diff --git a/akka-spring/src/main/resources/se/scalablesolutions/akka/spring/akka-0.10.xsd b/akka-spring/src/main/resources/se/scalablesolutions/akka/spring/akka-0.10.xsd
index 5bd18e3c44..2a42ec0900 100644
--- a/akka-spring/src/main/resources/se/scalablesolutions/akka/spring/akka-0.10.xsd
+++ b/akka-spring/src/main/resources/se/scalablesolutions/akka/spring/akka-0.10.xsd
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@
         </xsd:documentation>
       </xsd:annotation>
     </xsd:attribute>
-    <xsd:attribute name="timeout" type="xsd:long" use="required">
+    <xsd:attribute name="timeout" type="xsd:long">
       <xsd:annotation>
         <xsd:documentation>
           The default timeout for '!!' invocations.
diff --git a/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala b/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala
index 9858c1fad4..69073bd52f 100644
--- a/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala
+++ b/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ trait ActorParser extends BeanParser with DispatcherParser {
     }
 
     try {
-      objectProperties.timeout = mandatory(element, TIMEOUT).toLong
+      val timeout = element.getAttribute(TIMEOUT)
+      objectProperties.timeout = if ((timeout != null) && (!timeout.isEmpty)) timeout.toLong else -1L
     } catch {
       case nfe: NumberFormatException =>
         log.error(nfe, "could not parse timeout %s", element.getAttribute(TIMEOUT))
diff --git a/akka-spring/src/test/resources/untyped-actor-config.xml b/akka-spring/src/test/resources/untyped-actor-config.xml
index 55e49e4707..aea5e86d44 100644
--- a/akka-spring/src/test/resources/untyped-actor-config.xml
+++ b/akka-spring/src/test/resources/untyped-actor-config.xml
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ http://www.akkasource.org/schema/akka
 http://scalablesolutions.se/akka/akka-0.10.xsd">
 
   <akka:untyped-actor id="simple-untyped-actor"
-                      implementation="se.scalablesolutions.akka.spring.foo.PingActor"
-                      timeout="1000"/>
+                      implementation="se.scalablesolutions.akka.spring.foo.PingActor"/>
 
   <akka:untyped-actor id="simple-untyped-actor-long-timeout"
                       implementation="se.scalablesolutions.akka.spring.foo.PingActor"