diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Expand.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Expand.java
index 1b65f0928..c00c60be4 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Expand.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Expand.java
@@ -57,8 +57,10 @@ package org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildException;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.DestDir;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.types.FileSet;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.types.PatternSet;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.SrcFile;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.util.FileUtils;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
  *
  * @author costin@dnt.ro
  * @author <a href="mailto:stefan.bodewig@epost.de">Stefan Bodewig</a>
- * @author <a href="mailto:umagesh@rediffmail.com">Magesh Umasankar</a>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:umagesh@apache.org">Magesh Umasankar</a>
  */
 public class Expand extends MatchingTask {
     private File dest; //req
@@ -104,19 +106,10 @@ public class Expand extends MatchingTask {
                 "Dest attribute must be specified");
         }
 
-        if (dest.exists() && !dest.isDirectory()) {
-            throw new BuildException("Dest must be a directory.", location);
-        }
-
         FileUtils fileUtils = FileUtils.newFileUtils();
 
         if (source != null) {
-            if (source.isDirectory()) {
-                throw new BuildException("Src must not be a directory." +
-                    " Use nested filesets instead.", location);
-            } else {
-                expandFile(fileUtils, source, dest);
-            }
+            expandFile(fileUtils, source, dest);
         }
         if (filesets.size() > 0) {
             for (int j=0; j < filesets.size(); j++) {
@@ -253,18 +246,49 @@ public class Expand extends MatchingTask {
      * destination directory.
      *
      * @param d Path to the directory.
+     * @deprecated setDest(File) is deprecated and is replaced with
+     *             setDest(DestDir) to let Ant's core perform validation
      */
     public void setDest(File d) {
-        this.dest=d;
+        log("DEPRECATED - The setDest(File) method has been deprecated."
+            + " Use setDest(DestDir) instead.");
+        DestDir dd = new DestDir();
+        dd.setFile(d);
+        setDest(dd);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set the destination directory. File will be unzipped into the
+     * destination directory.
+     *
+     * @param d Path to the directory.
+     */
+    public void setDest(DestDir d) {
+        this.dest=d.getFile();
     }
 
     /**
      * Set the path to zip-file.
      *
      * @param s Path to zip-file.
+     * @deprecated setSrc(File) is deprecated and is replaced with
+     *             setSrc(SrcFile) to let Ant's core perform validation
      */
     public void setSrc(File s) {
-        this.source = s;
+        log("DEPRECATED - The setSrc(File) method has been deprecated."
+            + " Use setSrc(SrcFile) instead.");
+        SrcFile sf = new SrcFile();
+        sf.setFile(s);
+        setSrc(sf);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set the path to zip-file.
+     *
+     * @param s Path to zip-file.
+     */
+    public void setSrc(SrcFile s) {
+        this.source = s.getFile();
     }
 
     /**