diff --git a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypedValue.java b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypedValue.java
index 96dc6124cad..cca3cd24f16 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypedValue.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypedValue.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2014 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.
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.springframework.expression;
 
 import org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor;
+import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 
 /**
  * Encapsulates an object and a type descriptor that describes it.
@@ -63,18 +64,35 @@ public class TypedValue {
 	}
 
 	public TypeDescriptor getTypeDescriptor() {
-		if (this.typeDescriptor == null) {
+		if (this.typeDescriptor == null && this.value != null) {
 			this.typeDescriptor = TypeDescriptor.forObject(this.value);
 		}
 		return this.typeDescriptor;
 	}
 
 
+	@Override
+	public boolean equals(Object other) {
+		if (this == other) {
+			return true;
+		}
+		if (!(other instanceof TypedValue)) {
+			return false;
+		}
+		TypedValue otherTv = (TypedValue) other;
+		return (ObjectUtils.nullSafeEquals(this.value, otherTv.value) &&
+				((this.typeDescriptor == null && otherTv.typeDescriptor == null) ||
+						getTypeDescriptor().equals(otherTv.getTypeDescriptor())));
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public int hashCode() {
+		return ObjectUtils.nullSafeHashCode(this.value);
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public String toString() {
-		StringBuilder str = new StringBuilder();
-		str.append("TypedValue: '").append(this.value).append("' of [").append(getTypeDescriptor()).append("]");
-		return str.toString();
+		return "TypedValue: '" + this.value + "' of [" + getTypeDescriptor() + "]";
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/ReflectionHelperTests.java b/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/ReflectionHelperTests.java
index a4ef723a8f6..4b9aee60494 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/ReflectionHelperTests.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/ReflectionHelperTests.java
@@ -97,9 +97,20 @@ public class ReflectionHelperTests extends AbstractExpressionTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testTypedValue() {
-		TypedValue tValue = new TypedValue("hello");
-		assertEquals(String.class,tValue.getTypeDescriptor().getType());
-		assertEquals("TypedValue: 'hello' of [java.lang.String]",tValue.toString());
+		TypedValue tv1 = new TypedValue("hello");
+		TypedValue tv2 = new TypedValue("hello");
+		TypedValue tv3 = new TypedValue("bye");
+		assertEquals(String.class, tv1.getTypeDescriptor().getType());
+		assertEquals("TypedValue: 'hello' of [java.lang.String]", tv1.toString());
+		assertEquals(tv1, tv2);
+		assertEquals(tv2, tv1);
+		assertNotEquals(tv1, tv3);
+		assertNotEquals(tv2, tv3);
+		assertNotEquals(tv3, tv1);
+		assertNotEquals(tv3, tv2);
+		assertEquals(tv1.hashCode(), tv2.hashCode());
+		assertNotEquals(tv1.hashCode(), tv3.hashCode());
+		assertNotEquals(tv2.hashCode(), tv3.hashCode());
 	}
 
 	@Test