diff --git a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
index 8e50e81007..aa5ccc0ec2 100644
--- a/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
+++ b/org.springframework.beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/xml/DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader.java
@@ -22,19 +22,18 @@ import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
-import org.w3c.dom.Document;
-import org.w3c.dom.Element;
-import org.w3c.dom.Node;
-import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
-
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinitionHolder;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.BeanComponentDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionReaderUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
-import org.springframework.core.io.support.ResourcePatternUtils;
+import org.springframework.util.ResourceUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.SystemPropertyUtils;
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+import org.w3c.dom.Node;
+import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
 
 /**
  * Default implementation of the {@link BeanDefinitionDocumentReader} interface.
@@ -168,7 +167,18 @@ public class DefaultBeanDefinitionDocumentReader implements BeanDefinitionDocume
 		location = SystemPropertyUtils.resolvePlaceholders(location);
 
 		Set<Resource> actualResources = new LinkedHashSet<Resource>(4);
-		if (ResourcePatternUtils.isUrl(location)) {
+
+		// Discover whether the location is an absolute or relative URI 
+		boolean absoluteLocation = false;
+		
+		try {
+			absoluteLocation = ResourceUtils.toURI(location).isAbsolute();
+		} catch (Exception ex) {
+			// cannot convert to an URI, considering the location relative
+		}
+		
+		// check the 
+		if (absoluteLocation) {
 			try {
 				int importCount = getReaderContext().getReader().loadBeanDefinitions(location, actualResources);
 				if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {