diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils.java
index 803201e801..baa15001b2 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils;
 import org.springframework.test.context.SmartContextLoader;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
@@ -95,13 +96,14 @@ public abstract class AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils {
 	 * <li>must not be {@code private}</li>
 	 * <li>must not be {@code final}</li>
 	 * <li>must be {@code static}</li>
-	 * <li>must be annotated with {@code @Configuration}</li>
+	 * <li>must be annotated or meta-annotated with {@code @Configuration}</li>
 	 * </ul>
 	 * @param clazz the class to check
 	 * @return {@code true} if the supplied class meets the candidate criteria
 	 */
 	private static boolean isDefaultConfigurationClassCandidate(Class<?> clazz) {
-		return (clazz != null && isStaticNonPrivateAndNonFinal(clazz) && clazz.isAnnotationPresent(Configuration.class));
+		return (clazz != null && isStaticNonPrivateAndNonFinal(clazz) &&
+				(AnnotationUtils.findAnnotation(clazz, Configuration.class) != null));
 	}
 
 	private static boolean isStaticNonPrivateAndNonFinal(Class<?> clazz) {
diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtilsTests.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtilsTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5109ad954b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtilsTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2015 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.support;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import static org.springframework.test.context.support.AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils.*;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtils}.
+ *
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 4.1.5
+ */
+public class AnnotationConfigContextLoaderUtilsTests {
+
+	@Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+	public void detectDefaultConfigurationClassesWithNullDeclaringClass() {
+		detectDefaultConfigurationClasses(null);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void detectDefaultConfigurationClassesWithoutConfigurationClass() {
+		Class<?>[] configClasses = detectDefaultConfigurationClasses(NoConfigTestCase.class);
+		assertNotNull(configClasses);
+		assertEquals(0, configClasses.length);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void detectDefaultConfigurationClassesWithExplicitConfigurationAnnotation() {
+		Class<?>[] configClasses = detectDefaultConfigurationClasses(ExplicitConfigTestCase.class);
+		assertNotNull(configClasses);
+		assertArrayEquals(new Class<?>[] { ExplicitConfigTestCase.Config.class }, configClasses);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void detectDefaultConfigurationClassesWithConfigurationMetaAnnotation() {
+		Class<?>[] configClasses = detectDefaultConfigurationClasses(MetaAnnotatedConfigTestCase.class);
+		assertNotNull(configClasses);
+		assertArrayEquals(new Class<?>[] { MetaAnnotatedConfigTestCase.Config.class }, configClasses);
+	}
+
+
+	private static class NoConfigTestCase {
+
+	}
+
+	private static class ExplicitConfigTestCase {
+
+		@Configuration
+		static class Config {
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Configuration
+	@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+	@Target(ElementType.TYPE)
+	private static @interface MetaConfig {
+	}
+
+	private static class MetaAnnotatedConfigTestCase {
+
+		@MetaConfig
+		static class Config {
+		}
+	}
+
+}