diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriBuilder.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriBuilder.java
index f2e0b7364d..b27db5b16a 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriBuilder.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriBuilder.java
@@ -220,8 +220,8 @@ public class UriBuilder {
 		UriTemplate template;
 
 		if (scheme != null) {
-			template = new UriTemplate(scheme, UriComponent.SCHEME);
-			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariables));
+			template = new UriComponentTemplate(scheme, UriComponent.SCHEME, encodeUriVariableValues);
+			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariables));
 			uriBuilder.append(':');
 		}
 
@@ -229,14 +229,14 @@ public class UriBuilder {
 			uriBuilder.append("//");
 
 			if (StringUtils.hasLength(userInfo)) {
-				template = new UriTemplate(userInfo, UriComponent.USER_INFO);
-				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariables));
+				template = new UriComponentTemplate(userInfo, UriComponent.USER_INFO, encodeUriVariableValues);
+				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariables));
 				uriBuilder.append('@');
 			}
 
 			if (host != null) {
-				template = new UriTemplate(host, UriComponent.HOST);
-				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariables));
+				template = new UriComponentTemplate(host, UriComponent.HOST, encodeUriVariableValues);
+				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariables));
 			}
 
 			if (port != -1) {
@@ -256,20 +256,20 @@ public class UriBuilder {
 				else if (endsWithSlash && startsWithSlash) {
 					pathSegment = pathSegment.substring(1);
 				}
-				template = new UriTemplate(pathSegment, UriComponent.PATH_SEGMENT);
-				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariables));
+				template = new UriComponentTemplate(pathSegment, UriComponent.PATH_SEGMENT, encodeUriVariableValues);
+				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariables));
 			}
 		}
 		if (queryBuilder.length() > 0) {
 			uriBuilder.append('?');
-			template = new UriTemplate(queryBuilder.toString(), UriComponent.QUERY);
-			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariables));
+			template = new UriComponentTemplate(queryBuilder.toString(), UriComponent.QUERY, encodeUriVariableValues);
+			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariables));
 		}
 
 		if (StringUtils.hasLength(fragment)) {
 			uriBuilder.append('#');
-			template = new UriTemplate(fragment, UriComponent.FRAGMENT);
-			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariables));
+			template = new UriComponentTemplate(fragment, UriComponent.FRAGMENT, encodeUriVariableValues);
+			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariables));
 		}
 
 		return URI.create(uriBuilder.toString());
@@ -308,8 +308,8 @@ public class UriBuilder {
 		UriTemplate template;
 
 		if (scheme != null) {
-			template = new UriTemplate(scheme, UriComponent.SCHEME);
-			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariableValues));
+			template = new UriComponentTemplate(scheme, UriComponent.SCHEME, encodeUriVariableValues);
+			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 			uriBuilder.append(':');
 		}
 
@@ -317,14 +317,14 @@ public class UriBuilder {
 			uriBuilder.append("//");
 
 			if (StringUtils.hasLength(userInfo)) {
-				template = new UriTemplate(userInfo, UriComponent.USER_INFO);
-				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariableValues));
+				template = new UriComponentTemplate(userInfo, UriComponent.USER_INFO, encodeUriVariableValues);
+				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 				uriBuilder.append('@');
 			}
 
 			if (host != null) {
-				template = new UriTemplate(host, UriComponent.HOST);
-				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariableValues));
+				template = new UriComponentTemplate(host, UriComponent.HOST, encodeUriVariableValues);
+				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 			}
 
 			if (port != -1) {
@@ -344,21 +344,21 @@ public class UriBuilder {
 				else if (endsWithSlash && startsWithSlash) {
 					pathSegment = pathSegment.substring(1);
 				}
-				template = new UriTemplate(pathSegment, UriComponent.PATH_SEGMENT);
-				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariableValues));
+				template = new UriComponentTemplate(pathSegment, UriComponent.PATH_SEGMENT, encodeUriVariableValues);
+				uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 			}
 		}
 
 		if (queryBuilder.length() > 0) {
 			uriBuilder.append('?');
-			template = new UriTemplate(queryBuilder.toString(), UriComponent.QUERY);
-			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariableValues));
+			template = new UriComponentTemplate(queryBuilder.toString(), UriComponent.QUERY, encodeUriVariableValues);
+			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 		}
 
 		if (StringUtils.hasLength(fragment)) {
 			uriBuilder.append('#');
-			template = new UriTemplate(fragment, UriComponent.FRAGMENT);
-			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, uriVariableValues));
+			template = new UriComponentTemplate(fragment, UriComponent.FRAGMENT, encodeUriVariableValues);
+			uriBuilder.append(template.expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 		}
 
 		return URI.create(uriBuilder.toString());
diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriComponentTemplate.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriComponentTemplate.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d354ca2dcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriComponentTemplate.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 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.web.util;
+
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+
+/**
+ * Subclass of {@link UriTemplate} that operates on URI components, rather than full URIs.
+ *
+ * @author Arjen Poutsma
+ * @since 3.1
+ */
+class UriComponentTemplate extends UriTemplate {
+
+	private final UriComponent uriComponent;
+
+	private boolean encodeUriVariableValues;
+
+	UriComponentTemplate(String uriTemplate, UriComponent uriComponent, boolean encodeUriVariableValues) {
+		super(uriTemplate);
+		Assert.notNull(uriComponent, "'uriComponent' must not be null");
+		this.uriComponent = uriComponent;
+		this.encodeUriVariableValues = encodeUriVariableValues;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected String getVariableValueAsString(Object variableValue) {
+		String variableValueString = super.getVariableValueAsString(variableValue);
+		return encodeUriVariableValues ? UriUtils.encode(variableValueString, uriComponent, false) :
+				variableValueString;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriTemplate.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriTemplate.java
index 51ebb22460..6026020b97 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriTemplate.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/util/UriTemplate.java
@@ -56,8 +56,6 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 
 	private final String uriTemplate;
 
