diff --git a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java
index ecc13c9a52..84831884b7 100644
--- a/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java
+++ b/org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/AbstractApplicationContext.java
@@ -376,8 +376,17 @@ public abstract class AbstractApplicationContext extends DefaultResourceLoader
 	// Implementation of ConfigurableApplicationContext interface
 	//---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+	/**
+	 * {@inheritDoc}
+	 * <p>The parent {@linkplain #getEnvironment() environment} is
+	 * delegated to this (child) context if the parent is a
+	 * {@link ConfigurableApplicationContext} implementation.
+	 */
 	public void setParent(ApplicationContext parent) {
 		this.parent = parent;
+		if (parent instanceof ConfigurableApplicationContext) {
+			this.setEnvironment(((ConfigurableApplicationContext)parent).getEnvironment());
+		}
 	}
 
 	public void addBeanFactoryPostProcessor(BeanFactoryPostProcessor beanFactoryPostProcessor) {
diff --git a/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/AbstractRefreshablePortletApplicationContext.java b/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/AbstractRefreshablePortletApplicationContext.java
index 4269eed798..459a03c764 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/AbstractRefreshablePortletApplicationContext.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/AbstractRefreshablePortletApplicationContext.java
@@ -87,6 +87,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractRefreshablePortletApplicationContext extends Abstr
 		setDisplayName("Root PortletApplicationContext");
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * {@inheritDoc}
+	 * <p>The parent {@linkplain #getEnvironment() environment} is
+	 * delegated to this (child) context if the parent is a
+	 * {@link ConfigurableApplicationContext} implementation.
+	 * <p>The parent {@linkplain #getServletContext() servlet context} is
+	 * delegated to this (child) context if the parent is a {@link WebApplicationContext}
+	 * implementation.
+	 */
 	@Override
 	public void setParent(ApplicationContext parent) {
 		super.setParent(parent);
diff --git a/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/StaticPortletApplicationContext.java b/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/StaticPortletApplicationContext.java
index 56011eb7cd..7ffc763365 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/StaticPortletApplicationContext.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web.portlet/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/portlet/context/StaticPortletApplicationContext.java
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ public class StaticPortletApplicationContext extends StaticApplicationContext
 				this.portletContext, this.portletConfig);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * {@inheritDoc}
+	 * <p>The parent {@linkplain #getEnvironment() environment} is
+	 * delegated to this (child) context if the parent is a
+	 * {@link ConfigurableApplicationContext} implementation.
+	 * <p>The parent {@linkplain #getServletContext() servlet context} is
+	 * delegated to this (child) context if the parent is a {@link WebApplicationContext}
+	 * implementation.
+	 */
 	@Override
 	public void setParent(ApplicationContext parent) {
 		super.setParent(parent);
diff --git a/org.springframework.web.servlet/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/context/XmlWebApplicationContextTests.java b/org.springframework.web.servlet/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/context/XmlWebApplicationContextTests.java
index 91117a7956..b20b13220b 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web.servlet/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/context/XmlWebApplicationContextTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web.servlet/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/context/XmlWebApplicationContextTests.java
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 
 package org.springframework.web.context;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.sameInstance;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
+
 import java.util.Locale;
 
 import javax.servlet.ServletException;
@@ -72,6 +75,10 @@ public class XmlWebApplicationContextTests extends AbstractApplicationContextTes
 		return wac;
 	}
 
+	public void testEnvironmentInheritance() {
+		assertThat(this.applicationContext.getEnvironment(), sameInstance(this.root.getEnvironment()));
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Overridden as we can't trust superclass method
 	 * @see org.springframework.context.AbstractApplicationContextTests#testEvents()