diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ExpressionVariable.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ExpressionVariable.java
index dcbc6347..f6c81900 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ExpressionVariable.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ExpressionVariable.java
@@ -10,17 +10,25 @@ public class ExpressionVariable {
 
 	private String name;
 	private String valueExpression;
+	private ParserContext parserContext;
 
 	/**
-	 * Creates a new expression variable
-	 * @param name the name of the variable, acting as an convenient alias
-	 * @param value the value expression
+	 * Creates a new expression variable.
+	 * @param name the name of the variable, acting as an convenient alias (required)
+	 * @param valueExpression the value expression (required)
 	 */
-	public ExpressionVariable(String name, String value) {
-		Assert.hasText(name, "The expression variable must be named");
-		Assert.hasText(value, "The expression variable's value expression is required");
-		this.name = name;
-		this.valueExpression = value;
+	public ExpressionVariable(String name, String valueExpression) {
+		init(name, valueExpression, null);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Creates a new expression variable with a populated parser context.
+	 * @param name the name of the variable, acting as an convenient alias (required)
+	 * @param valueExpression the value expression (required)
+	 * @param parserContext the parser context to use to parse the value expression (optional)
+	 */
+	public ExpressionVariable(String name, String valueExpression, ParserContext parserContext) {
+		init(name, valueExpression, parserContext);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -39,6 +47,14 @@ public class ExpressionVariable {
 		return valueExpression;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns the parser context to use to parse the variable's value expression.
+	 * @return the value expression parser context
+	 */
+	public ParserContext getParserContext() {
+		return parserContext;
+	}
+
 	public boolean equals(Object o) {
 		if (!(o instanceof ExpressionVariable)) {
 			return false;
@@ -54,4 +70,13 @@ public class ExpressionVariable {
 	public String toString() {
 		return "[Expression Variable '" + name + "']";
 	}
+
+	private void init(String name, String valueExpression, ParserContext parserContext) {
+		Assert.hasText(name, "The expression variable must be named");
+		Assert.hasText(valueExpression, "The expression variable's value expression is required");
+		this.name = name;
+		this.valueExpression = valueExpression;
+		this.parserContext = parserContext;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELContextFactory.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELContextFactory.java
index 76b8347d..7b728100 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELContextFactory.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/el/ELContextFactory.java
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ import javax.el.ELResolver;
 /**
  * A factory for creating a EL context object that will be used to evaluate a target object of an EL expression.
  * 
+ * Note this ELContextFactory is not used at parse time, only evaluation time. Therefore, factories should not be
+ * concerned with setting up parse-time context attributes such as the variable mapper and function mapper that play no
+ * part during expression evaluation.
+ * 
+ * @author Keith Donald
  * @author Jeremy Grelle
  */
 public interface ELContextFactory {
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 6b7b0574..983c3428 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
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 /**
  * An expression parser that parses EL expressions.
- * @author Jeremy Grelle
  * @author Keith Donald
+ * @author Jeremy Grelle
  */
 public class ELExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 
@@ -56,10 +56,7 @@ public class ELExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 			context = NullParserContext.INSTANCE;
 		}
 		try {
-			ParserELContext elContext = new ParserELContext();
-			elContext.mapVariables(context.getExpressionVariables(), expressionFactory);
-			ValueExpression expression = expressionFactory.createValueExpression(elContext, expressionString,
-					getExpectedType(context));
+			ValueExpression expression = parseValueExpression(expressionString, context);
 			ELContextFactory contextFactory = getContextFactory(context.getEvaluationContextType(), expressionString);
 			return new ELExpression(contextFactory, expression);
 		} catch (ELException e) {
@@ -67,6 +64,12 @@ public class ELExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 		}
 	}
 
+	private ValueExpression parseValueExpression(String expressionString, ParserContext context) throws ELException {
+		ParserELContext elContext = new ParserELContext();
+		elContext.mapVariables(context.getExpressionVariables(), expressionFactory);
+		return expressionFactory.createValueExpression(elContext, expressionString, getExpectedType(context));
+	}
+
 	private Class getExpectedType(ParserContext context) {
 		Class expectedType = context.getExpectedEvaluationResultType();
 		if (expectedType != null) {
@@ -91,7 +94,7 @@ public class ELExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 		putContextFactory(Object.class, defaultContextFactory);
 	}
 
-	private static class ParserELContext extends ELContext {
+	private class ParserELContext extends ELContext {
 		private VariableMapper variableMapper;
 
 		public ELResolver getELResolver() {
@@ -111,8 +114,9 @@ public class ELExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 				variableMapper = new VariableMapperImpl();
 				for (int i = 0; i < variables.length; i++) {
 					ExpressionVariable var = variables[i];
-					ValueExpression expr = expressionFactory.createValueExpression(this, var.getValueExpression(),
-							Object.class);
+					ParserContext context = var.getParserContext() != null ? var.getParserContext()
+							: NullParserContext.INSTANCE;
+					ValueExpression expr = parseValueExpression(var.getValueExpression(), context);
 					variableMapper.setVariable(var.getName(), expr);
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParser.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParser.java
index 6f4e05eb..7319c77c 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParser.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/ognl/OgnlExpressionParser.java
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ public class OgnlExpressionParser implements ExpressionParser {
 		Map variableExpressions = new HashMap(variables.length, 1);
 		for (int i = 0; i < variables.length; i++) {
 			ExpressionVariable var = variables[i];
-			variableExpressions.put(var.getName(), parseExpression(var.getValueExpression(), null));
+			variableExpressions.put(var.getName(), parseExpression(var.getValueExpression(), var.getParserContext()));
 		}
 		return variableExpressions;
 	}