diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/FacesHelper.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/FacesHelper.java
index 701ac2b0f2..32c5c917e5 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/FacesHelper.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/FacesHelper.java
@@ -93,15 +93,12 @@ public final class FacesHelper
     */
    private static FacesContext getFacesContextImpl(Object request, Object response, Object context)
    {
-      FacesContext facesContext = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
-      if (facesContext != null) return facesContext;
-      
       FacesContextFactory contextFactory = (FacesContextFactory)FactoryFinder.getFactory(FactoryFinder.FACES_CONTEXT_FACTORY);
       LifecycleFactory lifecycleFactory = (LifecycleFactory)FactoryFinder.getFactory(FactoryFinder.LIFECYCLE_FACTORY);
       Lifecycle lifecycle = lifecycleFactory.getLifecycle(LifecycleFactory.DEFAULT_LIFECYCLE);
       
       // Doesn't set this instance as the current instance of FacesContext.getCurrentInstance
-      facesContext = contextFactory.getFacesContext(context, request, response, lifecycle);
+      FacesContext facesContext = contextFactory.getFacesContext(context, request, response, lifecycle);
       
       // Set using our inner class
       InnerFacesContext.setFacesContextAsCurrent(facesContext);
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/ajax/InvokeCommand.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/ajax/InvokeCommand.java
index 79d19cbdbc..16bba53def 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/ajax/InvokeCommand.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/ajax/InvokeCommand.java
@@ -16,12 +16,16 @@
  */
 package org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.ajax;
 
-import java.lang.annotation.*;
-import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
-import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.util.Enumeration;
 
 import javax.faces.FactoryFinder;
 import javax.faces.component.UIViewRoot;
@@ -75,24 +79,51 @@ public class InvokeCommand extends BaseAjaxCommand
                        final HttpServletResponse response)
       throws ServletException, IOException
    {
-
-   
       UserTransaction tx = null;
       ResponseWriter writer = null;
       try
       {
-         final VariableResolver vr = facesContext.getApplication().getVariableResolver();
-
          final int indexOfDot = expression.indexOf('.');
          final String variableName = expression.substring(0, indexOfDot);
          final String methodName = expression.substring(indexOfDot + 1);
-
+         
          if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
             logger.debug("Invoking method represented by " + expression +
                          " on variable " + variableName + 
                          " with method " + methodName);
 
-         final Object bean  = vr.resolveVariable(facesContext, variableName);
+         // retrieve the managed bean, this is really weak but if the 
+         // request comes from a portal server the bean we need to get
+         // is in the session with a prefix chosen by the portal vendor,
+         // to cover this scenario we have to go through the names of
+         // all the objects in the session to find the bean we want.
+         Object bean = null;
+         Enumeration enumNames = request.getSession().getAttributeNames();
+         while (enumNames.hasMoreElements())
+         {
+            String name = (String)enumNames.nextElement();
+            if (name.endsWith(variableName))
+            {
+               bean = request.getSession().getAttribute(name);
+               
+               if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+                  logger.debug("Found bean " + bean + " in the session");
+               
+               break;
+            }
+         }
+         
+         // if we didn't find the bean it may be a request scope bean, in which
+         // case go through the variable resolver to create it.
+         if (bean == null)
+         {
+            VariableResolver vr = facesContext.getApplication().getVariableResolver();
+            bean = vr.resolveVariable(facesContext, variableName);
+            
+            if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+               logger.debug("Created bean " + bean + " via the variable resolver");
+         }
+         
          final Method method = bean.getClass().getMethod(methodName);
 
          final String responseMimetype = 
@@ -103,6 +134,7 @@ public class InvokeCommand extends BaseAjaxCommand
          if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
             logger.debug("invoking method " + method + 
                          " with repsonse mimetype  " + responseMimetype);
+         
          writer = this.setupResponseWriter(responseMimetype,
                                            response,
                                            facesContext);
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/common/Utils.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/common/Utils.java
index e7045a3119..09fd3b26e0 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/common/Utils.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/common/Utils.java
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.InvalidNodeRefException;
 import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.NoTransformerException;
 import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.NodeRef;
 import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.NodeService;
-import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.Path;
 import org.alfresco.web.app.Application;
 import org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.DownloadContentServlet;
 import org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.ExternalAccessServlet;
@@ -1305,6 +1304,12 @@ public final class Utils
          out.write(context.getExternalContext().getRequestContextPath());
          out.write("/scripts/ajax/common.js\"> </script>\n");
          
+         // set the context path
+         out.write("<script type=\"text/javascript\">\n");
+         out.write("setContextPath('");
+         out.write(context.getExternalContext().getRequestContextPath());
+         out.write("');\n</script>\n");
+         
          // add marker to request
          context.getExternalContext().getRequestMap().put(DOJO_SCRIPTS_WRITTEN, Boolean.TRUE);
       }
@@ -1353,6 +1358,12 @@ public final class Utils
          out.write(context.getExternalContext().getRequestContextPath());
          out.write("/scripts/ajax/common.js\"> </script>\n");
          
+         // set the context path
+         out.write("<script type=\"text/javascript\">\n");
+         out.write("setContextPath('");
+         out.write(context.getExternalContext().getRequestContextPath());
+         out.write("');\n</script>\n");
+         
          // add marker to request
          context.getExternalContext().getRequestMap().put(YAHOO_SCRIPTS_WRITTEN, Boolean.TRUE);
       }
diff --git a/source/web/scripts/ajax/common.js b/source/web/scripts/ajax/common.js
index eea0efedfb..e1e83cdadb 100644
--- a/source/web/scripts/ajax/common.js
+++ b/source/web/scripts/ajax/common.js
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@ function handleErrorYahoo(msg)
    alert(msg);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Sets the context path to use, useful for portals where 
+ * the URL can be different from the app's context path.
+ */
+function setContextPath(contextPath)
+{
+   _alfContextPath = contextPath;
+}
+
 /**
  * Calculates and returns the context path for the current page
  */