diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
index aa5ccc0ec2d..a7f35c93987 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinitionHolder;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.BeanComponentDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionReaderUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.support.ResourcePatternUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.ResourceUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.SystemPropertyUtils;
@@ -172,9 +173,10 @@ public class DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader implements BeanDefinitionDocume
 		boolean absoluteLocation = false;
 		
 		try {
-			absoluteLocation = ResourceUtils.toURI(location).isAbsolute();
+			absoluteLocation = ResourcePatternUtils.isUrl(location) || ResourceUtils.toURI(location).isAbsolute();
 		} catch (Exception ex) {
 			// cannot convert to an URI, considering the location relative
+			// unless it is the well-known Spring prefix classpath*: 
 		}
 		
 		// check the 
diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/XmlBeanDefinitionReaderTests.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/XmlBeanDefinitionReaderTests.java
index ca4090771c6..8af531ca8f9 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/XmlBeanDefinitionReaderTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/XmlBeanDefinitionReaderTests.java
@@ -82,6 +82,20 @@ public class XmlBeanDefinitionReaderTests extends TestCase {
 		testBeanDefinitions(registry);
 	}
 
+	public void testWithImport() {
+		SimpleBeanDefinitionRegistry registry = new SimpleBeanDefinitionRegistry();;
+		Resource resource = new ClassPathResource("import.xml", getClass());
+		new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(registry).loadBeanDefinitions(resource);
+		testBeanDefinitions(registry);
+	}
+
+	public void testWithWildcardImport() {
+		SimpleBeanDefinitionRegistry registry = new SimpleBeanDefinitionRegistry();;
+		Resource resource = new ClassPathResource("importPattern.xml", getClass());
+		new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(registry).loadBeanDefinitions(resource);
+		testBeanDefinitions(registry);
+	}
+
 	public void testWithInputSource() {
 		try {
 			SimpleBeanDefinitionRegistry registry = new SimpleBeanDefinitionRegistry();;
diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/test/resources/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/import.xml b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/resources/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/import.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..278e5dff811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/resources/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/import.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE beans PUBLIC "-//SPRING//DTD BEAN 2.0//EN" "http://www.springframework.org/dtd/spring-beans-2.0.dtd">
+
+<beans>
+
+	<import resource="classpath:/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/test.xml"/>
+
+</beans>
diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/test/resources/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/importPattern.xml b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/resources/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/importPattern.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..085a29d85fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/test/resources/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/importPattern.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE beans PUBLIC "-//SPRING//DTD BEAN 2.0//EN" "http://www.springframework.org/dtd/spring-beans-2.0.dtd">
+
+<beans>
+
+	<import resource="classpath*:/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/test.xml"/>
+
+</beans>