diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessor.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessor.java
index 891f085cd2b..d1fb04ef435 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessor.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessor.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2010 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 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.
@@ -58,12 +58,16 @@ public class DirectFieldAccessor extends AbstractPropertyAccessor {
 	 * Create a new DirectFieldAccessor for the given target object.
 	 * @param target the target object to access
 	 */
-	public DirectFieldAccessor(Object target) {
+	public DirectFieldAccessor(final Object target) {
 		Assert.notNull(target, "Target object must not be null");
 		this.target = target;
 		ReflectionUtils.doWithFields(this.target.getClass(), new ReflectionUtils.FieldCallback() {
 			public void doWith(Field field) {
-				fieldMap.put(field.getName(), field);
+				if (fieldMap.containsKey(field.getName())) {
+					// ignore superclass declarations of fields already found in a subclass
+				} else {
+					fieldMap.put(field.getName(), field);
+				}
 			}
 		});
 		this.typeConverterDelegate = new TypeConverterDelegate(this, target);
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ public class DirectFieldAccessor extends AbstractPropertyAccessor {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Class getPropertyType(String propertyName) throws BeansException {
+	public Class<?> getPropertyType(String propertyName) throws BeansException {
 		Field field = this.fieldMap.get(propertyName);
 		if (field != null) {
 			return field.getType();
diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessorTests.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessorTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..01a117d2b61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/DirectFieldAccessorTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 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.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.beans;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import javax.swing.JPanel;
+import javax.swing.JTextField;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link DirectFieldAccessor}
+ *
+ * @author Jose Luis Martin
+ * @author Chris Beams
+ */
+public class DirectFieldAccessorTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void withShadowedField() throws Exception {
+		@SuppressWarnings("serial")
+		JPanel p = new JPanel() {
+			@SuppressWarnings("unused")
+			JTextField name = new JTextField();
+		};
+
+		DirectFieldAccessor dfa = new DirectFieldAccessor(p);
+		assertEquals(JTextField.class, dfa.getPropertyType("name"));
+	}
+}