diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
index ca63874b0f..652531d613 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
@@ -167,7 +167,8 @@ class Configuration implements ConfigurationInterface
                     ->canBeUnset()
                     ->children()
                         ->booleanNode('auto_start')->defaultFalse()->end()
-                        ->scalarNode('storage_id')->defaultValue('session.storage.native_file')->end()
+                        ->scalarNode('storage_id')->defaultValue('session.storage.native')->end()
+                        ->scalarNode('handler_id')->defaultValue('session.handler.native_file')->end()
                         ->scalarNode('name')->end()
                         ->scalarNode('cookie_lifetime')->end()
                         ->scalarNode('cookie_path')->end()
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php
index 5a76df3b49..7a7999d4a2 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php
@@ -310,10 +310,16 @@ class FrameworkExtension extends Extension
         }
         $container->setParameter('session.storage.options', $options);
 
+        // session handler (the internal callback registered with PHP session management)
+        $container->setAlias('session.handler', $config['handler_id']);
+
         $this->addClassesToCompile(array(
             'Symfony\\Bundle\\FrameworkBundle\\EventListener\\SessionListener',
             'Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Storage\\SessionStorageInterface',
-            'Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Storage\\AbstractSessionStorage',
+            'Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Storage\\SessionStorage',
+            'Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Storage\\Handler\NativeSessionHandler',
+            'Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Storage\\Proxy\AbstractProxy',
+            'Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Storage\\Proxy\SessionHandlerProxy',
             $container->getDefinition('session')->getClass(),
         ));
 
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/schema/symfony-1.0.xsd b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/schema/symfony-1.0.xsd
index 535c455b0c..8b7c264ce2 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/schema/symfony-1.0.xsd
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/schema/symfony-1.0.xsd
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@
 
     <xsd:complexType name="session">
         <xsd:attribute name="storage-id" type="xsd:string" />
+        <xsd:attribute name="handler-id" type="xsd:string" />
         <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" />
         <xsd:attribute name="cookie-lifetime" type="xsd:integer" />
         <xsd:attribute name="cookie-path" type="xsd:string" />
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/session.xml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/session.xml
index 31d374aa6b..3b985be216 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/session.xml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/session.xml
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@
         <parameter key="session.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Session</parameter>
         <parameter key="session.flashbag.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Flash\AutoExpireFlashBag</parameter>
         <parameter key="session.attribute_bag.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Attribute\AttributeBag</parameter>
-        <parameter key="session.storage.native_file.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Storage\NativeFileSessionStorage</parameter>
+        <parameter key="session.storage.native.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Storage\SessionStorage</parameter>
         <parameter key="session.storage.mock_file.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Storage\MockFileSessionStorage</parameter>
+        <parameter key="session.handler.native_file.class">Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\Storage\Handler\NativeFileSessionHandler</parameter>
         <parameter key="session_listener.class">Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\EventListener\SessionListener</parameter>
     </parameters>
 
@@ -20,18 +21,21 @@
             <argument type="service" id="session.flash_bag" />
         </service>
 
+        <service id="session.storage.native" class="%session.storage.native.class%">
+            <argument>%session.storage.options%</argument>
+            <argument type="service" id="session.handler" />
+        </service>
+
         <service id="session.flash_bag" class="%session.flashbag.class%" public="false" />
 
         <service id="session.attribute_bag" class="%session.attribute_bag.class%" public="false" />
 
         <service id="session.storage.mock_file" class="%session.storage.mock_file.class%" public="false">
             <argument>%kernel.cache_dir%/sessions</argument>
-            <argument>%session.storage.options%</argument>
         </service>
 
-        <service id="session.storage.native_file" class="%session.storage.native_file.class%" public="false">
+        <service id="session.handler.native_file" class="%session.handler.native_file.class%" public="false">
             <argument>%kernel.cache_dir%/sessions</argument>
-            <argument>%session.storage.options%</argument>
         </service>
 
         <service id="session_listener" class="%session_listener.class%">
@@ -40,7 +44,6 @@
         </service>
 
         <!-- for BC -->
-        <service id="session.storage.native" alias="session.storage.native_file" />
         <service id="session.storage.filesystem" alias="session.storage.mock_file" />
     </services>
 </container>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_full.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_full.php
index 219644b563..5119fbdbab 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_full.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_full.php
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ $container->loadFromExtension('framework', array(
     'secret' => 's3cr3t',
     'session' => array(
         'auto_start'        => true,
-        'storage_id'        => 'session.storage.native_file',
+        'storage_id'        => 'session.storage.native',
+        'handler_id'        => 'session.handler.native_file',
         'name'              => '_SYMFONY',
         'lifetime'          => 2012,
         'path'              => '/sf2',
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_partial.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_partial.php
index deadfe4b88..b15ea893f0 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_partial.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/deprecated_merge_partial.php
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ $container->loadFromExtension('framework', array(
     'secret' => 's3cr3t',
     'session' => array(
         'auto_start'        => true,
-        'storage_id'        => 'session.storage.native_file',
+        'storage_id'        => 'session.storage.native',
+        'handler_id'        => 'session.handler.native_file',
         'name'              => '_SYMFONY',
         'lifetime'          => 2012,
         'path'              => '/sf2',
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/full.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/full.php
index 3ab6488493..32fa1812fa 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/full.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/php/full.php
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ $container->loadFromExtension('framework', array(
     ),
     'session' => array(
         'auto_start'     => true,
-        'storage_id'     => 'session.storage.native_file',
+        'storage_id'     => 'session.storage.native',
+        'handler_id'     => 'session.handler.native_file',
         'name'           => '_SYMFONY',
         'lifetime'       => 86400,
         'path'           => '/',
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_full.xml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_full.xml
index 283fb3190c..7b95b42002 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_full.xml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_full.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@
                         http://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony http://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony/symfony-1.0.xsd">
 
