diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/CircularComponentScanException.java b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/CircularComponentScanException.java
deleted file mode 100644
index f027dfff30..0000000000
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/CircularComponentScanException.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * 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.context.annotation;
-
-/**
- * Exception thrown upon detection of circular {@link ComponentScan} use.
- *
- * @author Chris Beams
- * @since 3.1
- */
-@SuppressWarnings("serial")
-class CircularComponentScanException extends IllegalStateException {
-
-	public CircularComponentScanException(String message, Exception cause) {
-		super(message, cause);
-	}
-
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java
index d9abfacd5a..a06bd3d770 100644
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ public class ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner extends ClassPathScanningCandidateCo
 	 * new definition to be skipped in favor of the existing definition
 	 */
 	protected boolean isCompatible(BeanDefinition newDefinition, BeanDefinition existingDefinition) {
-		return (!(existingDefinition instanceof AnnotatedBeanDefinition) ||  // explicitly registered overriding bean
+		return (!(existingDefinition instanceof ScannedGenericBeanDefinition) ||  // explicitly registered overriding bean
 				newDefinition.getSource().equals(existingDefinition.getSource()) ||  // scanned same file twice
 				newDefinition.equals(existingDefinition));  // scanned equivalent class twice
 	}
diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassParser.java b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassParser.java
index e6f13861d4..585aa9efba 100644
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassParser.java
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassParser.java
@@ -197,13 +197,7 @@ class ConfigurationClassParser {
 			// check the set of scanned definitions for any further config classes and parse recursively if necessary
 			for (BeanDefinitionHolder holder : scannedBeanDefinitions) {
 				if (ConfigurationClassUtils.checkConfigurationClassCandidate(holder.getBeanDefinition(), metadataReaderFactory)) {
-					try {
-						this.parse(holder.getBeanDefinition().getBeanClassName(), holder.getBeanName());
-					} catch (ConflictingBeanDefinitionException ex) {
-						throw new CircularComponentScanException(
-								"A conflicting bean definition was detected while processing @ComponentScan annotations. " +
-								"This usually indicates a circle between scanned packages.", ex);
-					}
+					this.parse(holder.getBeanDefinition().getBeanClassName(), holder.getBeanName());
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ComponentScanAnnotationRecursionTests.java b/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ComponentScanAnnotationRecursionTests.java
index 7493b71905..82fc59e2e9 100644
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ComponentScanAnnotationRecursionTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ComponentScanAnnotationRecursionTests.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import org.springframework.context.annotation.componentscan.level2.Level2Config;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.componentscan.level3.Level3Component;
 
 /**
- * Tests ensuring that configuration clasess marked with @ComponentScan
+ * Tests ensuring that configuration classes marked with @ComponentScan
  * may be processed recursively
  *
  * @author Chris Beams
@@ -50,11 +50,12 @@ public class ComponentScanAnnotationRecursionTests {
 		assertThat(ctx.getBean("level2Bean"), sameInstance(ctx.getBean("level2Bean")));
 	}
 
-	@Test(expected=CircularComponentScanException.class)
-	public void cycleDetection() {
+	public void evenCircularScansAreSupported() {
 		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext ctx = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext();
-		ctx.register(LeftConfig.class);
+		ctx.register(LeftConfig.class); // left scans right, and right scans left
 		ctx.refresh();
+		ctx.getBean("leftConfig");      // but this is handled gracefully
+		ctx.getBean("rightConfig");     // and beans from both packages are available
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/spr8808/Spr8808Tests.java b/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/spr8808/Spr8808Tests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a765851f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/test/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/spr8808/Spr8808Tests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * 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.context.annotation.spr8808;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+/**
+ * Tests cornering the bug in which @Configuration classes that @ComponentScan themselves
+ * would result in a ConflictingBeanDefinitionException.
+ *
+ * @author Chris Beams
+ * @since 3.1
+ */
+public class Spr8808Tests {
+
+	/**
+	 * This test failed with ConflictingBeanDefinitionException prior to fixes for
+	 * SPR-8808.
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void repro() {
+		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext ctx = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext();
+		ctx.register(Config.class);
+		ctx.refresh();
+	}
+
+}
+
+@Configuration
+@ComponentScan(basePackageClasses=Spr8808Tests.class) // scan *this* package
+class Config {
+}