When posting multiple non-file form fields with the same name, the CommonsMultipartResolver(as CommonsFileUploadSupport ) recognizes this as an array property. When posting multiple file form fields with the same name, the property value is overwritten. If the same logic would be applied, a bean could be populated with a MulitpartFile[] property. exmaple: public class Bean { private String aString; private String[] aStringArray; private MultipartFile aFile; private MulitpartFile[] aFileArray; } <form> <input name="aString" type="text"/> <input name="aStringArray" type="text"/> <input name="aStringArray" type="text"/> <input name="aFile" type="file"/> <input name="aFileArray" type="file"/> <input name="aFileArray" type="file"/> </form> if this forms is processed with the CommonsMultipartResolver, the String and String[] properties will be populated correctly (containing the two values in he array), the MultipartFile property will be filled correctly, but the MultipartFile[] property will contain only the last file.