diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java
index cc8b2f678a..40bf4e9ea1 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java
@@ -1094,24 +1094,50 @@ public abstract class AbstractApplicationContext extends DefaultResourceLoader
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Assert that this context's BeanFactory is currently active,
+	 * throwing an {@link IllegalStateException} if it isn't.
+	 * <p>Invoked by all {@link BeanFactory} delegation methods that depend
+	 * on an active context, i.e. in particular all bean accessor methods.
+	 * <p>The default implementation checks the {@link #isActive() 'active'} status
+	 * of this context overall. May be overridden for more specific checks, or for a
+	 * no-op if {@link #getBeanFactory()} itself throws an exception in such a case.
+	 */
+	protected void assertBeanFactoryActive() {
+		synchronized (this.activeMonitor) {
+			if (!this.active) {
+				if (this.closed) {
+					throw new IllegalStateException(getDisplayName() + " has been closed already");
+				}
+				else {
+					throw new IllegalStateException(getDisplayName() + " has not been refreshed yet");
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 
 	//---------------------------------------------------------------------
 	// Implementation of BeanFactory interface
 	//---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	public Object getBean(String name) throws BeansException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBean(name);
 	}
 
 	public <T> T getBean(String name, Class<T> requiredType) throws BeansException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBean(name, requiredType);
 	}
 
 	public <T> T getBean(Class<T> requiredType) throws BeansException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBean(requiredType);
 	}
 
 	public Object getBean(String name, Object... args) throws BeansException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBean(name, args);
 	}
 
@@ -1120,18 +1146,22 @@ public abstract class AbstractApplicationContext extends DefaultResourceLoader
 	}
 
 	public boolean isSingleton(String name) throws NoSuchBeanDefinitionException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().isSingleton(name);
 	}
 
 	public boolean isPrototype(String name) throws NoSuchBeanDefinitionException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().isPrototype(name);
 	}
 
 	public boolean isTypeMatch(String name, Class<?> targetType) throws NoSuchBeanDefinitionException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().isTypeMatch(name, targetType);
 	}
 
 	public Class<?> getType(String name) throws NoSuchBeanDefinitionException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getType(name);
 	}
 
@@ -1157,30 +1187,36 @@ public abstract class AbstractApplicationContext extends DefaultResourceLoader
 	}
 
 	public String[] getBeanNamesForType(Class<?> type) {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBeanNamesForType(type);
 	}
 
 	public String[] getBeanNamesForType(Class<?> type, boolean includeNonSingletons, boolean allowEagerInit) {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBeanNamesForType(type, includeNonSingletons, allowEagerInit);
 	}
 
 	public <T> Map<String, T> getBeansOfType(Class<T> type) throws BeansException {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBeansOfType(type);
 	}
 
 	public <T> Map<String, T> getBeansOfType(Class<T> type, boolean includeNonSingletons, boolean allowEagerInit)
 			throws BeansException {
 
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBeansOfType(type, includeNonSingletons, allowEagerInit);
 	}
 
 	public Map<String, Object> getBeansWithAnnotation(Class<? extends Annotation> annotationType)
 			throws BeansException {
 
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().getBeansWithAnnotation(annotationType);
 	}
 
 	public <A extends Annotation> A findAnnotationOnBean(String beanName, Class<A> annotationType) {
+		assertBeanFactoryActive();
 		return getBeanFactory().findAnnotationOnBean(beanName, annotationType);
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java
index 44ba2589d8..9fe74c206a 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 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.
@@ -175,6 +175,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext extends AbstractAppl
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Overridden to turn it into a no-op: With AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext,
+	 * {@link #getBeanFactory()} serves a strong assertion for an active context anyway.
+	 */
+	@Override
+	protected void assertBeanFactoryActive() {
+	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Create an internal bean factory for this context.
diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/StaticApplicationContext.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/StaticApplicationContext.java
index c03f3446dc..502beff5f7 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/StaticApplicationContext.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/StaticApplicationContext.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 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.
@@ -68,6 +68,13 @@ public class StaticApplicationContext extends GenericApplicationContext {
 	}
 
 
+	/**
+	 * Overridden to turn it into a no-op, to be more lenient towards test cases.
+	 */
+	@Override
+	protected void assertBeanFactoryActive() {
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Return the internal StaticMessageSource used by this context.
 	 * Can be used to register messages on it.
@@ -77,7 +84,6 @@ public class StaticApplicationContext extends GenericApplicationContext {
 		return this.staticMessageSource;
 	}
 
-
 	/**
 	 * Register a singleton bean with the underlying bean factory.
 	 * <p>For more advanced needs, register with the underlying BeanFactory directly.
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/support/RequestContextTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/support/RequestContextTests.java
index ecde8326f6..905eae7a7c 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/support/RequestContextTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/support/RequestContextTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 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.
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public class RequestContextTests {
 	@Before
 	public void init() {
 		GenericWebApplicationContext applicationContext = new GenericWebApplicationContext();
+		applicationContext.refresh();
 		servletContext.setAttribute(WebApplicationContext.ROOT_WEB_APPLICATION_CONTEXT_ATTRIBUTE, applicationContext);
 	}