diff --git a/mdx/common-beans.xml b/mdx/common-beans.xml
index 89381295..fb8cfca4 100644
--- a/mdx/common-beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/common-beans.xml
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@
         ***********************************
     -->
     
+    <!--
+        Java class parent shorthand beans.
+    -->
+    <bean id="String" abstract="true" class="java.lang.String"/>
+    
     <!--
         component_parent
         
@@ -148,13 +153,32 @@
     -->
     
     <!--
-        icmd_namespace
+        Namespace URI beans.
         
-        Namespace URI for the icmd prefix: InCommon specific metadata.
+        One String bean for each of the common namespaces, named by its prefix.
     -->
-    <bean id="icmd_namespace" class="java.lang.String">
-        <constructor-arg value="http://id.incommon.org/metadata"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="alg_namespace"        parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:algsupport"/>
+    <bean id="ds_namespace"         parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#"/>
+    <bean id="dsig11_namespace"     parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/2009/xmldsig11#"/>
+    <bean id="elab_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="http://eduserv.org.uk/labels"/>
+    <bean id="hoksso_namespace"     parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:profiles:holder-of-key:SSO:browser"/>
+    <bean id="icmd_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="http://id.incommon.org/metadata"/>
+    <bean id="idpdisc_namespace"    parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:profiles:SSO:idp-discovery-protocol"/>
+    <bean id="init_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:profiles:SSO:request-init"/>
+    <bean id="md_namespace"         parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"/>
+    <bean id="mdattr_namespace"     parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:attribute"/>
+    <bean id="mdrpi_namespace"      parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:rpi"/>
+    <bean id="mdui_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:ui"/>
+    <bean id="saml_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion"/>
+    <bean id="samlp_namespace"      parent="String" c:_0="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol"/>
+    <bean id="shibmd_namespace"     parent="String" c:_0="urn:mace:shibboleth:metadata:1.0"/>
+    <bean id="ukfedlabel_namespace" parent="String" c:_0="http://ukfederation.org.uk/2006/11/label"/>
+    <bean id="wayf_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="http://sdss.ac.uk/2006/06/WAYF"/>
+    <bean id="xenc_namespace"       parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#"/>
+    <bean id="xenc11_namespace"     parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/2009/xmlenc11#"/>
+    <bean id="xs_namespace"         parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"/>
+    <bean id="xsi_namespace"        parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"/>
+    <bean id="xsl_namespace"        parent="String" c:_0="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"/>
     
     <!--
         commonNamespaces
@@ -165,28 +189,28 @@
     <bean id="commonNamespaces" class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.xml.SimpleNamespaceContext">
         <constructor-arg>
             <util:map map-class="java.util.HashMap">
-                <entry key="alg"        value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:algsupport"/>
-                <entry key="ds"         value="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#"/>
-                <entry key="dsig11"     value="http://www.w3.org/2009/xmldsig11#"/>
-                <entry key="elab"       value="http://eduserv.org.uk/labels"/>
-                <entry key="hoksso"     value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:profiles:holder-of-key:SSO:browser"/>
+                <entry key="alg"        value-ref="alg_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="ds"         value-ref="ds_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="dsig11"     value-ref="dsig11_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="elab"       value-ref="elab_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="hoksso"     value-ref="hoksso_namespace"/>
                 <entry key="icmd"       value-ref="icmd_namespace"/>
-                <entry key="idpdisc"    value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:profiles:SSO:idp-discovery-protocol"/>
-                <entry key="init"       value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:profiles:SSO:request-init"/>
-                <entry key="md"         value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"/>
-                <entry key="mdattr"     value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:attribute"/>
-                <entry key="mdrpi"      value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:rpi"/>
-                <entry key="mdui"       value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:ui"/>
-                <entry key="saml"       value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion"/>
-                <entry key="samlp"      value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol"/>
-                <entry key="shibmd"     value="urn:mace:shibboleth:metadata:1.0"/>
-                <entry key="ukfedlabel" value="http://ukfederation.org.uk/2006/11/label"/>
-                <entry key="wayf"       value="http://sdss.ac.uk/2006/06/WAYF"/>
-                <entry key="xenc"       value="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#"/>
-                <entry key="xenc11"     value="http://www.w3.org/2009/xmlenc11#"/>
-                <entry key="xs"         value="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"/>
-                <entry key="xsi"        value="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"/>
-                <entry key="xsl"        value="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"/>
+                <entry key="idpdisc"    value-ref="idpdisc_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="init"       value-ref="init_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="md"         value-ref="md_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="mdattr"     value-ref="mdattr_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="mdrpi"      value-ref="mdrpi_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="mdui"       value-ref="mdui_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="saml"       value-ref="saml_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="samlp"      value-ref="samlp_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="shibmd"     value-ref="shibmd_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="ukfedlabel" value-ref="ukfedlabel_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="wayf"       value-ref="wayf_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="xenc"       value-ref="xenc_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="xenc11"     value-ref="xenc11_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="xs"         value-ref="xs_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="xsi"        value-ref="xsi_namespace"/>
+                <entry key="xsl"        value-ref="xsl_namespace"/>
             </util:map>
         </constructor-arg>
     </bean>
@@ -197,8 +221,7 @@
         Remove the Eduserv label namespace.
     -->
     <bean id="stripElabNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
-        p:id="stripElabNamespace"
-        p:namespace="http://eduserv.org.uk/labels"/>
+        p:id="stripElabNamespace" p:namespace-ref="elab_namespace"/>
 
     <!--
         stripMdattrNamespace
@@ -206,8 +229,7 @@
         Remove the namespace used by the entity attributes extension.
     -->
     <bean id="stripMdattrNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
-        p:id="stripMdattrNamespace"
-        p:namespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:attribute"/>
+        p:id="stripMdattrNamespace" p:namespace-ref="mdattr_namespace"/>
     
     <!--
         stripMdrpiNamespace
@@ -215,8 +237,7 @@
         Remove the namespace used by the registration and publication metdata extension.
     -->
     <bean id="stripMdrpiNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
-        p:id="stripMdrpiNamespace"
-        p:namespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:rpi"/>
+        p:id="stripMdrpiNamespace" p:namespace-ref="mdrpi_namespace"/>
     
     <!--
         stripUkfedlabelNamespace
@@ -224,8 +245,7 @@
         Remove the UK federation label namespace.
     -->
     <bean id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
-        p:id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace"
-        p:namespace="http://ukfederation.org.uk/2006/11/label"/>
+        p:id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace" p:namespace-ref="ukfedlabel_namespace"/>
     
     <!--
         stripWayfNamespace
@@ -233,8 +253,7 @@
         Remove the UK federation WAYF namespace.
     -->
     <bean id="stripWayfNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
-        p:id="stripWayfNamespace"
-        p:namespace="http://sdss.ac.uk/2006/06/WAYF"/>
+        p:id="stripWayfNamespace" p:namespace-ref="wayf_namespace"/>
     
     <!--
         normaliseNamespaces