     <framework:config secret="s3cr3t">
-        <framework:session auto-start="true" storage-id="session.storage.native_file" name="_SYMFONY" lifetime="2012" path="/sf2" domain="sf2.example.com" secure="false" httponly="false" cookie-lifetime="86400" cookie-path="/" cookie-domain="example.com" cookie-secure="true" cookie-httponly="true" />
+        <framework:session auto-start="true" storage-id="session.storage.native" handler-id="session.handler.native_file" name="_SYMFONY" lifetime="2012" path="/sf2" domain="sf2.example.com" secure="false" httponly="false" cookie-lifetime="86400" cookie-path="/" cookie-domain="example.com" cookie-secure="true" cookie-httponly="true" />
     </framework:config>
 </container>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_partial.xml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_partial.xml
index 07df1182cf..701bae53bd 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_partial.xml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/deprecated_merge_partial.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@
                         http://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony http://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony/symfony-1.0.xsd">
 
     <framework:config secret="s3cr3t">
-        <framework:session auto-start="true" storage-id="session.storage.native_file" name="_SYMFONY" lifetime="2012" path="/sf2" domain="sf2.example.com" secure="false" httponly="false" cookie-lifetime="86400" cookie-path="/" cookie-httponly="true" />
+        <framework:session auto-start="true" storage-id="session.storage.native" handler-id="session.handler.native_file" name="_SYMFONY" lifetime="2012" path="/sf2" domain="sf2.example.com" secure="false" httponly="false" cookie-lifetime="86400" cookie-path="/" cookie-httponly="true" />
     </framework:config>
 </container>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/full.xml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/full.xml
index d91825bd20..5ee785070e 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/full.xml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/xml/full.xml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
         <framework:esi enabled="true" />
         <framework:profiler only-exceptions="true" />
         <framework:router resource="%kernel.root_dir%/config/routing.xml" type="xml" />
-        <framework:session auto-start="true" storage-id="session.storage.native_file" name="_SYMFONY" cookie-lifetime="86400" cookie-path="/" cookie-domain="example.com" cookie-secure="true" cookie-httponly="true" />
+        <framework:session auto-start="true" storage-id="session.storage.native" handler-id="session.handler.native_file" name="_SYMFONY" cookie-lifetime="86400" cookie-path="/" cookie-domain="example.com" cookie-secure="true" cookie-httponly="true" />
         <framework:templating assets-version="SomeVersionScheme" cache="/path/to/cache" >
             <framework:loader>loader.foo</framework:loader>
             <framework:loader>loader.bar</framework:loader>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_full.yml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_full.yml
index fdc61fd937..e5ec05fbf6 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_full.yml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_full.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ framework:
     secret: s3cr3t
     session:
         auto_start:       true
-        storage_id:       session.storage.native_file
+        storage_id:       session.storage.native
+        handler_id:       session.handler.native_file
         name:             _SYMFONY
         lifetime:         2012
         path:             /sf2
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_partial.yml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_partial.yml
index e61808b8f2..67ea8bc44b 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_partial.yml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/deprecated_merge_partial.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ framework:
     secret: s3cr3t
     session:
         auto_start:       true
-        storage_id:       session.storage.native_file
+        storage_id:       session.storage.native
+        handler_id:       session.handler.native_file
         name:             _SYMFONY
         lifetime:         2012
         path:             /sf2
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/full.yml b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/full.yml
index 126baf2d4e..dd459e784f 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/full.yml
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/Fixtures/yml/full.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ framework:
         type:         xml
     session:
         auto_start:     true
-        storage_id:     session.storage.native_file
+        storage_id:     session.storage.native
+        handler_id:     session.handler.native_file
         name:           _SYMFONY
         lifetime:       86400
         path:           /
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php
index eac0395dbd..43ae49a016 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ abstract class FrameworkExtensionTest extends TestCase
         $this->assertTrue($container->hasDefinition('session'), '->registerSessionConfiguration() loads session.xml');
         $this->assertEquals('fr', $container->getParameter('kernel.default_locale'));
         $this->assertTrue($container->getDefinition('session_listener')->getArgument(1));
-        $this->assertEquals('session.storage.native_file', (string) $container->getAlias('session.storage'));
+        $this->assertEquals('session.storage.native', (string) $container->getAlias('session.storage'));
+        $this->assertEquals('session.handler.native_file', (string) $container->getAlias('session.handler'));
 
         $options = $container->getParameter('session.storage.options');
         $this->assertEquals('_SYMFONY', $options['name']);