diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
index 9747251806..b49ea69e1f 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ class RoutingSpec extends AkkaSpec(RoutingSpec.config) with DefaultTimeout with
   implicit val ec = system.dispatcher
   import akka.routing.RoutingSpec._
 
+  muteDeadLetters("DeathWatchNotification.*")()
+
   "routers in general" must {
 
     "evict terminated routees" in {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
index 3c48b3a861..10408ac962 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
@@ -503,7 +503,11 @@ private[akka] class EmptyLocalActorRef(override val provider: ActorRefProvider,
       sender ! ActorIdentity(messageId, None)
       true
     case s: SelectChildName ⇒
-      s.identifyRequest foreach { x ⇒ sender ! ActorIdentity(x.messageId, None) }
+      s.identifyRequest match {
+        case Some(identify) ⇒ sender ! ActorIdentity(identify.messageId, None)
+        case None ⇒
+          eventStream.publish(DeadLetter(s.wrappedMessage, if (sender eq Actor.noSender) provider.deadLetters else sender, this))
+      }
       true
     case _ ⇒ false
   }
@@ -533,15 +537,7 @@ private[akka] class DeadLetterActorRef(_provider: ActorRefProvider,
         w.watcher.sendSystemMessage(
           DeathWatchNotification(w.watchee, existenceConfirmed = false, addressTerminated = false))
       true
-    case w: Unwatch ⇒ true // Just ignore
-    case Identify(messageId) ⇒
-      sender ! ActorIdentity(messageId, None)
-      true
-    case s: SelectChildName ⇒
-      s.identifyRequest foreach { x ⇒ sender ! ActorIdentity(x.messageId, None) }
-      true
-    case NullMessage ⇒ true
-    case _           ⇒ false
+    case _ ⇒ super.specialHandle(msg, sender)
   }
 
   @throws(classOf[java.io.ObjectStreamException])
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala
index 2268267275..cc369d1897 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala
@@ -104,14 +104,18 @@ trait MultiNodeClusterSpec extends Suite with STMultiNodeSpec with WatchedByCoro
           sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.info(pattern = s)))
         }
 
-      Seq(".*received dead letter from.*ClientDisconnected",
-        ".*received dead letter from.*deadLetters.*PoisonPill",
-        ".*received dead letter from.*Disassociated",
-        ".*received dead letter from.*DisassociateUnderlying",
-        ".*received dead letter from.*HandleListenerRegistered",
-        ".*installing context org.jboss.netty.channel.DefaultChannelPipeline.*") foreach { s ⇒
-          sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = s)))
-        }
+      muteDeadLetters(
+        "Heartbeat.*",
+        "GossipEnvelope.*",
+        "ClusterMetricsChanged.*",
+        "Disassociated.*",
+        "DisassociateUnderlying.*",
+        "HandleListenerRegistered.*",
+        "PoisonPill.*",
+        "DeathWatchNotification.*",
+        "NullMessage.*",
+        "InboundPayload.*")(sys)
+
     }
   }
 
@@ -119,13 +123,9 @@ trait MultiNodeClusterSpec extends Suite with STMultiNodeSpec with WatchedByCoro
     if (!sys.log.isDebugEnabled)
       sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.error(pattern = ".*Marking.* as UNREACHABLE.*")))
 
-  def muteDeadLetters(sys: ActorSystem = system): Unit =
-    if (!sys.log.isDebugEnabled)
-      sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = ".*received dead letter from.*")))
-
   override def afterAll(): Unit = {
     if (!log.isDebugEnabled) {
-      muteDeadLetters()
+      muteDeadLetters()()
       system.eventStream.setLogLevel(ErrorLevel)
     }
     super.afterAll()
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/StressSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/StressSpec.scala
index f05eb51f35..bf5b3882e7 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/StressSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/StressSpec.scala
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ private[cluster] object StressMultiJvmSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
   // not MultiNodeClusterSpec.clusterConfig
   commonConfig(ConfigFactory.parseString("""
     akka.test.cluster-stress-spec {
+      log-stats = off
       # scale the nr-of-nodes* settings with this factor
       nr-of-nodes-factor = 1
       nr-of-nodes = 13
@@ -147,6 +148,7 @@ private[cluster] object StressMultiJvmSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
 
     private def getDuration(name: String): FiniteDuration = Duration(getMilliseconds(name), MILLISECONDS)
 
