diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/CachingPayload.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/CachingPayload.java
index e3f8e0bc..4914be9a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/CachingPayload.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/CachingPayload.java
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ import org.apache.axiom.soap.SOAPBody;
 import org.apache.axiom.soap.SOAPFactory;
 
 /**
+ * Caching payload in Axiom.
+ *
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @since 1.5.2
  */
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/NonCachingPayload.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/NonCachingPayload.java
index 17b8cdae..89b7a813 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/NonCachingPayload.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/NonCachingPayload.java
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ import org.apache.axiom.soap.SOAPFactory;
 import org.springframework.xml.transform.StaxResult;
 
 /**
+ * Non-caching payload in Axiom.
+ *
  * @author Jim Cummings
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @since 1.5.2
@@ -63,7 +65,9 @@ class NonCachingPayload extends Payload {
 
         private QName name;
 
-        private String encoding;
+        private String encoding = "UTF-8";
+
+        private int elementDepth = 0;
 
         private DelegatingStreamWriter() {
             try {
@@ -75,11 +79,11 @@ class NonCachingPayload extends Payload {
         }
 
         public void writeStartDocument() throws XMLStreamException {
-            this.encoding = "UTF-8";
+            // ignored
         }
 
         public void writeStartDocument(String version) throws XMLStreamException {
-            this.encoding = "UTF-8";
+            // ignored
         }
 
         public void writeStartDocument(String encoding, String version) throws XMLStreamException {
@@ -87,7 +91,42 @@ class NonCachingPayload extends Payload {
         }
 
         public void writeEndDocument() throws XMLStreamException {
-            delegate.writeEndDocument();
+            // ignored
+        }
+
+        public void writeStartElement(String localName) throws XMLStreamException {
+            if (name == null) {
+                name = new QName(localName);
+            }
+            elementDepth++;
+            delegate.writeStartElement(localName);
+        }
+
+        public void writeStartElement(String namespaceURI, String localName) throws XMLStreamException {
+            if (name == null) {
+                name = new QName(namespaceURI, localName);
+            }
+            elementDepth++;
+            delegate.writeStartElement(namespaceURI, localName);
+        }
+
+        public void writeStartElement(String prefix, String localName, String namespaceURI) throws XMLStreamException {
+            if (name == null) {
+                name = new QName(namespaceURI, localName, prefix);
+            }
+            elementDepth++;
+            delegate.writeStartElement(prefix, localName, namespaceURI);
+        }
+
+        public void writeEndElement() throws XMLStreamException {
+            elementDepth--;
+            delegate.writeEndElement();
+            if (elementDepth <= 0) {
+                addPayload();
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void addPayload() throws XMLStreamException {
             delegate.flush();
             if (baos.size() > 0) {
                 byte[] buf = baos.toByteArray();
@@ -99,27 +138,6 @@ class NonCachingPayload extends Payload {
             }
         }
 
-        public void writeStartElement(String localName) throws XMLStreamException {
-            if (name == null) {
-                name = new QName(localName);
-            }
-            delegate.writeStartElement(localName);
-        }
-
-        public void writeStartElement(String namespaceURI, String localName) throws XMLStreamException {
-            if (name == null) {
-                name = new QName(namespaceURI, localName);
-            }
-            delegate.writeStartElement(namespaceURI, localName);
-        }
-
-        public void writeStartElement(String prefix, String localName, String namespaceURI) throws XMLStreamException {
-            if (name == null) {
-                name = new QName(namespaceURI, localName, prefix);
-            }
-            delegate.writeStartElement(prefix, localName, namespaceURI);
-        }
-
         public void writeEmptyElement(String localName) throws XMLStreamException {
             if (name == null) {
                 name = new QName(localName);
@@ -212,10 +230,6 @@ class NonCachingPayload extends Payload {
             delegate.writeDTD(dtd);
         }
 
-        public void writeEndElement() throws XMLStreamException {
-            delegate.writeEndElement();
-        }
-
         public void writeEntityRef(String name) throws XMLStreamException {
             delegate.writeEntityRef(name);
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/Payload.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/Payload.java
index 9cdbbf2e..bd18b552 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/Payload.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/axiom/Payload.java
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ import org.springframework.ws.soap.axiom.support.AxiomUtils;
 import org.springframework.xml.transform.StaxSource;
 
 /**
+ * Abstract base class for payloads in Axiom. Comes in two flavors: {@link CachingPayload} and {@link
+ * NonCachingPayload}.
+ *
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @since 1.5.2
  */