diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/HierarchicalUriComponents.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/HierarchicalUriComponents.java
index 4e657b28ff1..93356c77511 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/HierarchicalUriComponents.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/HierarchicalUriComponents.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * Extension of {@link UriComponents} for hierarchical URIs.
  *
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
+ * @author Rossen Stoyanchev
  * @author Phillip Webb
  * @since 3.1.3
  * @see <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986#section-1.2.3">Hierarchical URIs</a>
@@ -73,8 +74,9 @@ final class HierarchicalUriComponents extends UriComponents {
 	 * @param encoded whether the components are already encoded
 	 * @param verify whether the components need to be checked for illegal characters
 	 */
-	HierarchicalUriComponents(String scheme, String userInfo, String host, String port, PathComponent path,
-			MultiValueMap<String, String> queryParams, String fragment, boolean encoded, boolean verify) {
+	HierarchicalUriComponents(String scheme, String userInfo, String host, String port,
+			PathComponent path, MultiValueMap<String, String> queryParams,
+			String fragment, boolean encoded, boolean verify) {
 
 		super(scheme, fragment);
 		this.userInfo = userInfo;
@@ -175,41 +177,44 @@ final class HierarchicalUriComponents extends UriComponents {
 	// encoding
 
 	/**
-	 * Encodes all URI components using their specific encoding rules, and returns the result as a new
-	 * {@code UriComponents} instance.
+	 * Encode all URI components using their specific encoding rules and return
+	 * the result as a new {@code UriComponents} instance.
 	 * @param encoding the encoding of the values contained in this map
 	 * @return the encoded uri components
 	 * @throws UnsupportedEncodingException if the given encoding is not supported
 	 */
 	@Override
 	public HierarchicalUriComponents encode(String encoding) throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
-		Assert.hasLength(encoding, "Encoding must not be empty");
 		if (this.encoded) {
 			return this;
 		}
-		String encodedScheme = encodeUriComponent(getScheme(), encoding, Type.SCHEME);
-		String encodedUserInfo = encodeUriComponent(this.userInfo, encoding, Type.USER_INFO);
-		String encodedHost = encodeUriComponent(this.host, encoding, getHostType());
+		Assert.hasLength(encoding, "Encoding must not be empty");
+		String schemeTo = encodeUriComponent(getScheme(), encoding, Type.SCHEME);
+		String userInfoTo = encodeUriComponent(this.userInfo, encoding, Type.USER_INFO);
+		String hostTo = encodeUriComponent(this.host, encoding, getHostType());
+		PathComponent pathTo = this.path.encode(encoding);
+		MultiValueMap<String, String> paramsTo = encodeQueryParams(encoding);
+		String fragmentTo = encodeUriComponent(this.getFragment(), encoding, Type.FRAGMENT);
+		return new HierarchicalUriComponents(schemeTo, userInfoTo, hostTo, this.port,
+				pathTo, paramsTo, fragmentTo, true, false);
+	}
 
