diff --git a/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala b/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala
index 7785d469ef..8466995dc2 100644
--- a/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala
+++ b/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActorParser.scala
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ trait ActorParser extends BeanParser with DispatcherParser {
     objectProperties.timeoutStr = element.getAttribute(TIMEOUT)
     objectProperties.target = if (element.getAttribute(IMPLEMENTATION).isEmpty) null else element.getAttribute(IMPLEMENTATION)
     objectProperties.beanRef = if (element.getAttribute(BEANREF).isEmpty) null else element.getAttribute(BEANREF)
+
+    if (objectProperties.target == null && objectProperties.beanRef == null) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Mandatory attribute missing, you need to provide either implementation or ref  ")
+    }
+
+
     objectProperties.transactional = if (element.getAttribute(TRANSACTIONAL).isEmpty) false else element.getAttribute(TRANSACTIONAL).toBoolean
 
     if (element.hasAttribute(INTERFACE)) {