+    val logStats = getBoolean("log-stats")
     val nFactor = getInt("nr-of-nodes-factor")
     val totalNumberOfNodes = getInt("nr-of-nodes") * nFactor ensuring (
       _ >= 10, "nr-of-nodes must be >= 10")
@@ -211,7 +213,9 @@ private[cluster] object StressMultiJvmSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
    * expected results has been collected. It shuts down
    * itself when expected results has been collected.
    */
-  class ClusterResultAggregator(title: String, expectedResults: Int, reportMetricsInterval: FiniteDuration) extends Actor with ActorLogging {
+  class ClusterResultAggregator(title: String, expectedResults: Int, settings: Settings) extends Actor with ActorLogging {
+    import settings.reportMetricsInterval
+    import settings.logStats
     val cluster = Cluster(context.system)
     var reportTo: Option[ActorRef] = None
     var results = Vector.empty[ClusterResult]
@@ -242,12 +246,14 @@ private[cluster] object StressMultiJvmSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
       case PhiResult(from, phiValues)            ⇒ phiValuesObservedByNode += from -> phiValues
       case StatsResult(from, stats)              ⇒ clusterStatsObservedByNode += from -> stats
       case ReportTick ⇒
-        log.info(s"[${title}] in progress\n${formatMetrics}\n\n${formatPhi}\n\n${formatStats}")
+        if (logStats)
+          log.info(s"[${title}] in progress\n${formatMetrics}\n\n${formatPhi}\n\n${formatStats}")
       case r: ClusterResult ⇒
         results :+= r
         if (results.size == expectedResults) {
           val aggregated = AggregatedClusterResult(title, maxDuration, totalClusterStats)
-          log.info(s"[${title}] completed in [${aggregated.duration.toMillis}] ms\n${aggregated.clusterStats}\n${formatMetrics}\n\n${formatPhi}\n\n${formatStats}")
+          if (logStats)
+            log.info(s"[${title}] completed in [${aggregated.duration.toMillis}] ms\n${aggregated.clusterStats}\n${formatMetrics}\n\n${formatPhi}\n\n${formatStats}")
           reportTo foreach { _ ! aggregated }
           context stop self
         }
@@ -665,6 +671,7 @@ abstract class StressSpec
     sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = ".*PhiResult.*")))
     sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = ".*SendBatch.*")))
     sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = ".*ClusterStats.*")))
+    muteDeadLetters("SimpleJob.*", "Tick.*", "AggregatedClusterResult.*")(sys)
   }
 
   val seedNodes = roles.take(numberOfSeedNodes)
@@ -680,7 +687,7 @@ abstract class StressSpec
 
   def createResultAggregator(title: String, expectedResults: Int, includeInHistory: Boolean): Unit = {
     runOn(roles.head) {
-      val aggregator = system.actorOf(Props(new ClusterResultAggregator(title, expectedResults, reportMetricsInterval)),
+      val aggregator = system.actorOf(Props(new ClusterResultAggregator(title, expectedResults, settings)),
         name = "result" + step)
       if (includeInHistory) aggregator ! ReportTo(Some(clusterResultHistory))
       else aggregator ! ReportTo(None)
@@ -698,7 +705,9 @@ abstract class StressSpec
     identifyProbe.expectMsgType[ActorIdentity].ref
   }
 
-  lazy val clusterResultHistory = system.actorOf(Props[ClusterResultHistory], "resultHistory")
+  lazy val clusterResultHistory =
+    if (settings.logStats) system.actorOf(Props[ClusterResultHistory], "resultHistory")
+    else system.deadLetters
 
   lazy val phiObserver = system.actorOf(Props[PhiObserver], "phiObserver")
 
@@ -953,9 +962,10 @@ abstract class StressSpec
 
   def awaitWorkResult: WorkResult = {
     val workResult = expectMsgType[WorkResult]
-    log.info("{} result, [{}] jobs/s, retried [{}] of [{}] msg", masterName,
-      workResult.jobsPerSecond.form,
-      workResult.retryCount, workResult.sendCount)
+    if (settings.logStats)
+      log.info("{} result, [{}] jobs/s, retried [{}] of [{}] msg", masterName,
+        workResult.jobsPerSecond.form,
+        workResult.retryCount, workResult.sendCount)
     master match {
       case Some(m) ⇒
         watch(m)
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainSpec.scala
index 673afbcd1c..efb56fd5a2 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainSpec.scala
@@ -28,10 +28,6 @@ object UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainMultiNodeConfig extends MultiNodeConfig {
 
   commonConfig(ConfigFactory.parseString(
     """
-      # this setting is here to limit the number of retries and failures while the
-      # node is being blackholed
-      akka.remote.retry-gate-closed-for = 500 ms
-
       akka.remote.log-remote-lifecycle-events = off
       akka.cluster.publish-stats-interval = 0s
     """).withFallback(debugConfig(on = false).withFallback(MultiNodeClusterSpec.clusterConfig)))
@@ -167,7 +163,6 @@ abstract class UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainSpec
         val victimAddress = system.asInstanceOf[ExtendedActorSystem].provider.getDefaultAddress
         system.shutdown()
         system.awaitTermination(10 seconds)
-        Thread.sleep(5000)
         // create new ActorSystem with same host:port
         val freshSystem = ActorSystem(system.name, ConfigFactory.parseString(s"""
             akka.remote.netty.tcp {
@@ -178,7 +173,6 @@ abstract class UnreachableNodeJoinsAgainSpec
 
