diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetClassAware.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetClassAware.java
index 994e5c43b52..5334ae26fff 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetClassAware.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetClassAware.java
@@ -34,6 +34,6 @@ public interface TargetClassAware {
 	 * (typically a proxy configuration or an actual proxy).
 	 * @return the target Class, or <code>null</code> if not known
 	 */
-	Class getTargetClass();
+	Class<?> getTargetClass();
 
 }
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetSource.java
index 7d2604c29da..f5be5fdb9b1 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/TargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*<
- * Copyright 2002-2007 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public interface TargetSource extends TargetClassAware {
 	 * target class.
 	 * @return the type of targets returned by this {@link TargetSource}
 	 */
-	Class getTargetClass();
+	Class<?> getTargetClass();
 
 	/**
 	 * Will all calls to {@link #getTarget()} return the same object?
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/AdvisedSupport.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/AdvisedSupport.java
index c550afb7e7c..ebb59896ec6 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/AdvisedSupport.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/AdvisedSupport.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ public class AdvisedSupport extends ProxyConfig implements Advised {
 		this.targetSource = EmptyTargetSource.forClass(targetClass);
 	}
 
-	public Class getTargetClass() {
+	public Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		return this.targetSource.getTargetClass();
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource.java
index 2bd3e3b44c5..2980b0bf426 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -16,15 +16,12 @@
 
 package org.springframework.aop.target;
 
-import java.io.NotSerializableException;
-import java.io.ObjectStreamException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 import org.springframework.aop.TargetSource;
-import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactoryAware;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
@@ -65,7 +62,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource
 	private String targetBeanName;
 
 	/** Class of the target */
-	private Class targetClass;
+	private Class<?> targetClass;
 
 	/**
 	 * BeanFactory that owns this TargetSource. We need to hold onto this
@@ -108,7 +105,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource
 	 * Set the owning BeanFactory. We need to save a reference so that we can
 	 * use the <code>getBean</code> method on every invocation.
 	 */
-	public void setBeanFactory(BeanFactory beanFactory) throws BeansException {
+	public void setBeanFactory(BeanFactory beanFactory) {
 		if (this.targetBeanName == null) {
 			throw new IllegalStateException("Property'targetBeanName' is required");
 		}
@@ -123,7 +120,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource
 	}
 
 
-	public synchronized Class getTargetClass() {
+	public synchronized Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		if (this.targetClass == null && this.beanFactory != null) {
 			// Determine type of the target bean.
 			this.targetClass = this.beanFactory.getType(this.targetBeanName);
@@ -131,7 +128,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactoryBasedTargetSource
 				if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
 					logger.trace("Getting bean with name '" + this.targetBeanName + "' in order to determine type");
 				}
-				this.targetClass = this.beanFactory.getBean(this.targetBeanName).getClass();
+				Object beanInstance = this.beanFactory.getBean(this.targetBeanName);
+				if (beanInstance != null) {
+					this.targetClass = beanInstance.getClass();
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		return this.targetClass;
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractLazyCreationTargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractLazyCreationTargetSource.java
index 647a67937e3..3119e847f1b 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractLazyCreationTargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/AbstractLazyCreationTargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2007 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractLazyCreationTargetSource implements TargetSource {
 	 * a meaningful value when the target is still <code>null</code>.
 	 * @see #isInitialized()
 	 */
-	public synchronized Class getTargetClass() {
+	public synchronized Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		return (this.lazyTarget != null ? this.lazyTarget.getClass() : null);
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/EmptyTargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/EmptyTargetSource.java
index 889bea66d3b..d67b03f0f3c 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/EmptyTargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/EmptyTargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2007 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public class EmptyTargetSource implements TargetSource, Serializable {
 	/**
 	 * Always returns the specified target Class, or <code>null</code> if none.
 	 */
-	public Class getTargetClass() {
+	public Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		return this.targetClass;
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/HotSwappableTargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/HotSwappableTargetSource.java
index a2aa38943c5..14c32af6e26 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/HotSwappableTargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/HotSwappableTargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2007 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class HotSwappableTargetSource implements TargetSource, Serializable {
 	 * Return the type of the current target object.
 	 * <p>The returned type should usually be constant across all target objects.
 	 */
-	public synchronized Class getTargetClass() {
+	public synchronized Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		return this.target.getClass();
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/SingletonTargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/SingletonTargetSource.java
index 26b1edc9bb4..08ae6534a64 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/SingletonTargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/SingletonTargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2007 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public class SingletonTargetSource implements TargetSource, Serializable {
 	}
 
 
-	public Class getTargetClass() {
+	public Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		return this.target.getClass();
 	}
 	
diff --git a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/dynamic/AbstractRefreshableTargetSource.java b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/dynamic/AbstractRefreshableTargetSource.java
index 04449566cf9..befbcf39392 100644
--- a/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/dynamic/AbstractRefreshableTargetSource.java
+++ b/org.springframework.aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/target/dynamic/AbstractRefreshableTargetSource.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2010 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.
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractRefreshableTargetSource implements TargetSource, R
 	}
 
 
-	public synchronized Class getTargetClass() {
+	public synchronized Class<?> getTargetClass() {
 		if (this.targetObject == null) {
 			refresh();
 		}