diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
index ae36ba8b2a..d98c9c3309 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
@@ -1183,9 +1183,10 @@ trait ScalaActorRef extends ActorRefShared with ForwardableChannel { ref: ActorR
    * Sends a message asynchronously, returning a future which may eventually hold the reply.
    */
   def ?(message: Any, timeout: Actor.Timeout = Actor.noTimeoutGiven)(implicit channel: UntypedChannel = NullChannel, implicitTimeout: Actor.Timeout = Actor.defaultTimeout): Future[Any] = {
-    val realTimeout = if (timeout eq Actor.noTimeoutGiven) implicitTimeout else timeout
-    if (isRunning) postMessageToMailboxAndCreateFutureResultWithTimeout(message, realTimeout.duration.toMillis, channel)
-    else throw new ActorInitializationException(
+    if (isRunning) {
+      val realTimeout = if (timeout eq Actor.noTimeoutGiven) implicitTimeout else timeout
+      postMessageToMailboxAndCreateFutureResultWithTimeout(message, realTimeout.duration.toMillis, channel)
+    } else throw new ActorInitializationException(
       "Actor has not been started, you need to invoke 'actor.start()' before using it")
   }