diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SharedMediaDriverSupport.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SharedMediaDriverSupport.scala
index efd75e731f..0076cc35f4 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SharedMediaDriverSupport.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SharedMediaDriverSupport.scala
@@ -43,17 +43,24 @@ object SharedMediaDriverSupport {
         .threadingMode(ThreadingMode.SHARED)
         .sharedIdleStrategy(TaskRunner.createIdleStrategy(idleCpuLevel))
 
+      // concludeAeronDirectory needed for Aeron 1.2.4, otherwise NPE from isDriverActive
+      driverContext.concludeAeronDirectory()
+
       // Check if the media driver is already started by another multi-node jvm.
       // It checks more than one time with a sleep inbetween. The number of checks
       // depends on the multi-node index (i).
       @tailrec def isDriverInactive(i: Int): Boolean = {
         if (i < 0) true
         else {
-          val active = driverContext.isDriverActive(5000, new Consumer[String] {
+          val active = try driverContext.isDriverActive(5000, new Consumer[String] {
             override def accept(msg: String): Unit = {
               println(msg)
             }
-          })
+          }) catch {
+            case NonFatal(e) ⇒
+              println(e.getMessage)
+              false
+          }
           if (active) false
           else {
             Thread.sleep(500)
diff --git a/project/Dependencies.scala b/project/Dependencies.scala
index 0506b47e04..74bedf1ebc 100644
--- a/project/Dependencies.scala
+++ b/project/Dependencies.scala
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ object Dependencies {
   val sslConfigVersion = "0.2.1"
   val slf4jVersion = "1.7.23"
   val scalaXmlVersion = "1.0.6"
-  val aeronVersion = "1.2.3"
+  val aeronVersion = "1.2.4"
 
   val Versions = Seq(
     crossScalaVersions := Seq("2.11.8", "2.12.1"),