diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 233a5b6b8..8adfa8426 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@
 			<artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
 			<version>${hibernate-validator.version}</version>
 		</dependency>
+		
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hibernate-ehcache</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/samples/petclinic/model/ValidatorTest-config.xml b/src/test/java/org/springframework/samples/petclinic/model/ValidatorTest-config.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4dd740157
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/samples/petclinic/model/ValidatorTest-config.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+	- DispatcherServlet application context for PetClinic's web tier.
+-->
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
+       http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd">
+
+    <bean id="validatorFactory" class="javax.validation.Validation"
+        factory-method="buildDefaultValidatorFactory" />
+
+    <bean id="validator" factory-bean="validatorFactory"
+        factory-method="getValidator" />
+
+</beans>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/samples/petclinic/model/ValidatorTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/samples/petclinic/model/ValidatorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c3877282e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/samples/petclinic/model/ValidatorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package org.springframework.samples.petclinic.model;
+
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import javax.validation.ConstraintViolation;
+import javax.validation.Validator;
+
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * @author Michael Isvy
+ * Simple test to make sure that Bean Validation is working 
+ * (useful when upgrading to a new version of Hibernate Validator/ Bean Validation)
+ *
+ */
+@ContextConfiguration(locations = {"ValidatorTest-config.xml"})
+@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
+public class ValidatorTest {
+	
+	@Autowired
+    private Validator validator;
+
+	@Test
+    public void emptyFirstName() {
+
+        Person person = new Person();
+        person.setFirstName("");
+        person.setLastName("smith");
+
+        Set<ConstraintViolation<Person>> constraintViolations = validator.validate(person);
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(1, constraintViolations.size());
+        ConstraintViolation<Person> violation =  constraintViolations.iterator().next();
+        Assert.assertEquals(violation.getPropertyPath().toString(), "firstName");
+        Assert.assertEquals(violation.getMessage(), "may not be empty");
+    }
+	
+}