diff --git a/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecorator.java b/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecorator.java
index 42aeba7851..681dfbcd44 100644
--- a/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecorator.java
+++ b/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecorator.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinitionHolder;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.RuntimeBeanReference;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionBuilder;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ManagedMap;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.RootBeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.BeanDefinitionDecorator;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
@@ -64,15 +65,17 @@ class InternalInterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecorator extends AbstractIntercepto
         interceptor.addPropertyValue("authenticationManager", new RuntimeBeanReference(BeanIds.AUTHENTICATION_MANAGER));
 
         // Lookup parent bean information
-        Element parent = (Element) node.getParentNode();
-        String parentBeanClass = parent.getAttribute("class");
+
+        String parentBeanClass = ((Element) node.getParentNode()).getAttribute("class");
 
         // Parse the included methods
         List<Element> methods = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(interceptMethodsElt, Elements.PROTECT);
-        Map<String, List<ConfigAttribute>> mappings = new LinkedHashMap<String, List<ConfigAttribute>>();
+        Map<String, BeanDefinition> mappings = new ManagedMap<String, BeanDefinition>();
 
         for (Element protectmethodElt : methods) {
-            String[] tokens = StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(protectmethodElt.getAttribute(ATT_ACCESS));
+            BeanDefinitionBuilder attributeBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.rootBeanDefinition(SecurityConfig.class);
+            attributeBuilder.setFactoryMethod("createListFromCommaDelimitedString");
+            attributeBuilder.addConstructorArgValue(protectmethodElt.getAttribute(ATT_ACCESS));
 
             // Support inference of class names
             String methodName = protectmethodElt.getAttribute(ATT_METHOD);
@@ -83,7 +86,7 @@ class InternalInterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecorator extends AbstractIntercepto
                 }
             }
 
-            mappings.put(methodName, SecurityConfig.createList(tokens));
+            mappings.put(methodName, attributeBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
         }
 
         BeanDefinition metadataSource = new RootBeanDefinition(MapBasedMethodSecurityMetadataSource.class);
diff --git a/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecoratorTests.java b/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecoratorTests.java
index d01196db53..3346f7ba44 100644
--- a/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecoratorTests.java
+++ b/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/method/InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecoratorTests.java
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ public class InterceptMethodsBeanDefinitionDecoratorTests {
 
     @Before
     public void loadContext() {
+        // Set value for placeholder
+        System.setProperty("admin.role", "ROLE_ADMIN");
         appContext = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("org/springframework/security/config/method-security.xml");
         target = (TestBusinessBean) appContext.getBean("target");
     }
diff --git a/config/src/test/resources/org/springframework/security/config/method-security.xml b/config/src/test/resources/org/springframework/security/config/method-security.xml
index 93fec2e4e3..ca44261632 100644
--- a/config/src/test/resources/org/springframework/security/config/method-security.xml
+++ b/config/src/test/resources/org/springframework/security/config/method-security.xml
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
 http://www.springframework.org/schema/security http://www.springframework.org/schema/security/spring-security.xsd">
 
+    <b:bean class='org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer'/>
+
     <b:bean id="target" class="org.springframework.security.config.TestBusinessBeanImpl">
         <!-- This will add a security interceptor to the bean -->
         <intercept-methods>
-            <protect method="org.springframework.security.config.TestBusinessBean.set*" access="ROLE_ADMIN" />
-            <protect method="get*" access="ROLE_ADMIN,ROLE_USER" />
+            <protect method="org.springframework.security.config.TestBusinessBean.set*" access="${admin.role}" />
+            <protect method="get*" access="${admin.role},ROLE_USER" />
             <protect method="doSomething" access="ROLE_USER" />
         </intercept-methods>
     </b:bean>