutputChannelName(null);
-					}
-					catch (BeansException e) {
-						throw new DestinationResolutionException("Failed to look up MessageChannel with name '"
-								+ getOutputChannelName() + "' in the BeanFactory.");
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
 
-		if (getOutputChannel() != null) {
-			this.sendMessage(replyMessage, getOutputChannel());
+		MessageChannel outputChannel = getOutputChannel();
+		if (outputChannel != null) {
+			this.sendMessage(replyMessage, outputChannel);
 		}
 		else if (replyChannelHeaderValue != null) {
 			this.sendMessage(replyMessage, replyChannelHeaderValue);