diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator.java b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator.java
index 71d263f11d..1e2ad55b9e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator.java
@@ -54,10 +54,6 @@ public class DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator implements X509AuthoritiesPopulator,
         this.authenticationDao = authenticationDao;
     }
 
-    public AuthenticationDao getAuthenticationDao() {
-        return authenticationDao;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Sets the regular expression which will by used to extract the user name
      * from the certificate's Subject DN.
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulatorTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulatorTests.java
index 4d7590d650..b79dc46c2b 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulatorTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/providers/x509/populator/DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulatorTests.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import net.sf.acegisecurity.providers.x509.X509TestUtils;
 import net.sf.acegisecurity.UserDetails;
 import net.sf.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthority;
 import net.sf.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthorityImpl;
+import net.sf.acegisecurity.BadCredentialsException;
 import org.springframework.dao.DataAccessException;
 
 import java.security.cert.X509Certificate;
@@ -32,6 +33,28 @@ public class DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulatorTests extends TestCase {
         super.setUp();
     }
 
+    public void testRequiresDao() throws Exception {
+        DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator populator = new DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator();
+        try {
+            populator.afterPropertiesSet();
+            fail("Should have thrown IllegalArgumentException");
+        } catch(IllegalArgumentException failed) {
+            // ignored
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void testInvalidRegexFails() throws Exception {
+        DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator populator = new DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator();
+        populator.setAuthenticationDao(new MockAuthenticationDaoMatchesNameOrEmail());
+        populator.setSubjectDNRegex("CN=(.*?,"); // missing closing bracket on group
+        try {
+            populator.afterPropertiesSet();
+            fail("Should have thrown IllegalArgumentException");
+        } catch(IllegalArgumentException failed) {
+            // ignored
+        }
+    }
+
     public void testDefaultCNPatternMatch() throws Exception{
         X509Certificate cert = X509TestUtils.buildTestCertificate();
         DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator populator = new DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator();
@@ -51,6 +74,36 @@ public class DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulatorTests extends TestCase {
         populator.getUserDetails(cert);
     }
 
+    public void testPatternWithNoGroupFails() throws Exception {
+        X509Certificate cert = X509TestUtils.buildTestCertificate();
+        DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator populator = new DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator();
+
+        populator.setAuthenticationDao(new MockAuthenticationDaoMatchesNameOrEmail());
+        populator.setSubjectDNRegex("CN=.*?,");
+        populator.afterPropertiesSet();
+        try {
+            populator.getUserDetails(cert);
+            fail("Should have thrown IllegalArgumentException for regexp without group");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            // ignored
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void testMatchOnShoeSizeFieldInDNFails() throws Exception {
+        X509Certificate cert = X509TestUtils.buildTestCertificate();
+        DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator populator = new DaoX509AuthoritiesPopulator();
+
+        populator.setAuthenticationDao(new MockAuthenticationDaoMatchesNameOrEmail());
+        populator.setSubjectDNRegex("shoeSize=(.*?),");
+        populator.afterPropertiesSet();
+        try {
+            populator.getUserDetails(cert);
+            fail("Should have thrown BadCredentialsException.");
+        } catch (BadCredentialsException failed) {
+            // ignored
+        }
+    }
+
     //~ Inner Classes ==========================================================
     private class MockAuthenticationDaoMatchesNameOrEmail implements AuthenticationDao {