diff --git a/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref.adoc b/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref.adoc
index ebce4c294cc..5cee5eac42b 100644
--- a/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref.adoc
+++ b/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref.adoc
@@ -2,4 +2,12 @@
 = Language Reference
 :page-section-summary-toc: 1
 
-This section describes how the Spring Expression Language works.
+Spring Expression Language (SpEL) expressions are composed of a sequence of tokens such
+as literals, operators, method invocations, and so forth.
+
+Whitespace can be used freely between tokens to format and improve the readability of
+expressions. Specifically, the `\s` (space), `\t` (tab), `\r` (carriage return), and `\n`
+(newline) characters are all valid separators between tokens. However, whitespace is
+ignored by the expression parser unless it is part of a string literal.
+
+The following sections describe the features and syntax of SpEL.
diff --git a/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref/literal.adoc b/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref/literal.adoc
index 5e60c6697ba..a191ed6f935 100644
--- a/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref/literal.adoc
+++ b/framework-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/core/expressions/language-ref/literal.adoc
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 = Literal Expressions
 
 SpEL supports the following types of literal expressions.
-The `\s`, `\t`, `\r` and `\n` characters are all valid separators between tokens.
 
 String ::
   Strings can be delimited by single quotation marks (`'`) or double quotation marks
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotation.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotation.java
index cf784b29743..f28f7760582 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotation.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotation.java
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ final class TypeMappedAnnotation<A extends Annotation> extends AbstractMergedAnn
 				return clazz.getClassLoader();
 			}
 			if (this.source instanceof Member member) {
-				member.getDeclaringClass().getClassLoader();
+				return member.getDeclaringClass().getClassLoader();
 			}
 		}
 		return null;
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotationTests.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotationTests.java
index b46fd990af7..38b06d20880 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotationTests.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/TypeMappedAnnotationTests.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import org.assertj.core.api.ThrowableAssert.ThrowingCallable;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import org.springframework.core.OverridingClassLoader;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.MergedAnnotation.Adapt;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@@ -125,6 +127,23 @@ class TypeMappedAnnotationTests {
 		assertThat(annotation.getClass("classValue")).isEqualTo(InputStream.class);
 	}
 
+	@Test  // gh-36606
+	void adaptFromStringToClassWithMemberSourceUsesMemberClassLoader() throws Exception {
+		OverridingClassLoader classLoader = new OverridingClassLoader(getClass().getClassLoader()) {
+			@Override
+			protected boolean isEligibleForOverriding(String className) {
+				return ClassAttributes.class.getName().equals(className);
+			}
+		};
+		Class<?> sourceClass = classLoader.loadClass(ClassAttributes.class.getName());
+		Method sourceMethod = sourceClass.getDeclaredMethod("classValue");
+
+		MergedAnnotation<?> annotation = TypeMappedAnnotation.of(null, sourceMethod,
+				ClassAttributes.class, Map.of("classValue", sourceClass.getName()));
+
+		assertThat(annotation.getClass("classValue").getClassLoader()).isSameAs(classLoader);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void adaptFromStringArrayToClassArray() {
 		MergedAnnotation<?> annotation = TypeMappedAnnotation.of(null, null, ClassAttributes.class,