diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index d10f7ba29c..67b6cdb18b 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -560,6 +560,7 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(val name: String, applicationConfig: Config,
     def systemEnqueue(receiver: ActorRef, handle: SystemMessage): Unit =
       deadLetters ! DeadLetter(handle, receiver, receiver)
     def systemDrain(newContents: SystemMessage): SystemMessage = null
+    def systemAppend(message: SystemMessage): Unit = {}
     def hasSystemMessages = false
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala
index 450a7afc34..fc03911405 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala
@@ -153,18 +153,21 @@ private[akka] class UnstartedCell(val systemImpl: ActorSystemImpl, val self: Rep
           val msg = systemQueue.dequeue()
           try cell.sendSystemMessage(msg)
           catch {
-            case _: InterruptedException ⇒ interrupted = true
+            case _: InterruptedException ⇒ interrupted = true; Thread.interrupted()
           }
         }
         if (queue.nonEmpty) {
           val envelope = queue.dequeue()
           try cell.tell(envelope.message, envelope.sender)
           catch {
-            case _: InterruptedException ⇒ interrupted = true
+            case _: InterruptedException ⇒ interrupted = true; Thread.interrupted()
           }
         }
       }
-      if (interrupted) throw new InterruptedException
+      if (interrupted) {
+        Thread.interrupted() // clear interrupted flag on the thread
+        throw new InterruptedException
+      }
     } finally try
       self.swapCell(cell)
     finally try
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala
index 1d51777db1..059027f0b0 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala
@@ -136,9 +136,12 @@ private[akka] trait FaultHandling { this: ActorCell ⇒
       }
       suspendChildren(exceptFor = skip ++ childrenNotToSuspend)
       // tell supervisor
-      t match { // Wrap InterruptedExceptions and rethrow
-        case _: InterruptedException ⇒ parent.tell(Failed(new ActorInterruptedException(t), uid), self); throw t
-        case _                       ⇒ parent.tell(Failed(t, uid), self)
+      t match { // Wrap InterruptedExceptions and, clear the flag and rethrow
+        case _: InterruptedException ⇒
+          parent.tell(Failed(new ActorInterruptedException(t), uid), self)
+          Thread.interrupted()
+          throw t
+        case _ ⇒ parent.tell(Failed(t, uid), self)
       }
     } catch {
       case NonFatal(e) ⇒
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
index fd7057a963..8977a7e3c0 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
@@ -228,8 +228,11 @@ private[akka] abstract class Mailbox(val messageQueue: MessageQueue)
         if (Mailbox.debug) println(actor.self + " processing message " + next)
         actor invoke next
         processAllSystemMessages()
-        if ((left > 1) && ((dispatcher.isThroughputDeadlineTimeDefined == false) || (System.nanoTime - deadlineNs) < 0))
+        if ((left > 1) && ((dispatcher.isThroughputDeadlineTimeDefined == false) || (System.nanoTime - deadlineNs) < 0)) {
           processMailbox(left - 1, deadlineNs)
+        } else if (Thread.interrupted()) {
+          throw new InterruptedException("Interrupted while processing actor messages")
+        }
       }
     }
 
@@ -243,6 +246,7 @@ private[akka] abstract class Mailbox(val messageQueue: MessageQueue)
   final def processAllSystemMessages() {
     var failure: Throwable = null
     var nextMessage = systemDrain(null)
+    var shouldStop = false
     while ((nextMessage ne null) && !isClosed) {
       val msg = nextMessage
       nextMessage = nextMessage.next
@@ -251,12 +255,21 @@ private[akka] abstract class Mailbox(val messageQueue: MessageQueue)
       try {
         actor systemInvoke msg
       } catch {
+        case e: InterruptedException ⇒
+          if (failure eq null) failure = e
+          actor.system.eventStream.publish(Error(e, actor.self.path.toString, this.getClass, "exception during processing system message " + msg + ": " + e.getMessage))
+          if (nextMessage ne null) {
+            val putBack = SystemMessage.reverse(nextMessage)
+            systemAppend(putBack)
+            nextMessage = null
+            shouldStop = true
+          }
         case NonFatal(e) ⇒
           if (failure eq null) failure = e
           actor.system.eventStream.publish(Error(e, actor.self.path.toString, this.getClass, "exception during processing system message " + msg + ": " + e.getMessage))
       }
       // don’t ever execute normal message when system message present!
-      if ((nextMessage eq null) && !isClosed) nextMessage = systemDrain(null)
+      if ((nextMessage eq null) && !shouldStop && !isClosed) nextMessage = systemDrain(null)
     }
     /*
      * if we closed the mailbox, we must dump the remaining system messages
@@ -350,6 +363,12 @@ private[akka] trait SystemMessageQueue {
    */
   def systemDrain(newContents: SystemMessage): SystemMessage
 
+  /**
+   * Append a system message (possibly a list) to the queue. Should only be called from within failure handling code
+   * that is already "owning" the system messages.
+   */
+  def systemAppend(message: SystemMessage): Unit
+
   def hasSystemMessages: Boolean
 }
 
@@ -380,6 +399,32 @@ private[akka] trait DefaultSystemMessageQueue { self: Mailbox ⇒
     }
   }
 
+  @tailrec
+  final def systemAppend(message: SystemMessage): Unit = {
+    if (Mailbox.debug) println("appending " + message)
+    val head = systemQueueGet
+    assert(head != NoMessage)
+    if (head ne null) {
+      var last = head
+      var curr = head.next
+      while (curr ne null) {
+        last = curr
+        curr = curr.next
+      }
+      last.next = message
+    } else {
+      /*
+       * this write is safely published by the compareAndSet contained within
+       * systemQueuePut; “Intra-Thread Semantics” on page 12 of the JSR133 spec
+       * guarantees that “head” uses the value obtained from systemQueueGet above.
+       * Hence, SystemMessage.next does not need to be volatile.
+       */
+      if (!systemQueuePut(head, message)) {
+        systemAppend(message)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   @tailrec
   final def systemDrain(newContents: SystemMessage): SystemMessage = {
     val head = systemQueueGet