diff --git a/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterParser.java b/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterParser.java
index 65e13c8311..37002df4da 100644
--- a/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterParser.java
+++ b/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterParser.java
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ public class FileInboundChannelAdapterParser extends AbstractPollingInboundChann
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(filter)) {
 			factoryBeanBuilder.addPropertyReference("filterReference", filter);
 		}
+
 		String filenamePattern = element.getAttribute("filename-pattern");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(filenamePattern)) {
 			if (StringUtils.hasText(filter)) {
@@ -94,6 +95,15 @@ public class FileInboundChannelAdapterParser extends AbstractPollingInboundChann
 			}
 			factoryBeanBuilder.addPropertyValue("filenamePattern", filenamePattern);
 		}
+		String filenameRegex = element.getAttribute("filename-regex");
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(filenameRegex)) {
+			if (StringUtils.hasText(filter)) {
+				parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+						"At most one of 'filter' and 'filename-regex' may be provided.", element);
+			}
+			factoryBeanBuilder.addPropertyValue("filenameRegex", filenameRegex);
+		}
+
 		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setValueIfAttributeDefined(factoryBeanBuilder, element, "prevent-duplicates");
 		return BeanDefinitionReaderUtils.registerWithGeneratedName(
 				factoryBeanBuilder.getBeanDefinition(), parserContext.getRegistry());
diff --git a/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileListFilterFactoryBean.java b/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileListFilterFactoryBean.java
index 03d6a7751d..f0d9b6faa7 100644
--- a/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileListFilterFactoryBean.java
+++ b/spring-integration-file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileListFilterFactoryBean.java
@@ -17,14 +17,12 @@
 package org.springframework.integration.file.config;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.FactoryBean;
-import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.AcceptAllFileListFilter;
-import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.AcceptOnceFileListFilter;
-import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.CompositeFileListFilter;
-import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.FileListFilter;
-import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.SimplePatternFileListFilter;
+import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.*;
 
 /**
  * @author Mark Fisher
@@ -38,6 +36,8 @@ public class FileListFilterFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<FileListFilter<Fil
 
 	private volatile String filenamePattern;
 
+	private volatile String filenameRegex;
+
 	private volatile Boolean preventDuplicates;
 
 	private final Object monitor = new Object();
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ public class FileListFilterFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<FileListFilter<Fil
 		this.filenamePattern = filenamePattern;
 	}
 
+	public void setFilenameRegex(String filenameRegex) {
+		this.filenameRegex = filenameRegex;
+	}
+
 	public void setPreventDuplicates(Boolean preventDuplicates) {
 		this.preventDuplicates = preventDuplicates;
 	}
@@ -83,11 +87,12 @@ public class FileListFilterFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<FileListFilter<Fil
 			return;
 		}
 		FileListFilter<File> filter;
-		if ((this.filterReference != null) && (this.filenamePattern != null)) {
-			throw new IllegalArgumentException("The 'filter' reference and "
-					+ "'filename-pattern' attributes are mutually exclusive.");
+		if ((this.filterReference != null) && (this.filenamePattern != null || this.filenameRegex!=null)) {
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException("The 'filter' reference is mutually exclusive with "
+					+ "'filename-pattern' and 'filename-regex' attributes.");
 		}
 
+		//'filter' is set
 		if (this.filterReference != null) {
 			if (Boolean.TRUE.equals(this.preventDuplicates)) {
 				filter = this.createCompositeWithAcceptOnceFilter(this.filterReference);
@@ -96,15 +101,29 @@ public class FileListFilterFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<FileListFilter<Fil
 				filter = this.filterReference;
 			}
 		}
-		else if (this.filenamePattern != null) {
-			SimplePatternFileListFilter patternFilter = new SimplePatternFileListFilter(this.filenamePattern);
-			if (Boolean.FALSE.equals(this.preventDuplicates)) {
-				filter = patternFilter;
+
+		// 'file-pattern' or 'file-regex' is set
+		else if (this.filenamePattern != null || this.filenameRegex!=null) {
+			List<FileListFilter<File>> filtersNeeded = new ArrayList<FileListFilter<File>>();
+			if (!Boolean.FALSE.equals(this.preventDuplicates)) {
+				//preventDuplicates is either null or true
+				filtersNeeded.add(new AcceptOnceFileListFilter<File>());
 			}
-			else { // preventDuplicates is either TRUE or NULL
-				filter = this.createCompositeWithAcceptOnceFilter(patternFilter);
+			if (this.filenamePattern!=null){
+				filtersNeeded.add(new SimplePatternFileListFilter(this.filenamePattern));
+			}
+			if (this.filenameRegex!=null){
+				filtersNeeded.add(new PatternMatchingFileListFilter(this.filenameRegex));
+			}
+			if (filtersNeeded.size()==1){
+				filter = filtersNeeded.get(0);
+			}
+			else {
+				filter = new CompositeFileListFilter<File>(filtersNeeded);
 			}
 		}
+
+		// no filters are provided
 		else if (Boolean.FALSE.equals(this.preventDuplicates)) {
 			filter = new AcceptAllFileListFilter<File>();
 		}
@@ -126,10 +145,12 @@ public class FileListFilterFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<FileListFilter<Fil
 		this.fileListFilter = filter;
 	}
 
