diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttribute.java b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttribute.java
index 55c3465915..4709b1c57c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttribute.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttribute.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ package org.acegisecurity.userdetails.memory;
 import org.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthority;
 import org.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthorityImpl;
 
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Vector;
 
@@ -63,6 +65,22 @@ public class UserAttribute {
         this.authorities = authorities;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set all authorities for this user from String values.
+     * It will create the necessary {@link GrantedAuthority} objects.
+     * 
+     * @param authoritiesAsString {@link List} <{@link String}>
+     * @since 1.1
+     */
+    public void setAuthoritiesAsString(List authoritiesAsString) {
+        setAuthorities(new ArrayList(authoritiesAsString.size()));
+        Iterator it = authoritiesAsString.iterator();
+        while (it.hasNext()) {
+            GrantedAuthority grantedAuthority = new GrantedAuthorityImpl((String) it.next());
+            addAuthority(grantedAuthority);
+        }
+    }
+
     public String getPassword() {
         return password;
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttributeEditor.java b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttributeEditor.java
index 80d7d8bacc..02856851dd 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttributeEditor.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/userdetails/memory/UserAttributeEditor.java
@@ -15,13 +15,12 @@
 
 package org.acegisecurity.userdetails.memory;
 
-import org.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthorityImpl;
+import java.beans.PropertyEditorSupport;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
-import java.beans.PropertyEditorSupport;
-
-
 /**
  * Property editor that creates a {@link UserAttribute} from a  comma separated list of values.
  *
@@ -35,6 +34,8 @@ public class UserAttributeEditor extends PropertyEditorSupport {
         if (StringUtils.hasText(s)) {
             String[] tokens = StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(s);
             UserAttribute userAttrib = new UserAttribute();
+            
+            List authoritiesAsString = new ArrayList();
 
             for (int i = 0; i < tokens.length; i++) {
                 String currentToken = tokens[i].trim();
@@ -47,10 +48,11 @@ public class UserAttributeEditor extends PropertyEditorSupport {
                     } else if (currentToken.toLowerCase().equals("disabled")) {
                         userAttrib.setEnabled(false);
                     } else {
-                        userAttrib.addAuthority(new GrantedAuthorityImpl(currentToken));
+                        authoritiesAsString.add(currentToken);
                     }
                 }
             }
+            userAttrib.setAuthoritiesAsString(authoritiesAsString);
 
             if (userAttrib.isValid()) {
                 setValue(userAttrib);