diff --git a/spring-boot/pom.xml b/spring-boot/pom.xml
index 22022b97653..78b59d139ae 100644
--- a/spring-boot/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-boot/pom.xml
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@
 			<artifactId>tomcat-embed-core</artifactId>
 			<optional>true</optional>
 		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>
+			<artifactId>groovy</artifactId>
+			<optional>true</optional>
+		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
 			<artifactId>jetty-webapp</artifactId>
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoader.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoader.java
index ea85a32e05d..962ec56cb0e 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoader.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoader.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Set;
 
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.groovy.GroovyBeanDefinitionReader;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionRegistry;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanNameGenerator;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader;
@@ -57,6 +59,8 @@ class BeanDefinitionLoader {
 
 	private XmlBeanDefinitionReader xmlReader;
 
+	private GroovyBeanDefinitionReader groovyReader;
+
 	private ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner scanner;
 
 	private ResourceLoader resourceLoader;
@@ -73,6 +77,9 @@ class BeanDefinitionLoader {
 		this.sources = sources;
 		this.annotatedReader = new AnnotatedBeanDefinitionReader(registry);
 		this.xmlReader = new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(registry);
+		if (ClassUtils.isPresent("groovy.lang.MetaClass", null)) {
+			this.groovyReader = new GroovyBeanDefinitionReader(this.xmlReader);
+		}
 		this.scanner = new ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner(registry);
 		this.scanner.addExcludeFilter(new ClassExcludeFilter(sources));
 	}
@@ -145,6 +152,13 @@ class BeanDefinitionLoader {
 	}
 
 	private int load(Resource source) {
+		if (source.getFilename().endsWith(".groovy")) {
+			if (this.groovyReader == null) {
+				throw new BeanDefinitionStoreException(
+						"Cannot load Groovy beans without Groovy on classpath");
+			}
+			return this.groovyReader.loadBeanDefinitions(source);
+		}
 		return this.xmlReader.loadBeanDefinitions(source);
 	}
 
@@ -169,7 +183,7 @@ class BeanDefinitionLoader {
 		}
 
 		// Attempt as resources
-		Resource[] resources = loadResources(resolvedSource);
+		Resource[] resources = findResources(resolvedSource);
 		int loadCount = 0;
 		boolean atLeastOneResourceExists = false;
 		for (Resource resource : resources) {
@@ -191,7 +205,7 @@ class BeanDefinitionLoader {
 		throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid source '" + resolvedSource + "'");
 	}
 
-	private Resource[] loadResources(String source) {
+	private Resource[] findResources(String source) {
 		ResourceLoader loader = this.resourceLoader != null ? this.resourceLoader
 				: DEFAULT_RESOURCE_LOADER;
 		try {
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoaderTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoaderTests.java
index aa47427b41a..31dd422d2d9 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoaderTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/BeanDefinitionLoaderTests.java
@@ -61,6 +61,17 @@ public class BeanDefinitionLoaderTests {
 
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void loadGroovyResource() throws Exception {
+		ClassPathResource resource = new ClassPathResource("sample-beans.groovy",
+				getClass());
+		BeanDefinitionLoader loader = new BeanDefinitionLoader(this.registry, resource);
+		int loaded = loader.load();
+		assertThat(loaded, equalTo(1));
+		assertTrue(this.registry.containsBean("myGroovyComponent"));
+
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void loadPackage() throws Exception {
 		BeanDefinitionLoader loader = new BeanDefinitionLoader(this.registry,
@@ -88,6 +99,15 @@ public class BeanDefinitionLoaderTests {
 		assertTrue(this.registry.containsBean("myXmlComponent"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void loadGroovyName() throws Exception {
+		BeanDefinitionLoader loader = new BeanDefinitionLoader(this.registry,
+				"classpath:org/springframework/boot/sample-beans.groovy");
+		int loaded = loader.load();
+		assertThat(loaded, equalTo(1));
+		assertTrue(this.registry.containsBean("myGroovyComponent"));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void loadPackageName() throws Exception {
 		BeanDefinitionLoader loader = new BeanDefinitionLoader(this.registry,
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/sample-beans.groovy b/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/sample-beans.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c867cc14b30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/sample-beans.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import org.springframework.boot.sampleconfig.MyComponent;
+
+beans {
+	myGroovyComponent(MyComponent) {}
+}
\ No newline at end of file