-	private CompositeFileListFilter<File> createCompositeWithAcceptOnceFilter(FileListFilter<File> otherFilter) {
+	private CompositeFileListFilter<File> createCompositeWithAcceptOnceFilter(FileListFilter<File>... otherFilters) {
 		CompositeFileListFilter<File> compositeFilter = new CompositeFileListFilter<File>();
 		compositeFilter.addFilter(new AcceptOnceFileListFilter<File>());
-		compositeFilter.addFilter(otherFilter);
+		for (FileListFilter<File> otherFilter : otherFilters) {
+			compositeFilter.addFilter(otherFilter);
+		}
 		return compositeFilter;
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-integration-file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-2.0.xsd b/spring-integration-file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-2.0.xsd
index f00a15167c..92927b03ba 100644
--- a/spring-integration-file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-2.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-integration-file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-2.0.xsd
@@ -61,7 +61,22 @@
                     </xsd:appinfo>
                 </xsd:annotation>
             </xsd:attribute>
-            <xsd:attribute name="filename-pattern" type="xsd:string"/>
+            <xsd:attribute name="filename-pattern" type="xsd:string">
+                <xsd:annotation>
+                    <xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+Only files matching this ant style path will be picked up by this adapter. Note that
+in Spring Integration 1.0 this attribute accepted a regular expression, but from 2.0
+filename-regex should be used for that purpose instead.
+                            ]]></xsd:documentation>
+                </xsd:annotation>
+            </xsd:attribute>
+            <xsd:attribute name="filename-regex" type="xsd:string">
+                <xsd:annotation>
+                    <xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+Only files matching this regular expression will be picked up by this adapter.
+                            ]]></xsd:documentation>
+                </xsd:annotation>
+            </xsd:attribute>
             <xsd:attribute name="scanner" type="xsd:string">
                 <xsd:annotation>
                     <xsd:appinfo>
diff --git a/spring-integration-file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests-context.xml b/spring-integration-file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests-context.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..36dab1d7be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests-context.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans:beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/file"
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xmlns:beans="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	xmlns:integration="http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/spring-integration.xsd
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/file
+			http://www.springframework.org/schema/integration/file/spring-integration-file.xsd">
+
+	<beans:bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer" />
+
+    <inbound-channel-adapter id="adapterWithRegexPattern"
+			directory="file:${java.io.tmpdir}"
+			filename-regex="^.*\.txt$" auto-startup="false">
+		<integration:poller fixed-rate="1000"/>
+	</inbound-channel-adapter>
+
+
+</beans:beans>
diff --git a/spring-integration-file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests.java b/spring-integration-file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c9825cf71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.file.config;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.springframework.beans.DirectFieldAccessor;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Qualifier;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.integration.channel.AbstractMessageChannel;
+import org.springframework.integration.endpoint.AbstractEndpoint;
+import org.springframework.integration.file.FileReadingMessageSource;
+import org.springframework.integration.file.filters.*;
+import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Mark Fisher
+ * @author Iwein Fuld
+ *
+ * @see org.springframework.integration.file.config.FileInboundChannelAdapterWithPatternParserTests
+ */
+@ContextConfiguration
+@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
+public class FileInboundChannelAdapterWithRegexPatternParserTests {
+
+    @Autowired(required = true)
+    private ApplicationContext context;
+
+    private DirectFieldAccessor accessor;
+
+	@Autowired(required = true)
+    public void setSource(FileReadingMessageSource source) {
+        this.accessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(source);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    public void regexFilter() {
+        DirectFieldAccessor scannerAccessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(accessor.getPropertyValue("scanner"));
+		Object extractedFilter = scannerAccessor.getPropertyValue("filter");
+		assertThat(extractedFilter, is(CompositeFileListFilter.class));
+		Set<FileListFilter<?>> filters = (Set<FileListFilter<?>>) new DirectFieldAccessor(
+				extractedFilter).getPropertyValue("fileFilters");
+        Pattern pattern = null;
+        for (FileListFilter<?> filter : filters) {
+            if (filter instanceof PatternMatchingFileListFilter) {
+                pattern = (Pattern) new DirectFieldAccessor(filter).getPropertyValue("pattern");
+            }
+        }
+        assertNotNull("expected SimplePatternFileListFilterTest", pattern);
+        assertEquals("^.*\\.txt$", pattern.pattern());
+    }
+
+}