diff --git a/akka-docs/scala/testing.rst b/akka-docs/scala/testing.rst
index 871e708fd3..d21e1f4c5d 100644
--- a/akka-docs/scala/testing.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/scala/testing.rst
@@ -387,6 +387,23 @@ invariably lead to spurious test failures on the heavily loaded Jenkins server
 internally scaled by a factor taken from ``akka.conf``,
 ``akka.test.timefactor``, which defaults to 1.
 
+Resolving Conflicts with Implicit ActorRef
+------------------------------------------
+
+The :class:`TestKit` trait contains an implicit value of type :class:`ActorRef`
+to enable the magic reply handling. This value is named ``self`` so that e.g.
+anonymous actors may be declared within a test class without having to care
+about the ambiguous implicit issues which would otherwise arise. If you find
+yourself in a situation where the implicit you need comes from a different
+trait than :class:`TestKit` and is not named ``self``, then use
+:class:`TestKitLight`, which differs only in not having any implicit members.
+You would then need to make an implicit available in locally confined scopes
+which need it, e.g. different test cases. If this cannot be done, you will need
+to resort to explicitly specifying the sender reference::
+
+  val actor = actorOf[MyWorker].start()
+  actor.!(msg)(testActor)
+
 Using Multiple Probe Actors
 ---------------------------
 
diff --git a/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/TestKit.scala b/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/TestKit.scala
index 5992e783a1..4f4639c150 100644
--- a/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/TestKit.scala
+++ b/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/TestKit.scala
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class TestActor(queue: BlockingDeque[TestActor.Message]) extends Actor with FSM[
  * @author Roland Kuhn
  * @since 1.1
  */
-trait TestKit {
+trait TestKitLight {
 
   import TestActor.{ Message, RealMessage, NullMessage }
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ trait TestKit {
    * ActorRef of the test actor. Access is provided to enable e.g.
    * registration as message target.
    */
-  implicit val testActor = actorOf(new TestActor(queue)).start()
+  val testActor = actorOf(new TestActor(queue)).start()
 
   /**
    * Implicit sender reference so that replies are possible for messages sent
@@ -550,6 +550,10 @@ trait TestKit {
   private def format(u: TimeUnit, d: Duration) = "%.3f %s".format(d.toUnit(u), u.toString.toLowerCase)
 }
 
+trait TestKit extends TestKitLight {
+  implicit val self = testActor
+}
+
 /**
  * TestKit-based probe which allows sending, reception and reply.
  */