Index: src/java/org/apache/ivy/plugins/parser/xml/XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/ivy/plugins/parser/xml/XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.java	(revision 963961)
+++ src/java/org/apache/ivy/plugins/parser/xml/XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.java	(working copy)
@@ -425,6 +425,9 @@
             }
             out.print("\"");
         }
+        if (!conf.isTransitive()) {
+            out.println(" transitive=\"false\"");
+        }
         if (conf.getDeprecated() != null) {
             out.print(" deprecated=\"" + XMLHelper.escape(conf.getDeprecated()) + "\"");
         }
Index: test/java/org/apache/ivy/plugins/parser/xml/XmlModuleDescriptorWriterTest.java
===================================================================
--- test/java/org/apache/ivy/plugins/parser/xml/XmlModuleDescriptorWriterTest.java	(revision 963961)
+++ test/java/org/apache/ivy/plugins/parser/xml/XmlModuleDescriptorWriterTest.java	(working copy)
@@ -22,13 +22,17 @@
 import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
 
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
 import org.apache.ivy.Ivy;
+import org.apache.ivy.core.module.descriptor.Configuration;
 import org.apache.ivy.core.module.descriptor.DefaultModuleDescriptor;
 import org.apache.ivy.core.module.descriptor.ModuleDescriptor;
+import org.apache.ivy.core.module.descriptor.Configuration.Visibility;
+import org.apache.ivy.core.module.id.ModuleId;
 import org.apache.ivy.core.module.id.ModuleRevisionId;
 import org.apache.ivy.core.settings.IvySettings;
 import org.apache.ivy.util.FileUtil;
@@ -107,19 +111,68 @@
         assertEquals(expected, wrote);
     }
 
-	public void testExtends() throws Exception {
-		ModuleDescriptor md = XmlModuleDescriptorParser.getInstance().parseDescriptor(
-		    new IvySettings(), XmlModuleDescriptorWriterTest.class.getResource("test-extends-all.xml"), false);
-		XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.write(md, LICENSE, dest);
+    public void testExtends() throws Exception {
+        ModuleDescriptor md = XmlModuleDescriptorParser.getInstance().parseDescriptor(
+            new IvySettings(),
+            XmlModuleDescriptorWriterTest.class.getResource("test-extends-all.xml"), false);
+        XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.write(md, LICENSE, dest);
 
-		assertTrue(dest.exists());
-		String wrote = FileUtil.readEntirely(new BufferedReader(new FileReader(dest)))
-				.replaceAll("\r\n?", "\n");
-		String expected = readEntirely("test-write-extends.xml")
-				.replaceAll("\r\n?", "\n")
-				.replaceAll("working@localhost", Ivy.getWorkingRevision());
-		assertEquals(expected, wrote);
-	}
+        assertTrue(dest.exists());
+        String wrote = FileUtil.readEntirely(new BufferedReader(new FileReader(dest))).replaceAll(
+            "\r\n?", "\n");
+        String expected = readEntirely("test-write-extends.xml").replaceAll("\r\n?", "\n")
+                .replaceAll("working@localhost", Ivy.getWorkingRevision());
+        assertEquals(expected, wrote);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that the transitive attribute is written for non-transitive configurations.
+     * 
+     * <code><conf ... transitive="false" ... /></code>
+     * 
+     * @see <a href="https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/IVY-1207">IVY-1207</a>
+     * @throws Exception
+     */
+    public void testTransitiveAttributeForNonTransitiveConfs() throws Exception {
+        // Given a ModuleDescriptor with a non-transitive configuration
+        DefaultModuleDescriptor md = new DefaultModuleDescriptor(new ModuleRevisionId(new ModuleId(
+                "myorg", "myname"), "1.0"), "integration", new Date());
+        Configuration conf = new Configuration("conf", Visibility.PUBLIC, "desc", null, false, null);
+        md.addConfiguration(conf);
+
+        // When the ModuleDescriptor is written
+        XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.write(md, LICENSE, dest);
+
+        // Then the transitive attribute must be set to false
+        String output = FileUtil.readEntirely(dest);
+        String writtenConf = output.substring(output.indexOf("<configurations>") + 16, output.indexOf("</configurations>")).trim();
+        assertTrue("Transitive attribute not set to false: " + writtenConf, writtenConf.contains("transitive=\"false\""));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that the transitive attribute is not written when the configuration IS transitive.
+     * 
+     * This is the default and writing it will only add noise and cause a deviation from the known
+     * behavior (before fixing IVY-1207).
+     * 
+     * @see <a href="https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/IVY-1207">IVY-1207</a>
+     * @throws Exception
+     */
+    public void testTransitiveAttributeNotWrittenForTransitiveConfs() throws Exception {
+        // Given a ModuleDescriptor with a transitive configuration
+        DefaultModuleDescriptor md = new DefaultModuleDescriptor(new ModuleRevisionId(new ModuleId(
+                "myorg", "myname"), "1.0"), "integration", new Date());
+        Configuration conf = new Configuration("conf", Visibility.PUBLIC, "desc", null, true, null);
+        md.addConfiguration(conf);
+
+        // When the ModuleDescriptor is written
+        XmlModuleDescriptorWriter.write(md, LICENSE, dest);
+
+        // Then the transitive attribute must NOT be written
+        String output = FileUtil.readEntirely(dest);
+        String writtenConf = output.substring(output.indexOf("<configurations>") + 16, output.indexOf("</configurations>")).trim();
+        assertFalse("Transitive attribute set: " + writtenConf, writtenConf.contains("transitive="));
+    }
 
     private String readEntirely(String resource) throws IOException {
         return FileUtil.readEntirely(new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(