diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
index c22529b2c8..cfcce7ab2c 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
@@ -388,8 +388,6 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
           failedActor.preRestart(cause, if (c ne null) Some(c.message) else None)
         } finally {
           clearActorFields()
-          currentMessage = null
-          actor = null
         }
       }
       actor = freshActor // assign it here so if preStart fails, we can null out the sef-refs next call
@@ -559,9 +557,8 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
         if (system.settings.DebugLifecycle)
           system.eventStream.publish(Debug(self.path.toString, clazz(actor), "stopped")) // FIXME: can actor be null?
       } finally {
-        currentMessage = null
-        clearActorFields()
         if (a ne null) a.clearBehaviorStack()
+        clearActorFields()
       }
     }
   }
@@ -601,7 +598,11 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
     }
   }
 
-  final def clearActorFields(): Unit = setActorFields(context = null, self = system.deadLetters)
+  final def clearActorFields(): Unit = {
+    setActorFields(context = null, self = system.deadLetters)
+    currentMessage = null
+    actor = null
+  }
 
   final def setActorFields(context: ActorContext, self: ActorRef) {
     @tailrec
@@ -629,8 +630,5 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
     }
   }
 
-  private def clazz(o: AnyRef): Class[_] = {
-    if (o eq null) this.getClass
-    else o.getClass
-  }
+  private final def clazz(o: AnyRef): Class[_] = if (o eq null) this.getClass else o.getClass
 }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/BalancingDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/BalancingDispatcher.scala
index ec675f7b5b..a7f03db5a0 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/BalancingDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/BalancingDispatcher.scala
@@ -95,8 +95,7 @@ class BalancingDispatcher(
 
   override protected[akka] def dispatch(receiver: ActorCell, invocation: Envelope) = {
     messageQueue.enqueue(receiver.self, invocation)
-    registerForExecution(receiver.mailbox, false, false)
-    teamWork()
+    if (!registerForExecution(receiver.mailbox, false, false)) teamWork()
   }
 
   protected def teamWork(): Unit = if (attemptTeamWork) {