         try {
           Cluster(freshSystem).join(masterAddress)
-          Thread.sleep(5000)
           within(15 seconds) {
             awaitAssert(Cluster(freshSystem).readView.members.map(_.address) must contain(victimAddress))
             awaitAssert(Cluster(freshSystem).readView.members.size must be(expectedNumberOfMembers))
diff --git a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala
index 6815f754c7..086d4f2f6d 100644
--- a/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-multi-node-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testkit/MultiNodeSpec.scala
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import akka.util.Timeout
 import akka.remote.testconductor.{ TestConductorExt, TestConductor, RoleName }
 import akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider
 import akka.testkit._
+import akka.testkit.TestEvent._
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
 import akka.remote.testconductor.RoleName
 import akka.actor.RootActorPath
@@ -101,7 +102,6 @@ abstract class MultiNodeConfig {
       if (_testTransport) ConfigFactory.parseString(
         """
            akka.remote.netty.tcp.applied-adapters = [trttl, gremlin]
-           akka.remote.retry-gate-closed-for = 1 s
         """)
       else ConfigFactory.empty
 
@@ -359,6 +359,14 @@ abstract class MultiNodeSpec(val myself: RoleName, _system: ActorSystem, _roles:
    */
   def node(role: RoleName): ActorPath = RootActorPath(testConductor.getAddressFor(role).await)
 
+  def muteDeadLetters(endPatterns: String*)(sys: ActorSystem = system): Unit =
+    if (!sys.log.isDebugEnabled) {
+      def mute(suffix: String): Unit =
+        sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = ".*received dead.*" + suffix)))
+      if (endPatterns.isEmpty) mute("")
+      else endPatterns foreach mute
+    }
+
   /**
    * Enrich `.await()` onto all Awaitables, using remaining duration from the innermost
    * enclosing `within` block or QueryTimeout.
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteWatcherSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteWatcherSpec.scala
index 17bc4dd7d2..4ba062def5 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteWatcherSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteWatcherSpec.scala
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ class RemoteWatcherSpec extends AkkaSpec(
   val remoteSystem = ActorSystem("RemoteSystem", system.settings.config)
   val remoteAddress = remoteSystem.asInstanceOf[ExtendedActorSystem].provider.getDefaultAddress
 
+  Seq(system, remoteSystem).foreach(muteDeadLetters("Disassociated.*", "DisassociateUnderlying.*")(_))
+
   override def afterTermination() {
     remoteSystem.shutdown()
   }
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolSpec.scala
index bea24f76b1..06f2612053 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolSpec.scala
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ class AkkaProtocolSpec extends AkkaSpec("""akka.actor.provider = "akka.remote.Re
 
         startup-timeout = 5 s
 
-        retry-gate-closed-for = 0 s
-
         use-passive-connections = on
       }
   """)
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolStressTest.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolStressTest.scala
index 699cc23a67..2bf7945e3c 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolStressTest.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/AkkaProtocolStressTest.scala
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ object AkkaProtocolStressTest {
       #loglevel = DEBUG
       actor.provider = "akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider"
 
-      remote.retry-gate-closed-for = 0 s
       remote.log-remote-lifecycle-events = on
 
       remote.transport-failure-detector {
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/SystemMessageDeliveryStressTest.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/SystemMessageDeliveryStressTest.scala
index 90853ca5d0..0064249c5a 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/SystemMessageDeliveryStressTest.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/SystemMessageDeliveryStressTest.scala
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ object SystemMessageDeliveryStressTest {
       #loglevel = DEBUG
       actor.provider = "akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider"
 
-      remote.retry-gate-closed-for = 0 s
       remote.log-remote-lifecycle-events = on
 
       remote.failure-detector {
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/ThrottlerTransportAdapterSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/ThrottlerTransportAdapterSpec.scala
index 80abedc9a6..ae73303a0c 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/ThrottlerTransportAdapterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/transport/ThrottlerTransportAdapterSpec.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ object ThrottlerTransportAdapterSpec {
       actor.provider = "akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider"
 
       remote.netty.tcp.hostname = "localhost"
-      remote.retry-gate-closed-for = 0 s
       remote.log-remote-lifecycle-events = off
 
       remote.netty.tcp.applied-adapters = ["trttl"]
diff --git a/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala b/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala
index 4cc59eca6e..e5e9e1b67c 100644
--- a/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import com.typesafe.config.{ Config, ConfigFactory }
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 import akka.dispatch.Dispatchers
 import akka.pattern.ask
+import akka.testkit.TestEvent._
 
 object AkkaSpec {
   val testConf: Config = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
@@ -93,4 +94,12 @@ abstract class AkkaSpec(_system: ActorSystem)
 
   override def expectedTestDuration: FiniteDuration = 60 seconds
 
+  def muteDeadLetters(endPatterns: String*)(sys: ActorSystem = system): Unit =
+    if (!sys.log.isDebugEnabled) {
+      def mute(suffix: String): Unit =
+        sys.eventStream.publish(Mute(EventFilter.warning(pattern = ".*received dead.*" + suffix)))
+      if (endPatterns.isEmpty) mute("")
+      else endPatterns foreach mute
+    }
+
 }