diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParser.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParser.java
index bca56b1f..0df6bf0d 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParser.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParser.java
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ public class ELExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 	}
 
 	public Expression parseExpression(String expressionString, ParserContext context) throws ParserException {
+		Assert.notNull(expressionString, "The expression string to parse is required");
 		if (context == null) {
 			context = NullParserContext.INSTANCE;
 		}
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpression.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpression.java
index aa136b3f..9ec4e2a6 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpression.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpression.java
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 /**
  * Evaluates a parsed Ognl expression.
- * <p>
- * IMPLEMENTATION NOTE: Ognl 2.6.7 expression objects do not respect equality properly, so the equality operations
- * defined within this class do not function properly.
  * 
  * @author Keith Donald
  */
@@ -65,8 +62,6 @@ class OgnlExpression implements Expression {
 		if (!(o instanceof OgnlExpression)) {
 			return false;
 		}
-		// as late as Ognl 2.6.7, their expression objects don't implement equals
-		// so this always returns false
 		OgnlExpression other = (OgnlExpression) o;
 		return expression.equals(other.expression);
 	}
@@ -106,7 +101,6 @@ class OgnlExpression implements Expression {
 				ExpressionVariable var = variables[i];
 				variableMap.put(var.getName(), var.getValue());
 			}
-			System.out.println(variableMap);
 			return variableMap;
 		} else {
 			return Collections.EMPTY_MAP;
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/support/AbstractExpressionParser.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/support/AbstractExpressionParser.java
index 13f2a456..0a535091 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/support/AbstractExpressionParser.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/support/AbstractExpressionParser.java
@@ -81,10 +81,23 @@ public abstract class AbstractExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 	}
 
 	public boolean isDelimitedExpression(String string) {
-		return string.startsWith(expressionPrefix) && string.endsWith(expressionSuffix);
+		int prefixIndex = string.indexOf(getExpressionPrefix());
+		if (prefixIndex == -1) {
+			return false;
+		}
+		int suffixIndex = string.indexOf(getExpressionSuffix(), prefixIndex);
+		if (suffixIndex == -1) {
+			return false;
+		} else {
+			// make sure there is actually something inside the ${}
+			if (suffixIndex == prefixIndex + getExpressionPrefix().length()) {
+				return false;
+			} else {
+				return true;
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
-	// TODO - add back 1.0 and 2.0 m1 semantics
 	public Expression parseExpression(String expressionString, ParserContext context) throws ParserException {
 		Assert.notNull(expressionString, "The expression string to parse is required");
 		Expression[] expressions = parseExpressions(expressionString, context);
@@ -110,7 +123,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 		while (startIdx < expressionString.length()) {
 			int prefixIndex = expressionString.indexOf(getExpressionPrefix(), startIdx);
 			if (prefixIndex >= startIdx) {
-				// an expression was found
+				// a inner expression was found - this is a composite
 				if (prefixIndex > startIdx) {
 					expressions.add(new StaticExpression(expressionString.substring(startIdx, prefixIndex)));
 					startIdx = prefixIndex;
@@ -138,8 +151,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 					startIdx = suffixIndex + 1;
 				}
 			} else {
-				// no more evaluatable ${expressions} found in string
-				expressions.add(new StaticExpression(expressionString.substring(startIdx)));
+				if (startIdx == 0) {
+					// treat the entire string as one expression
+					expressions.add(doParseExpression(expressionString, context));
+				} else {
+					// no more ${expressions} found in string, add rest as static text
+					expressions.add(new StaticExpression(expressionString.substring(startIdx)));
+				}
 				startIdx = expressionString.length();
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParserTests.java b/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParserTests.java
index 3d8cc2f9..c00bd858 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELExpressionParserTests.java
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ public class ELExpressionParserTests extends TestCase {
 		assertEquals(new Long(7), exp.getValue(null));
 	}
 
+	public void testParseNullExpressionString() {
+		String expressionString = null;
+		try {
+			parser.parseExpression(expressionString, null);
+			fail("should have thrown iae");
+		} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+
+		}
+	}
+
 	public void testParseSimpleEvalExpressionNoEvalContextWithTypeCoersion() {
 		String expressionString = "#{3 + 4}";
 		Expression exp = parser.parseExpression(expressionString, new ParserContextImpl().expect(Integer.class));
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParserTests.java b/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParserTests.java
index 365a4cab..e4aa2e9b 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/test/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParserTests.java
@@ -33,6 +33,16 @@ public class OgnlExpressionParserTests extends TestCase {
 
 	public void testParseSimple() {
 		String exp = "${flag}";
+		assertTrue(parser.isDelimitedExpression(exp));
+		Expression e = parser.parseExpression(exp, null);
+		assertNotNull(e);
+		Boolean b = (Boolean) e.getValue(bean);
+		assertFalse(b.booleanValue());
+	}
+
+	public void testParseSimpleNotDelimited() {
+		String exp = "flag";
+		assertFalse(parser.isDelimitedExpression(exp));
 		Expression e = parser.parseExpression(exp, null);
 		assertNotNull(e);
 		Boolean b = (Boolean) e.getValue(bean);