diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtils.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtils.java
index 921becda..513bc187 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtils.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
+import org.springframework.ws.soap.saaj.SaajSoapMessageException;
 import org.springframework.ws.transport.TransportConstants;
 import org.springframework.xml.namespace.QNameUtils;
 
@@ -153,12 +154,14 @@ public abstract class SaajUtils {
      */
     public static int getSaajVersion(SOAPMessage soapMessage) {
         Assert.notNull(soapMessage, "'soapMessage' must not be null");
+        SOAPEnvelope soapEnvelope;
         try {
-            return getSaajVersion(soapMessage.getSOAPPart().getEnvelope());
+        	soapEnvelope = soapMessage.getSOAPPart().getEnvelope();
         }
-        catch (SOAPException e) {
-            return SAAJ_11;
+        catch (SOAPException ex) {
+        	throw new SaajSoapMessageException("Could not access envelope: " + ex.getMessage(), ex);
         }
+        return getSaajVersion(soapEnvelope);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtilsTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtilsTest.java
index 5c119ea6..10f16cd3 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtilsTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/SaajUtilsTest.java
@@ -16,10 +16,13 @@
 
 package org.springframework.ws.soap.saaj.support;
 
+import java.io.InputStream;
+
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
 import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
 import javax.xml.soap.MessageFactory;
+import javax.xml.soap.MimeHeaders;
 import javax.xml.soap.Name;
 import javax.xml.soap.SOAPEnvelope;
 import javax.xml.soap.SOAPMessage;
@@ -28,7 +31,9 @@ import org.custommonkey.xmlunit.XMLTestCase;
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
 
 import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
+import org.springframework.ws.soap.saaj.SaajSoapMessageException;
 
 public class SaajUtilsTest extends XMLTestCase {
 
@@ -115,5 +120,25 @@ public class SaajUtilsTest extends XMLTestCase {
     public void testGetSaajVersion() throws Exception {
         assertEquals("Invalid SAAJ version", SaajUtils.SAAJ_13, SaajUtils.getSaajVersion());
     }
+    
+    public void testGetSaajVersionInvalidEnvelope() throws Exception {
+        Resource resource = new ClassPathResource("invalidNamespaceReferenceSoapMessage.xml", getClass());
+    	InputStream in = null;
+    	try {
+            in = resource.getInputStream();
+            MimeHeaders headers = new MimeHeaders();
+            SOAPMessage soapMessage = messageFactory.createMessage(headers, in);
+			SaajUtils.getSaajVersion(soapMessage);
+    		fail("Should have thrown SaajSoapMessageException as message envelope is invalid and cannot be accessed.");
+    	}
+    	catch (SaajSoapMessageException e) {
+    		// expected
+    	}
+        finally {
+            if (in != null) {
+                in.close();
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/invalidNamespaceReferenceSoapMessage.xml b/core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/invalidNamespaceReferenceSoapMessage.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a165c3f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/ws/soap/saaj/support/invalidNamespaceReferenceSoapMessage.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<soap:Envelope
+ xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
+   <soap:Body>
+      <ndns:doSomethingRequest/>
+   </soap:Body>
+</soap:Envelope>