diff --git a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java
index 18b275cc51c..b6d825c393e 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/BeanDefinitionParserDelegate.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2019 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.
@@ -320,21 +320,21 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 	 */
 	protected void populateDefaults(DocumentDefaultsDefinition defaults, @Nullable DocumentDefaultsDefinition parentDefaults, Element root) {
 		String lazyInit = root.getAttribute(DEFAULT_LAZY_INIT_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(lazyInit)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(lazyInit)) {
 			// Potentially inherited from outer <beans> sections, otherwise falling back to false.
 			lazyInit = (parentDefaults != null ? parentDefaults.getLazyInit() : FALSE_VALUE);
 		}
 		defaults.setLazyInit(lazyInit);
 
 		String merge = root.getAttribute(DEFAULT_MERGE_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(merge)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(merge)) {
 			// Potentially inherited from outer <beans> sections, otherwise falling back to false.
 			merge = (parentDefaults != null ? parentDefaults.getMerge() : FALSE_VALUE);
 		}
 		defaults.setMerge(merge);
 
 		String autowire = root.getAttribute(DEFAULT_AUTOWIRE_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(autowire)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(autowire)) {
 			// Potentially inherited from outer <beans> sections, otherwise falling back to 'no'.
 			autowire = (parentDefaults != null ? parentDefaults.getAutowire() : AUTOWIRE_NO_VALUE);
 		}
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		}
 
 		String lazyInit = ele.getAttribute(LAZY_INIT_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(lazyInit)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(lazyInit)) {
 			lazyInit = this.defaults.getLazyInit();
 		}
 		bd.setLazyInit(TRUE_VALUE.equals(lazyInit));
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		}
 
 		String autowireCandidate = ele.getAttribute(AUTOWIRE_CANDIDATE_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if ("".equals(autowireCandidate) || DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(autowireCandidate)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(autowireCandidate)) {
 			String candidatePattern = this.defaults.getAutowireCandidates();
 			if (candidatePattern != null) {
 				String[] patterns = StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(candidatePattern);
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 	@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 	public int getAutowireMode(String attValue) {
 		String att = attValue;
-		if (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(att)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(att)) {
 			att = this.defaults.getAutowire();
 		}
 		int autowire = AbstractBeanDefinition.AUTOWIRE_NO;
@@ -1341,7 +1341,7 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 	 */
 	public boolean parseMergeAttribute(Element collectionElement) {
 		String value = collectionElement.getAttribute(MERGE_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(value)) {
+		if (isDefaultValue(value)) {
 			value = this.defaults.getMerge();
 		}
 		return TRUE_VALUE.equals(value);
@@ -1481,6 +1481,10 @@ public class BeanDefinitionParserDelegate {
 		return isDefaultNamespace(getNamespaceURI(node));
 	}
 
+	private boolean isDefaultValue(String value) {
+		return (DEFAULT_VALUE.equals(value) || "".equals(value));
+	}
+
 	private boolean isCandidateElement(Node node) {
 		return (node instanceof Element && (isDefaultNamespace(node) || !isDefaultNamespace(node.getParentNode())));
 	}
diff --git a/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests.java b/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests.java
index 106e1d79b6b..6d86208b66d 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2019 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.
@@ -41,6 +41,21 @@ public class NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests {
 		new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(bf).loadBeanDefinitions(
 				new ClassPathResource("NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests-lazy-context.xml", this.getClass()));
 
+		assertLazyInits(bf);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void defaultLazyInitWithNonValidatingParser() {
+		DefaultListableBeanFactory bf = new DefaultListableBeanFactory();
+		XmlBeanDefinitionReader xmlBeanDefinitionReader = new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(bf);
+		xmlBeanDefinitionReader.setValidating(false);
+		xmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(
+				new ClassPathResource("NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests-lazy-context.xml", this.getClass()));
+
+		assertLazyInits(bf);
+	}
+
+	private void assertLazyInits(DefaultListableBeanFactory bf) {
 		BeanDefinition foo = bf.getBeanDefinition("foo");
 		BeanDefinition bar = bf.getBeanDefinition("bar");
 		BeanDefinition baz = bf.getBeanDefinition("baz");
@@ -61,6 +76,22 @@ public class NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests {
 		new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(bf).loadBeanDefinitions(
 				new ClassPathResource("NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests-merge-context.xml", this.getClass()));
 
+		assertMerge(bf);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	public void defaultMergeWithNonValidatingParser() {
+		DefaultListableBeanFactory bf = new DefaultListableBeanFactory();
+		XmlBeanDefinitionReader xmlBeanDefinitionReader = new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(bf);
+		xmlBeanDefinitionReader.setValidating(false);
+		xmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(
+				new ClassPathResource("NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests-merge-context.xml", this.getClass()));
+
+		assertMerge(bf);
+	}
+
+	private void assertMerge(DefaultListableBeanFactory bf) {
 		TestBean topLevel = bf.getBean("topLevelConcreteTestBean", TestBean.class);
 		// has the concrete child bean values
 		assertThat((Iterable<String>) topLevel.getSomeList(), hasItems("charlie", "delta"));
@@ -84,6 +115,21 @@ public class NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests {
 		new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(bf).loadBeanDefinitions(
 				new ClassPathResource("NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests-autowire-candidates-context.xml", this.getClass()));
 
+		assertAutowireCandidates(bf);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void defaultAutowireCandidatesWithNonValidatingParser() {
+		DefaultListableBeanFactory bf = new DefaultListableBeanFactory();
+		XmlBeanDefinitionReader xmlBeanDefinitionReader = new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(bf);
+		xmlBeanDefinitionReader.setValidating(false);
+		xmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(
+				new ClassPathResource("NestedBeansElementAttributeRecursionTests-autowire-candidates-context.xml", this.getClass()));
+
+		assertAutowireCandidates(bf);
+	}
+
+	private void assertAutowireCandidates(DefaultListableBeanFactory bf) {
 		assertThat(bf.getBeanDefinition("fooService").isAutowireCandidate(), is(true));
 		assertThat(bf.getBeanDefinition("fooRepository").isAutowireCandidate(), is(true));
 		assertThat(bf.getBeanDefinition("other").isAutowireCandidate(), is(false));