diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/mapping/support/SpelMapper.java b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/mapping/support/SpelMapper.java
index 3a6776b226..628da8539c 100644
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/mapping/support/SpelMapper.java
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/mapping/support/SpelMapper.java
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ public class SpelMapper implements Mapper<Object, Object> {
 		return mapping;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Adds a Mapper to apply to complex nested property mappings of a specific sourceType/targetType pair.
+	 * @param sourceType the source nested property type
+	 * @param targetType the target nested property type
+	 * @param nestedMapper the nested mapper
+	 */
+	public void addNestedMapper(Class sourceType, Class targetType, Mapper<?, ?> nestedMapper) {
+		this.conversionService.addGenericConverter(sourceType, targetType, new MapperConverter(nestedMapper));
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Return this mapper's converter registry.
 	 * Allows for registration of simple type converters as well as converters that map nested objects using a Mapper.
diff --git a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java
index c292a5c180..a586ed54bb 100644
--- a/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java
+++ b/org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/support/GenericConversionService.java
@@ -183,15 +183,13 @@ public class GenericConversionService implements ConversionService, ConverterReg
 		return invokeConverter(converter, source, sourceType, targetType);
 	}
 
-	// subclassing hooks
-
 	/**
 	 * Registers a GenericConverter.
 	 * @param sourceType the source type to convert from
 	 * @param targetType the target type to convert to
 	 * @param converter the generic converter.
 	 */
-	protected void addGenericConverter(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType, GenericConverter converter) {
+	public void addGenericConverter(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType, GenericConverter converter) {
 		getSourceMap(sourceType).put(targetType, converter);
 	}
 
@@ -202,7 +200,7 @@ public class GenericConversionService implements ConversionService, ConverterReg
 	 * @param targetType the target type to convert to
 	 * @param converter the converter.
 	 */
-	protected void addConverter(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType, Converter<?, ?> converter) {
+	public void addConverter(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType, Converter<?, ?> converter) {
 		addGenericConverter(sourceType, targetType, new ConverterAdapter(converter));
 	}
 
@@ -213,10 +211,12 @@ public class GenericConversionService implements ConversionService, ConverterReg
 	 * @param targetType the target type to convert to
 	 * @param converter the converter.factory
 	 */
-	protected void addConverterFactory(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType, ConverterFactory<?, ?> converterFactory) {
+	public void addConverterFactory(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType, ConverterFactory<?, ?> converterFactory) {
 		addGenericConverter(sourceType, targetType, new ConverterFactoryAdapter(converterFactory));
 	}
 
+	// subclassing hooks
+
 	/**
 	 * Hook method to convert a null source.
 	 * Default implementation returns <code>null</code>.