diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bridge/Doctrine/Security/User/EntityUserProvider.php b/src/Symfony/Bridge/Doctrine/Security/User/EntityUserProvider.php
index 0385a1dd7faed..97664dcde82a4 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bridge/Doctrine/Security/User/EntityUserProvider.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bridge/Doctrine/Security/User/EntityUserProvider.php
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ public function loadUserByUsername($username)
         if (null !== $this->property) {
             $user = $this->repository->findOneBy(array($this->property => $username));
         } else {
-            if (!$this->repository instanceof UserProviderInterface) {
-                throw new \InvalidArgumentException(sprintf('The Doctrine repository "%s" must implement UserProviderInterface.', get_class($this->repository)));
+            if (!$this->repository instanceof BaseUserProviderInterface) {
+                throw new \InvalidArgumentException(sprintf('The Doctrine repository "%s" must implement BaseUserProviderInterface.', get_class($this->repository)));
             }
 
             $user = $this->repository->loadUserByUsername($username);
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public function refreshUser(UserInterface $user)
             throw new UnsupportedUserException(sprintf('Instances of "%s" are not supported.', get_class($user)));
         }
 
-        if ($this->repository instanceof UserProviderInterface) {
+        if ($this->repository instanceof BaseUserProviderInterface) {
             $refreshedUser = $this->repository->refreshUser($user);
         } else {
             // The user must be reloaded via the primary key as all other data
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/BaseUserProviderInterface.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/BaseUserProviderInterface.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6d9e0c6c28f20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/BaseUserProviderInterface.php
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Security\Core\User;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Exception\UsernameNotFoundException;
+use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Exception\UnsupportedUserException;
+
+/**
+ * Represents a class that loads UserInterface objects from some source for the authentication system.
+ *
+ * In a typical authentication configuration, a username (i.e. some unique
+ * user identifier) credential enters the system (via form login, or any
+ * method). The user provider that is configured with that authentication
+ * method is asked to load the UserInterface object for the given username
+ * (via loadUserByUsername) so that the rest of the process can continue.
+ *
+ * Internally, a user provider can load users from any source (databases,
+ * configuration, web service). This is totally independent of how the authentication
+ * information is submitted or what the UserInterface object looks like.
+ *
+ * @see UserInterface
+ *
+ * @author Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ */
+interface BaseUserProviderInterface
+{
+    /**
+     * Loads the user for the given username.
+     *
+     * This method must throw UsernameNotFoundException if the user is not
+     * found.
+     *
+     * @param string $username The username
+     *
+     * @return UserInterface
+     *
+     * @see UsernameNotFoundException
+     *
+     * @throws UsernameNotFoundException if the user is not found
+     *
+     */
+    public function loadUserByUsername($username);
+
+    /**
+     * Refreshes the user for the account interface.
+     *
+     * It is up to the implementation to decide if the user data should be
+     * totally reloaded (e.g. from the database), or if the UserInterface
+     * object can just be merged into some internal array of users / identity
+     * map.
+     * @param UserInterface $user
+     *
+     * @return UserInterface
+     *
+     * @throws UnsupportedUserException if the account is not supported
+     */
+    public function refreshUser(UserInterface $user);
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/UserProviderInterface.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/UserProviderInterface.php
index 6b7895cd204e6..86b46627fd35e 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/UserProviderInterface.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/UserProviderInterface.php
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Security\Core\User;
 
-use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Exception\UsernameNotFoundException;
-use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Exception\UnsupportedUserException;
-
 /**
  * Represents a class that loads UserInterface objects from some source for the authentication system.
  *
@@ -31,40 +28,8 @@
  *
  * @author Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
  */
-interface UserProviderInterface
+interface UserProviderInterface extends BaseUserProviderInterface
 {
-    /**
-     * Loads the user for the given username.
-     *
-     * This method must throw UsernameNotFoundException if the user is not
-     * found.
-     *
-     * @param string $username The username
-     *
-     * @return UserInterface
-     *
-     * @see UsernameNotFoundException
-     *
-     * @throws UsernameNotFoundException if the user is not found
-     *
-     */
-    public function loadUserByUsername($username);
-
-    /**
-     * Refreshes the user for the account interface.
-     *
-     * It is up to the implementation to decide if the user data should be
-     * totally reloaded (e.g. from the database), or if the UserInterface
-     * object can just be merged into some internal array of users / identity
-     * map.
-     * @param UserInterface $user
-     *
-     * @return UserInterface
-     *
-     * @throws UnsupportedUserException if the account is not supported
-     */
-    public function refreshUser(UserInterface $user);
-
     /**
      * Whether this provider supports the given user class
      *