-	private final UriComponent uriComponent;
-
 
 	/**
 	 * Construct a new {@link UriTemplate} with the given URI String.
@@ -68,19 +66,6 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 		this.uriTemplate = uriTemplate;
 		this.variableNames = parser.getVariableNames();
 		this.matchPattern = parser.getMatchPattern();
-		this.uriComponent = null;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Construct a new {@link UriTemplate} with the given URI String.
-	 * @param uriTemplate the URI template string
-	 */
-	public UriTemplate(String uriTemplate, UriComponent uriComponent) {
-		Parser parser = new Parser(uriTemplate);
-		this.uriTemplate = uriTemplate;
-		this.variableNames = parser.getVariableNames();
-		this.matchPattern = parser.getMatchPattern();
-		this.uriComponent = uriComponent;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -110,7 +95,7 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 	 * or if it does not contain values for all the variable names
 	 */
 	public URI expand(Map<String, ?> uriVariables) {
-		return encodeUri(expandAsString(false, uriVariables));
+		return encodeUri(expandAsString(uriVariables));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -125,13 +110,13 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 	 * System.out.println(template.expand(uriVariables));
 	 * </pre>
 	 * will print: <blockquote><code>http://example.com/hotels/1/bookings/42</code></blockquote>
-	 * @param encodeUriVariableValues indicates whether uri template variables should be encoded or not
+	 *
 	 * @param uriVariables the map of URI variables
 	 * @return the expanded URI
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if <code>uriVariables</code> is <code>null</code>;
 	 * or if it does not contain values for all the variable names
 	 */
-	public String expandAsString(boolean encodeUriVariableValues, Map<String, ?> uriVariables) {
+	public String expandAsString(Map<String, ?> uriVariables) {
 		Assert.notNull(uriVariables, "'uriVariables' must not be null");
 		Object[] values = new Object[this.variableNames.size()];
 		for (int i = 0; i < this.variableNames.size(); i++) {
@@ -141,7 +126,7 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 			}
 			values[i] = uriVariables.get(name);
 		}
-		return expandAsString(encodeUriVariableValues, values);
+		return expandAsString(values);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -159,7 +144,7 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 	 * or if it does not contain sufficient variables
 	 */
 	public URI expand(Object... uriVariableValues) {
-		return encodeUri(expandAsString(false, uriVariableValues));
+		return encodeUri(expandAsString(uriVariableValues));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -171,13 +156,13 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 	 * System.out.println(template.expand("1", "42));
 	 * </pre>
 	 * will print: <blockquote><code>http://example.com/hotels/1/bookings/42</code></blockquote>
-	 * @param encodeVariableValues indicates whether uri template variables should be encoded or not
+	 *
 	 * @param uriVariableValues the array of URI variables
 	 * @return the expanded URI
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if <code>uriVariables</code> is <code>null</code>
 	 * or if it does not contain sufficient variables
 	 */
-	public String expandAsString(boolean encodeVariableValues, Object... uriVariableValues) {
+	public String expandAsString(Object... uriVariableValues) {
 		Assert.notNull(uriVariableValues, "'uriVariableValues' must not be null");
 		if (uriVariableValues.length < this.variableNames.size()) {
 			throw new IllegalArgumentException(
@@ -188,18 +173,27 @@ public class UriTemplate implements Serializable {
 		StringBuffer uriBuffer = new StringBuffer();
 		int i = 0;
 		while (matcher.find()) {
-			Object uriVariable = uriVariableValues[i++];
-			String uriVariableString = uriVariable != null ? uriVariable.toString() : "";
-			if (encodeVariableValues && uriComponent != null) {
-				uriVariableString = UriUtils.encode(uriVariableString, uriComponent, false);
-			}
-			String replacement = Matcher.quoteReplacement(uriVariableString);
+			Object uriVariableValue = uriVariableValues[i++];
+			String uriVariableValueString = getVariableValueAsString(uriVariableValue);
+			String replacement = Matcher.quoteReplacement(uriVariableValueString);
 			matcher.appendReplacement(uriBuffer, replacement);
 		}
 		matcher.appendTail(uriBuffer);
 		return uriBuffer.toString();
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Template method that returns the string representation of the given URI template value.
+	 *
+	 * <p>Defaults implementation simply calls {@link Object#toString()}, or returns an empty string for {@code null}.
+	 *
+	 * @param variableValue the URI template variable value
+	 * @return the variable value as string
+	 */
+	protected String getVariableValueAsString(Object variableValue) {
+		return variableValue != null ? variableValue.toString() : "";
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Indicate whether the given URI matches this template.
 	 * @param uri the URI to match to