-		PathComponent encodedPath = this.path.encode(encoding);
-		MultiValueMap<String, String> encodedQueryParams =
-				new LinkedMultiValueMap<String, String>(this.queryParams.size());
+	private MultiValueMap<String, String> encodeQueryParams(String encoding) throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
+		int size = this.queryParams.size();
+		MultiValueMap<String, String> result = new LinkedMultiValueMap<String, String>(size);
 		for (Map.Entry<String, List<String>> entry : this.queryParams.entrySet()) {
-			String encodedName = encodeUriComponent(entry.getKey(), encoding, Type.QUERY_PARAM);
-			List<String> encodedValues = new ArrayList<String>(entry.getValue().size());
+			String name = encodeUriComponent(entry.getKey(), encoding, Type.QUERY_PARAM);
+			List<String> values = new ArrayList<String>(entry.getValue().size());
 			for (String value : entry.getValue()) {
-				String encodedValue = encodeUriComponent(value, encoding, Type.QUERY_PARAM);
-				encodedValues.add(encodedValue);
+				values.add(encodeUriComponent(value, encoding, Type.QUERY_PARAM));
 			}
-			encodedQueryParams.put(encodedName, encodedValues);
+			result.put(name, values);
 		}
-		String encodedFragment = encodeUriComponent(this.getFragment(), encoding, Type.FRAGMENT);
-		return new HierarchicalUriComponents(encodedScheme, encodedUserInfo, encodedHost, this.port, encodedPath,
-				encodedQueryParams, encodedFragment, true, false);
+		return result;
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Encodes the given source into an encoded String using the rules specified
+	 * Encode the given source into an encoded String using the rules specified
 	 * by the given component and with the given options.
 	 * @param source the source string
 	 * @param encoding the encoding of the source string
@@ -217,7 +222,9 @@ final class HierarchicalUriComponents extends UriComponents {
 	 * @return the encoded URI
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException when the given uri parameter is not a valid URI
 	 */
-	static String encodeUriComponent(String source, String encoding, Type type) throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
+	static String encodeUriComponent(String source, String encoding, Type type)
+			throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
+
 		if (source == null) {
 			return null;
 		}
@@ -291,17 +298,19 @@ final class HierarchicalUriComponents extends UriComponents {
 					int u = Character.digit(hex1, 16);
 					int l = Character.digit(hex2, 16);
 					if (u == -1 || l == -1) {
-						throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid encoded sequence \"" + source.substring(i) + "\"");
+						throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid encoded sequence \"" +
+								source.substring(i) + "\"");
 					}
 					i += 2;
 				}
 				else {
-					throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid encoded sequence \"" + source.substring(i) + "\"");
+					throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid encoded sequence \"" +
+							source.substring(i) + "\"");
 				}
 			}
 			else if (!type.isAllowed(ch)) {
-				throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-						"Invalid character '" + ch + "' for " + type.name() + " in \"" + source + "\"");
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid character '" + ch + "' for " +
+						type.name() + " in \"" + source + "\"");
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -312,25 +321,31 @@ final class HierarchicalUriComponents extends UriComponents {
 	@Override
 	protected HierarchicalUriComponents expandInternal(UriTemplateVariables uriVariables) {
 		Assert.state(!this.encoded, "Cannot expand an already encoded UriComponents object");
-		String expandedScheme = expandUriComponent(getScheme(), uriVariables);
-		String expandedUserInfo = expandUriComponent(this.userInfo, uriVariables);
-		String expandedHost = expandUriComponent(this.host, uriVariables);
-		String expandedPort = expandUriComponent(this.port, uriVariables);
-		PathComponent expandedPath = this.path.expand(uriVariables);
-		MultiValueMap<String, String> expandedQueryParams =
-				new LinkedMultiValueMap<String, String>(this.queryParams.size());
+
+		String schemeTo = expandUriComponent(getScheme(), uriVariables);
+		String userInfoTo = expandUriComponent(this.userInfo, uriVariables);
+		String hostTo = expandUriComponent(this.host, uriVariables);
+		String portTo = expandUriComponent(this.port, uriVariables);
+		PathComponent pathTo = this.path.expand(uriVariables);
+		MultiValueMap<String, String> paramsTo = expandQueryParams(uriVariables);
+		String fragmentTo = expandUriComponent(this.getFragment(), uriVariables);
+
+		return new HierarchicalUriComponents(schemeTo, userInfoTo, hostTo, portTo,
+				pathTo, paramsTo, fragmentTo, false, false);
+	}
+
+	private MultiValueMap<String, String> expandQueryParams(UriTemplateVariables variables) {
+		int size = this.queryParams.size();
+		MultiValueMap<String, String> result = new LinkedMultiValueMap<String, String>(size);
 		for (Map.Entry<String, List<String>> entry : this.queryParams.entrySet()) {
-			String expandedName = expandUriComponent(entry.getKey(), uriVariables);
-			List<String> expandedValues = new ArrayList<String>(entry.getValue().size());
+			String name = expandUriComponent(entry.getKey(), variables);
+			List<String> values = new ArrayList<String>(entry.getValue().size());
 			for (String value : entry.getValue()) {
-				String expandedValue = expandUriComponent(value, uriVariables);
-				expandedValues.add(expandedValue);
+				values.add(expandUriComponent(value, variables));
 			}
-			expandedQueryParams.put(expandedName, expandedValues);
+			result.put(name, values);
 		}
-		String expandedFragment = expandUriComponent(this.getFragment(), uriVariables);
-		return new HierarchicalUriComponents(expandedScheme, expandedUserInfo, expandedHost, expandedPort, expandedPath,
-				expandedQueryParams, expandedFragment, false, false);
+		return result;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -468,7 +483,7 @@ final class HierarchicalUriComponents extends UriComponents {
 	 * <p>Contains methods to indicate whether a given character is valid in a specific URI component.
 	 * @see <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986.txt">RFC 3986</a>
 	 */
-	static enum Type {
+	enum Type {
 
 		SCHEME {
 			@Override