diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/AnnotationAwareRetryOperationsInterceptor.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/AnnotationAwareRetryOperationsInterceptor.java
index 6201a07..eb68953 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/AnnotationAwareRetryOperationsInterceptor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/AnnotationAwareRetryOperationsInterceptor.java
@@ -348,12 +348,13 @@ public class AnnotationAwareRetryOperationsInterceptor implements IntroductionIn
 		for (Class<? extends Throwable> type : excludes) {
 			policyMap.put(type, false);
 		}
+		boolean retryNotExcluded = includes.length == 0;
 		if (hasExpression) {
-			return new ExpressionRetryPolicy(maxAttempts, policyMap, true, exceptionExpression)
+			return new ExpressionRetryPolicy(maxAttempts, policyMap, true, exceptionExpression, retryNotExcluded)
 					.withBeanFactory(this.beanFactory);
 		}
 		else {
-			return new SimpleRetryPolicy(maxAttempts, policyMap, true);
+			return new SimpleRetryPolicy(maxAttempts, policyMap, true, retryNotExcluded);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/CircuitBreaker.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/CircuitBreaker.java
index 478c2ab..706a453 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/CircuitBreaker.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/CircuitBreaker.java
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ public @interface CircuitBreaker {
 	/**
 	 * Exception types that are not retryable. Defaults to empty (and if includes is also
 	 * empty all exceptions are retried).
-	 * @return exception types to retry
+	 * If includes is empty but excludes is not, all not excluded exceptions are retried
+	 * @return exception types not to retry
 	 */
 	Class<? extends Throwable>[] exclude() default {};
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/Retryable.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/Retryable.java
index 0b80d07..e970b7e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/Retryable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/Retryable.java
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ public @interface Retryable {
 	/**
 	 * Exception types that are not retryable. Defaults to empty (and if includes is also
 	 * empty all exceptions are retried).
-	 * @return exception types to retry
+	 * If includes is empty but excludes is not, all not excluded exceptions are retried
+	 * @return exception types not to retry
 	 */
 	Class<? extends Throwable>[] exclude() default {};
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/policy/ExpressionRetryPolicy.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/policy/ExpressionRetryPolicy.java
index 88e8843..b46d5e6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/policy/ExpressionRetryPolicy.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/retry/policy/ExpressionRetryPolicy.java
@@ -83,10 +83,11 @@ public class ExpressionRetryPolicy extends SimpleRetryPolicy implements BeanFact
 	 * @param retryableExceptions the exceptions
 	 * @param traverseCauses true to examine causes
 	 * @param expressionString the expression.
+	 * @param defaultValue the default action
 	 */
 	public ExpressionRetryPolicy(int maxAttempts, Map<Class<? extends Throwable>, Boolean> retryableExceptions,
-			boolean traverseCauses, String expressionString) {
-		super(maxAttempts, retryableExceptions, traverseCauses);
+			boolean traverseCauses, String expressionString, boolean defaultValue) {
+		super(maxAttempts, retryableExceptions, traverseCauses, defaultValue);
 		Assert.notNull(expressionString, "'expressionString' cannot be null");
 		this.expression = new SpelExpressionParser().parseExpression(expressionString, PARSER_CONTEXT);
 	}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/EnableRetryTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/EnableRetryTests.java
index 6b19cf0..e68d5da 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/EnableRetryTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/retry/annotation/EnableRetryTests.java
@@ -130,6 +130,26 @@ public class EnableRetryTests {
 		context.close();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void excludesOnly() {
+		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(
+				TestConfiguration.class);
+		ExcludesOnlyService service = context.getBean(ExcludesOnlyService.class);
+		service.setExceptionToThrow(new IllegalStateException());
+		try {
+			service.service();
+			fail("Expected IllegalStateException");
+		}
+		catch (IllegalStateException e) {
+		}
+		assertEquals(1, service.getCount());
+
+		service.setExceptionToThrow(new IllegalArgumentException());
+		service.service();
+		assertEquals(3, service.getCount());
+		context.close();
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void stateful() {
 		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(
@@ -297,6 +317,11 @@ public class EnableRetryTests {
 			return new ExcludesService();
 		}
 
+		@Bean
+		public ExcludesOnlyService excludesOnly() {
+			return new ExcludesOnlyService();
+		}
+
 		@Bean
 		public MethodInterceptor retryInterceptor() {
 			return RetryInterceptorBuilder.stateless().maxAttempts(5).build();
@@ -441,6 +466,27 @@ public class EnableRetryTests {
 
 	}
 
+	protected static class ExcludesOnlyService {
+
+		private int count = 0;
+		private RuntimeException exceptionToThrow;
+
+		@Retryable(exclude = IllegalStateException.class)
+		public void service() {
+			if (count++ < 2) {
+				throw exceptionToThrow;
+			}
+		}
+
+		public int getCount() {
+			return count;
+		}
+
+		public void setExceptionToThrow(RuntimeException exceptionToThrow) {
+			this.exceptionToThrow = exceptionToThrow;
+		}
+	}
+
 	protected static class StatefulService {
 
 		private int count = 0;