diff --git a/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/Properties.cs b/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/Properties.cs
index c61b9725..3d466a0f 100644
--- a/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/Properties.cs
+++ b/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/Properties.cs
@@ -30,7 +30,25 @@ namespace Spring.Util
 {
 	/// <summary>
 	/// An implementation of the Java Properties class.
-	/// </summary>
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <remarks>
+    /// For the complete syntax see <a href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/Properties.html#load(java.io.InputStream)">java.util.Properties JavaDoc</a>.
+    /// This class supports an extended syntax. There may also be sole keys on a line, in that case values are treated as <c>null</c>.
+    /// <example>
+    /// <code>
+    /// key1 = value
+    /// key2:
+    /// key3
+    /// </code>
+    /// will result in the name/value pairs: 
+    /// <list>
+    /// <item>key1:="value"</item>
+    /// <item>key2:=string.Empty</item>
+    /// <item>key3:=&lt;null&gt;</item>
+    /// </list>
+    /// note, that to specify a <c>null</c> value, the key <b>must not</b> be followed by any character except newline. 
+    /// </example>
+	/// </remarks>
 	/// <author>Simon White</author>
     [Serializable]
     public class Properties : Hashtable
@@ -122,7 +140,7 @@ namespace Spring.Util
 						key = keyvalue[0];
 						value = keyvalue[1];
 
-						if (value.EndsWith("\\"))
+						if (value != null && value.EndsWith("\\"))
 						{
 							value = value.Substring(0, value.Length - 1);
 							isContinuation = true;
@@ -155,8 +173,10 @@ namespace Spring.Util
 		/// <param name="line">The string.</param>
 		/// <returns>The string with all leading whitespace removed.</returns>
 		private static string RemoveLeadingWhitespace(string line)
-		{
-			string trimmed = null;
+		{
+            if (line == null) return null;
+
+			string trimmed = string.Empty;
 			for (int i = 0; i < line.Length; i++)
 			{
 				if (Whitespace.IndexOf(line[i]) == -1)
@@ -175,7 +195,7 @@ namespace Spring.Util
 		/// <returns>An array containing the key / value pair.</returns>
 		private static string[] SplitLine(string line)
 		{
-			string key = null;
+			string key = line;
 			string value = null;
 
 			int index = 0;
@@ -202,14 +222,23 @@ namespace Spring.Util
 			// first ignore leading whitespace and initial separator
 			// (if one's there)
 			index++;
-			if (index >= len)
+			if (index > len)
 			{
-				return null;
-			}
-			value = line.Substring(index);
-			value = RemoveLeadingWhitespace(value);
+                // this is an extension to support key-only lines and specifying null values
+			    value = null;
+			} 
+            else if (index == len)
+            {
+                value = string.Empty;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                value = line.Substring(index);
+                value = RemoveLeadingWhitespace(value);
+            }
 
-			if (Separators.IndexOf(value[0]) != -1)
+		    if (value != null && value.Length > 0 
+                && Separators.IndexOf(value[0]) != -1)
 			{
 				value = value.Substring(1);
 				value = RemoveLeadingWhitespace(value);
diff --git a/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/StringUtils.cs b/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/StringUtils.cs
index 29f89d73..74e741c4 100644
--- a/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/StringUtils.cs
+++ b/src/Spring/Spring.Core/Util/StringUtils.cs
@@ -672,6 +672,7 @@ namespace Spring.Util
         /// <returns>The converted string.</returns>
         public static string ConvertEscapedCharacters(string inputString)
         {
+            if (inputString == null) return null;
             StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(inputString.Length);
             for (int i = 0; i < inputString.Length; i++)
             {
diff --git a/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Objects/Factory/Config/VariablePlaceholderConfigurerTests.cs b/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Objects/Factory/Config/VariablePlaceholderConfigurerTests.cs
index fe91ceb7..42b22904 100644
--- a/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Objects/Factory/Config/VariablePlaceholderConfigurerTests.cs
+++ b/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Objects/Factory/Config/VariablePlaceholderConfigurerTests.cs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 #region Imports
 
+using System;
 using System.Collections;
 using NUnit.Framework;
 using Spring.Context.Support;
@@ -115,6 +116,55 @@ namespace Spring.Objects.Factory.Config
             TestObject tb1 = (TestObject)ac.GetObject("tb1");
             Assert.AreEqual(35, tb1.Age);
             Assert.AreEqual("Erich", tb1.Name);            
-        }        
+        }  
+      
+        [Test]
+        [Ignore("Does not work yet because IVariableSource cannot differentiate between invalid key and key with a null value")]
+        public void WhitespaceHandling()
+        {
+            StaticApplicationContext ac = new StaticApplicationContext();
+
+            MutablePropertyValues pvs = new MutablePropertyValues();
+            pvs.Add("name", "${name}");
+            pvs.Add("nickname", "${nickname}");
+            ac.RegisterSingleton("tb1", typeof(TestObject), pvs);
+
+            IList variableSources = new ArrayList();
+            variableSources.Add(new DictionaryVariableSource(new string[] { "name", string.Empty, "nickname", null }));
+            pvs = new MutablePropertyValues();
+            pvs.Add("VariableSources", variableSources);
+            ac.RegisterSingleton("configurer", typeof(VariablePlaceholderConfigurer), pvs);
+            ac.Refresh();
+
+            TestObject tb1 = (TestObject)ac.GetObject("tb1");
+            Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, tb1.Name);
+            Assert.AreEqual(null, tb1.Nickname);
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void BailsOnUnresolvableVariable()
+        {
+            StaticApplicationContext ac = new StaticApplicationContext();
+
+            MutablePropertyValues pvs = new MutablePropertyValues();
+            pvs.Add("nickname", "${nickname}");
+            ac.RegisterSingleton("tb1", typeof(TestObject), pvs);
+
+            IList variableSources = new ArrayList();
+            variableSources.Add(new DictionaryVariableSource(new string[] { }));
+            pvs = new MutablePropertyValues();
+            pvs.Add("VariableSources", variableSources);
+            ac.RegisterSingleton("configurer", typeof(VariablePlaceholderConfigurer), pvs);
+
+            try
+            {
+                ac.Refresh();
+                Assert.Fail("something changed wrt VariablePlaceholder resolution");
+            }
+            catch (ObjectDefinitionStoreException ex)
+            {
+                Assert.IsTrue( ex.Message.IndexOf("nickname") > -1 );
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Util/PropertiesTests.cs b/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Util/PropertiesTests.cs
index db78ba66..5e7eab27 100644
--- a/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Util/PropertiesTests.cs
+++ b/test/Spring/Spring.Core.Tests/Util/PropertiesTests.cs
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ namespace Spring.Util
         }
 
         [Test]
-        public void ListAndLoad ()
+        public void ListAndLoad()
         {
             Properties props = new Properties();
             props.Add ("foo", "this");
@@ -151,6 +151,21 @@ namespace Spring.Util
 			Assert.IsTrue("true".Equals(props["leadingspace"]));
 		}
 
+        [Test]
+        public void WhitespaceProperties()
+        {
+            string input = "key1 =\t\nkey2:\nkey3";
+
+            Stream s = new MemoryStream(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(input));
+            Properties props = new Properties();
+            props.Load(s);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, props["key1"], "key1 should have empty value");
+            Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, props["key2"], "key2 should have empty value");
+            Assert.IsTrue(props.ContainsKey("key3"));
+            Assert.IsNull(props["key3"]);
+        }
+
 		[Test]
 		public void Continuation()
 		{