diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/Cluster.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/Cluster.scala
index 5d9f3e7146..79513d9764 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/Cluster.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/Cluster.scala
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
 import akka.remote.DefaultFailureDetectorRegistry
 import akka.remote.FailureDetector
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
+import akka.event.LoggingAdapter
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory
 
 /**
  * Cluster Extension Id and factory for creating Cluster extension.
@@ -96,20 +98,24 @@ class Cluster(val system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
   /**
    * INTERNAL API
    */
-  private[cluster] val scheduler: Scheduler with Closeable = {
+  private[cluster] val scheduler: Scheduler = {
     if (system.scheduler.maxFrequency < 1.second / SchedulerTickDuration) {
       import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
       log.info("Using a dedicated scheduler for cluster. Default scheduler can be used if configured " +
         "with 'akka.scheduler.tick-duration' [{} ms] <=  'akka.cluster.scheduler.tick-duration' [{} ms].",
         (1000 / system.scheduler.maxFrequency).toInt, SchedulerTickDuration.toMillis)
-      new DefaultScheduler(
-        ConfigFactory.parseString(s"akka.scheduler.tick-duration=${SchedulerTickDuration.toMillis}ms").withFallback(
-          system.settings.config),
-        log,
-        system.threadFactory match {
-          case tf: MonitorableThreadFactory ⇒ tf.withName(tf.name + "-cluster-scheduler")
-          case tf                           ⇒ tf
-        })
+
+      val cfg = ConfigFactory.parseString(
+        s"akka.scheduler.tick-duration=${SchedulerTickDuration.toMillis}ms").withFallback(
+          system.settings.config)
+      val threadFactory = system.threadFactory match {
+        case tf: MonitorableThreadFactory ⇒ tf.withName(tf.name + "-cluster-scheduler")
+        case tf                           ⇒ tf
+      }
+      system.dynamicAccess.createInstanceFor[Scheduler](system.settings.SchedulerClass, immutable.Seq(
+        classOf[Config] -> cfg,
+        classOf[LoggingAdapter] -> log,
+        classOf[ThreadFactory] -> threadFactory)).get
     } else {
       // delegate to system.scheduler, but don't close over system
       val systemScheduler = system.scheduler
@@ -279,7 +285,7 @@ class Cluster(val system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
       system.stop(clusterDaemons)
       if (readViewStarted) readView.close()
 
-      scheduler.close()
+      closeScheduler()
 
       clusterJmx foreach { _.unregisterMBean() }
 
@@ -287,4 +293,9 @@ class Cluster(val system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
     }
   }
 
+  private def closeScheduler(): Unit = scheduler match {
+    case x: Closeable ⇒ x.close()
+    case _            ⇒
+  }
+
 }