diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/spr4868/Jsr250LifecycleTests.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/spr4868/Jsr250LifecycleTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..45af06fb216
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/spr4868/Jsr250LifecycleTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2012 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.test.context.junit4.spr4868;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+
+import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
+import javax.annotation.PreDestroy;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.TestExecutionListeners;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
+import org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener;
+
+/**
+ * Integration tests that investigate the applicability of JSR-250 lifecycle
+ * annotations in test classes.
+ * 
+ * <p>This class does not really contain actual <em>tests</em> per se. Rather it
+ * can be used to empirically verify the expected log output (see below). In
+ * order to see the log output, one would naturally need to ensure that the 
+ * logger category for this class is enabled at {@code INFO} level.
+ * 
+ * <h4>Expected Log Output</h4>
+ * <pre>
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.LifecycleBean - initializing
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - beforeAllTests()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - setUp()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - test1()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - tearDown()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - beforeAllTests()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - setUp()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - test2()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.ExampleTest - tearDown()
+ * INFO : org.springframework.test.context.junit4.spr4868.LifecycleBean - destroying
+ * </pre>
+ * 
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 3.2
+ */
+@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
+@TestExecutionListeners({ DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.class })
+@ContextConfiguration
+public class Jsr250LifecycleTests {
+
+	private final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(Jsr250LifecycleTests.class);
+
+
+	@Configuration
+	static class Config {
+
+		@Bean
+		public LifecycleBean lifecycleBean() {
+			return new LifecycleBean();
+		}
+	}
+
+
+	@Autowired
+	private LifecycleBean lifecycleBean;
+
+
+	@PostConstruct
+	public void beforeAllTests() {
+		logger.info("beforeAllTests()");
+	}
+
+	@PreDestroy
+	public void afterTestSuite() {
+		logger.info("afterTestSuite()");
+	}
+
+	@Before
+	public void setUp() throws Exception {
+		logger.info("setUp()");
+	}
+
+	@After
+	public void tearDown() throws Exception {
+		logger.info("tearDown()");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void test1() {
+		logger.info("test1()");
+		assertNotNull(lifecycleBean);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void test2() {
+		logger.info("test2()");
+		assertNotNull(lifecycleBean);
+	}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/spr4868/LifecycleBean.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/spr4868/LifecycleBean.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1b8dda709d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/spr4868/LifecycleBean.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2012 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.test.context.junit4.spr4868;
+
+import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
+import javax.annotation.PreDestroy;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+
+/**
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 3.2
+ */
+class LifecycleBean {
+
+	private final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(LifecycleBean.class);
+
+
+	@PostConstruct
+	public void init() {
+		logger.info("initializing");
+	}
+
+	@PreDestroy
+	public void destroy() {
+		logger.info("destroying");
+	}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/reference/docbook/testing.xml b/src/reference/docbook/testing.xml
index 2a52e870c7a..1e0602e08e1 100644
--- a/src/reference/docbook/testing.xml
+++ b/src/reference/docbook/testing.xml
@@ -841,6 +841,32 @@ public void testProcessWithoutTransaction() {
             </para>
           </listitem>
         </itemizedlist>
+
+        <note>
+          <title>JSR-250 Lifecycle Annotations</title>
+
+          <para>In the Spring TestContext Framework
+          <interfacename>@PostConstruct</interfacename> and
+          <interfacename>@PreDestroy</interfacename> may be used with standard
+          semantics on any application components configured in the
+          <interfacename>ApplicationContext</interfacename>; however, these
+          lifecycle annotations have limited usage within an actual test
+          class.</para>
+
+          <para>If a method within a test class is annotated with
+          <interfacename>@PostConstruct</interfacename>, that method will be
+          executed before any <emphasis>before</emphasis> methods of the
+          underlying test framework (e.g., methods annotated with JUnit's
+          <interfacename>@Before</interfacename>), and that will apply for
+          every test method in the test class. On the other hand, if a method
+          within a test class is annotated with
+          <interfacename>@PreDestroy</interfacename>, that method will
+          <emphasis role="bold">never</emphasis> be executed. Within a test
+          class it is therefore recommended to use test lifecycle callbacks
+          from the underlying test framework instead of
+          <interfacename>@PostConstruct</interfacename> and
+          <interfacename>@PreDestroy</interfacename>.</para>
+        </note>
       </section>
 
       <section id="integration-testing-annotations-junit">