diff --git a/core-tiger/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/server/endpoint/mapping/AbstractAnnotationMethodEndpointMapping.java b/core-tiger/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/server/endpoint/mapping/AbstractAnnotationMethodEndpointMapping.java
index 7de146e2..81dee340 100644
--- a/core-tiger/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/server/endpoint/mapping/AbstractAnnotationMethodEndpointMapping.java
+++ b/core-tiger/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/server/endpoint/mapping/AbstractAnnotationMethodEndpointMapping.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractAnnotationMethodEndpointMapping extends AbstractMe
         implements BeanPostProcessor {
 
     public final Object postProcessBeforeInitialization(Object bean, String beanName) throws BeansException {
-        return null;
+        return bean;
     }
 
     /** Returns the 'endpoint' annotation type. Default is {@link Endpoint}. */