diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpression.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpression.java
index 1573392e..5fb6a187 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpression.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpression.java
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2004-2012 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.
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.BeanWrapperImpl;
 import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;
 import org.springframework.beans.NotReadablePropertyException;
 import org.springframework.beans.NotWritablePropertyException;
+import org.springframework.beans.NullValueInNestedPathException;
 import org.springframework.beans.TypeMismatchException;
 import org.springframework.binding.convert.ConversionService;
 import org.springframework.binding.expression.EvaluationException;
@@ -28,18 +29,18 @@ import org.springframework.binding.expression.ValueCoercionException;
 
 /**
  * An expression that delegates to a {@link BeanWrapperImpl bean wrapper} to evaluate or set a property of a context.
- * 
+ *
  * Also supports the configuration of a {@link ConversionService} to allow StringToObject type conversion to occur as
  * part of setting a property. The StringToObject ConversionExecutors are automatically adapted and registered as
  * PropertyEditors.
- * 
+ *
  * Mainly exists to take advantage of BeanWrapper's unique property access features as an Expression implementation,
  * notably the ability to infer types of generic collections and maps and perform type coersion on collection elements
  * when setting values.
- * 
+ *
  * Note that Spring's BeanWrapper is not a full-blown EL implementation: it only supports property access, and does not
  * support method invocation, arithmetic operations, or logic operations.
- * 
+ *
  * @author Keith Donald
  * @author Scott Andrews
  */
@@ -49,6 +50,11 @@ public class BeanWrapperExpression implements Expression {
 
 	private ConversionService conversionService;
 
+	private boolean autoGrowNestedPaths = false;
+
+	private int autoGrowCollectionLimit = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+
+
 	/**
 	 * Creates a new bean wrapper expression.
 	 * @param expression the property expression string
@@ -60,6 +66,25 @@ public class BeanWrapperExpression implements Expression {
 		this.conversionService = conversionService;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set whether this BeanWrapper should attempt to "auto-grow" a nested path that contains a null value.
+	 * <p>If "true", a null path location will be populated with a default object value and traversed
+	 * instead of resulting in a {@link NullValueInNestedPathException}. Turning this flag on also
+	 * enables auto-growth of collection elements when accessing an out-of-bounds index.
+	 * <p>Default is "false" on a plain BeanWrapper.
+	 */
+	public void setAutoGrowNestedPaths(boolean autoGrowNestedPaths) {
+		this.autoGrowNestedPaths = autoGrowNestedPaths;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Specify a limit for array and collection auto-growing.
+	 * <p>Default is unlimited on a plain BeanWrapper.
+	 */
+	public void setAutoGrowCollectionLimit(int autoGrowCollectionLimit) {
+		this.autoGrowCollectionLimit = autoGrowCollectionLimit;
+	}
+
 	public boolean equals(Object o) {
 		if (!(o instanceof BeanWrapperExpression)) {
 			return false;
@@ -75,6 +100,8 @@ public class BeanWrapperExpression implements Expression {
 	public Object getValue(Object context) throws EvaluationException {
 		try {
 			BeanWrapperImpl beanWrapper = new BeanWrapperImpl(context);
+			beanWrapper.setAutoGrowNestedPaths(autoGrowNestedPaths);
+			beanWrapper.setAutoGrowCollectionLimit(autoGrowCollectionLimit);
 			return beanWrapper.getPropertyValue(expression);
 		} catch (NotReadablePropertyException e) {
 			throw new PropertyNotFoundException(context.getClass(), expression, e);
@@ -88,6 +115,8 @@ public class BeanWrapperExpression implements Expression {
 	public void setValue(Object context, Object value) {
 		try {
 			BeanWrapperImpl beanWrapper = new BeanWrapperImpl(context);
+			beanWrapper.setAutoGrowNestedPaths(autoGrowNestedPaths);
+			beanWrapper.setAutoGrowCollectionLimit(autoGrowCollectionLimit);
 			beanWrapper.setConversionService(conversionService.getDelegateConversionService());
 			beanWrapper.setPropertyValue(expression, value);
 		} catch (NotWritablePropertyException e) {
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpressionParser.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpressionParser.java
index 1a070bde..544ab6ec 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpressionParser.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/expression/beanwrapper/BeanWrapperExpressionParser.java
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2004-2008 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.
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 package org.springframework.binding.expression.beanwrapper;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.BeanWrapperImpl;
+import org.springframework.beans.NullValueInNestedPathException;
 import org.springframework.beans.propertyeditors.PropertiesEditor;
 import org.springframework.binding.convert.ConversionExecutor;
 import org.springframework.binding.convert.ConversionService;
@@ -27,13 +28,17 @@ import org.springframework.binding.expression.support.AbstractExpressionParser;
 
 /**
  * An expression parser that parses BeanWrapper property expressions.
- * 
+ *
  * @author Keith Donald
  */
 public class BeanWrapperExpressionParser extends AbstractExpressionParser {
 
 	private ConversionService conversionService;
 
+	private boolean autoGrowNestedPaths = false;
+
+	private int autoGrowCollectionLimit = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+
 	/**
 	 * Creates a new expression parser that uses a {@link DefaultConversionService} to perform type conversion.
 	 */
@@ -69,7 +74,29 @@ public class BeanWrapperExpressionParser extends AbstractExpressionParser {
 		this.conversionService = conversionService;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set whether this BeanWrapper should attempt to "auto-grow" a nested path that contains a null value.
+	 * <p>If "true", a null path location will be populated with a default object value and traversed
+	 * instead of resulting in a {@link NullValueInNestedPathException}. Turning this flag on also
+	 * enables auto-growth of collection elements when accessing an out-of-bounds index.
+	 * <p>Default is "false" on a plain BeanWrapper.
+	 */
+	public void setAutoGrowNestedPaths(boolean autoGrowNestedPaths) {
+		this.autoGrowNestedPaths = autoGrowNestedPaths;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Specify a limit for array and collection auto-growing.
+	 * <p>Default is unlimited on a plain BeanWrapper.
+	 */
+	public void setAutoGrowCollectionLimit(int autoGrowCollectionLimit) {
+		this.autoGrowCollectionLimit = autoGrowCollectionLimit;
+	}
+
 	protected Expression doParseExpression(String expressionString, ParserContext context) throws ParserException {
-		return new BeanWrapperExpression(expressionString, conversionService);
+		BeanWrapperExpression expression = new BeanWrapperExpression(expressionString, conversionService);
+		expression.setAutoGrowNestedPaths(autoGrowNestedPaths);
+		expression.setAutoGrowCollectionLimit(autoGrowCollectionLimit);
+		return expression;
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file