spring-projects/spring-framework · error · IllegalArgumentException

AdvisorAutoProxyCreator requires a ConfigurableListableBeanF

Error message

AdvisorAutoProxyCreator requires a ConfigurableListableBeanFactory: {beanFactory}

What it means

AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.setBeanFactory() requires the factory to be a ConfigurableListableBeanFactory because it must register a BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelperAdapter and introspect bean definitions. A plain BeanFactory (or non-ConfigurableListable) cannot support advisor retrieval, so IllegalArgumentException is thrown during context setup.

Source

Thrown at spring-aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/autoproxy/AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator.java:64

 * not annotated with {@code @Order} or don't implement the {@code Ordered}
 * interface will be considered as unordered; they will appear at the end of the
 * advisor chain in an undefined order.
 *
 * @author Rod Johnson
 * @author Juergen Hoeller
 * @see #findCandidateAdvisors
 */
@SuppressWarnings("serial")
public abstract class AbstractAdvisorAutoProxyCreator extends AbstractAutoProxyCreator {

	private @Nullable BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelper advisorRetrievalHelper;


	@Override
	public void setBeanFactory(BeanFactory beanFactory) {
		super.setBeanFactory(beanFactory);
		if (!(beanFactory instanceof ConfigurableListableBeanFactory clbf)) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException(
					"AdvisorAutoProxyCreator requires a ConfigurableListableBeanFactory: " + beanFactory);
		}
		initBeanFactory(clbf);
	}

	protected void initBeanFactory(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory) {
		this.advisorRetrievalHelper = new BeanFactoryAdvisorRetrievalHelperAdapter(beanFactory);
	}


	@Override
	protected Object @Nullable [] getAdvicesAndAdvisorsForBean(
			Class<?> beanClass, String beanName, @Nullable TargetSource targetSource) {

		List<Advisor> advisors = findEligibleAdvisors(beanClass, beanName);
		if (advisors.isEmpty()) {
			return DO_NOT_PROXY;
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to e8729d0438)

Solutions

1. Use a Spring ApplicationContext (ClassPathXmlApplicationContext, AnnotationConfigApplicationContext) which always provides a ConfigurableListableBeanFactory.
2. If wiring manually, pass an instance of DefaultListableBeanFactory.
3. Ensure no custom BeanFactory decorator strips the ConfigurableListable interface.

Example fix

// before
BeanFactory bf = new SimpleJndiBeanFactory(); // not listable
autoProxyCreator.setBeanFactory(bf);

// after
DefaultListableBeanFactory bf = new DefaultListableBeanFactory();
autoProxyCreator.setBeanFactory(bf);

if (!(beanFactory instanceof org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ConfigurableListableBeanFactory)) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Auto-proxy creator requires ConfigurableListableBeanFactory, got: " + beanFactory.getClass());
}
autoProxyCreator.setBeanFactory(beanFactory);

public static boolean isConfigurableListable(BeanFactory bf) {
    return bf instanceof org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ConfigurableListableBeanFactory;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Wiring an AdvisorAutoProxyCreator (DefaultAdvisorAutoProxyCreator, or annotation-driven infrastructure that builds one) into a container that supplies a non-ConfigurableListableBeanFactory; programmatically calling setBeanFactory() with a custom minimal BeanFactory.

Common situations: Custom lightweight containers; misconfigured bean factory post-processing; embedding Spring AOP in a non-standard environment; using a static/legacy BeanFactory instead of an ApplicationContext.

Related errors

• Class name [{}] is not a known auto-proxy creator class
• Can't determine type of bean with name '{}'
• No BeanFactory available anymore (probably due to serializat
• Target required after globals
• Can only use global advisors or interceptors with a Listable

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-framework@e8729d0438 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/18888d23be8fe78a.json. Report an issue: GitHub.