diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/FSMTimingSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/FSMTimingSpec.scala
index 1f708983bd..59468125eb 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/FSMTimingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/FSMTimingSpec.scala
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ object FSMTimingSpec {
     when(TestCancelTimer) {
       case Event(Tick, _) ⇒
         setTimer("hallo", Tock, 1 milli, false)
-        TestKit.awaitCond(context.asInstanceOf[ActorCell].mailbox.messageQueue.hasMessages, 1 second)
+        TestKit.awaitCond(context.asInstanceOf[ActorCell].mailbox.hasMessages, 1 second)
         cancelTimer("hallo")
         sender ! Tick
         setTimer("hallo", Tock, 500 millis, false)
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ object FSMTimingSpec {
       case Event(Tick, _) ⇒
         suspend(self)
         setTimer("named", Tock, 1 millis, false)
-        TestKit.awaitCond(context.asInstanceOf[ActorCell].mailbox.messageQueue.hasMessages, 1 second)
+        TestKit.awaitCond(context.asInstanceOf[ActorCell].mailbox.hasMessages, 1 second)
         stay forMax (1 millis) replying Tick
       case Event(Tock, _) ⇒
         goto(TestCancelStateTimerInNamedTimerMessage2)
diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala
index 87a9cf9734..88358e9f16 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ abstract class ActorModelSpec(config: String) extends AkkaSpec(config) with Defa
                   def compare(l: AnyRef, r: AnyRef) = (l, r) match { case (ll: ActorCell, rr: ActorCell) ⇒ ll.self.path compareTo rr.self.path }
                 } foreach {
                   case cell: ActorCell ⇒
-                    System.err.println(" - " + cell.self.path + " " + cell.isTerminated + " " + cell.mailbox.status + " " + cell.mailbox.messageQueue.numberOfMessages + " " + SystemMessage.size(cell.mailbox.systemDrain()))
+                    System.err.println(" - " + cell.self.path + " " + cell.isTerminated + " " + cell.mailbox.status + " " + cell.mailbox.numberOfMessages + " " + SystemMessage.size(cell.mailbox.systemDrain()))
                 }
 
                 System.err.println("Mailbox: " + mq.numberOfMessages + " " + mq.hasMessages)
diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/BalancingDispatcherSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/BalancingDispatcherSpec.scala
index ec0982982c..4060587b73 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/BalancingDispatcherSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/dispatch/BalancingDispatcherSpec.scala
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ class BalancingDispatcherSpec extends AkkaSpec(BalancingDispatcherSpec.config) {
       }
 
       finishedCounter.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-      fast.underlying.mailbox.asInstanceOf[Mailbox].messageQueue.hasMessages must be(false)
-      slow.underlying.mailbox.asInstanceOf[Mailbox].messageQueue.hasMessages must be(false)
+      fast.underlying.mailbox.asInstanceOf[Mailbox].hasMessages must be(false)
+      slow.underlying.mailbox.asInstanceOf[Mailbox].hasMessages must be(false)
       fast.underlying.actor.asInstanceOf[DelayableActor].invocationCount must be > sentToFast
       fast.underlying.actor.asInstanceOf[DelayableActor].invocationCount must be >
         (slow.underlying.actor.asInstanceOf[DelayableActor].invocationCount)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
index 0a77457cf9..39bd52aa87 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
 
   final def checkReceiveTimeout() {
     val recvtimeout = receiveTimeoutData
-    if (recvtimeout._1 > 0 && !mailbox.messageQueue.hasMessages) {
+    if (recvtimeout._1 > 0 && !mailbox.hasMessages) {
       recvtimeout._2.cancel() //Cancel any ongoing future
       //Only reschedule if desired and there are currently no more messages to be processed
       receiveTimeoutData = (recvtimeout._1, system.scheduler.scheduleOnce(Duration(recvtimeout._1, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS), self, ReceiveTimeout))
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala
index 46d7b249df..5537b01244 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class Dispatcher(
 
   protected[akka] def dispatch(receiver: ActorCell, invocation: Envelope) = {
     val mbox = receiver.mailbox
-    mbox.messageQueue.enqueue(receiver.self, invocation)
+    mbox.enqueue(receiver.self, invocation)
     registerForExecution(mbox, true, false)
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
index 1a6515ea2d..f25c6571e8 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ private[akka] abstract class Mailbox(val actor: ActorCell, val messageQueue: Mes
 
   import Mailbox._
 
+  def enqueue(receiver: ActorRef, msg: Envelope): Unit = messageQueue.enqueue(receiver, msg)
+  def dequeue(): Envelope = messageQueue.dequeue()
+  def hasMessages: Boolean = messageQueue.hasMessages
+  def numberOfMessages: Int = messageQueue.numberOfMessages
+
   @volatile
   protected var _statusDoNotCallMeDirectly: Status = _ //0 by default
 
@@ -142,7 +147,7 @@ private[akka] abstract class Mailbox(val actor: ActorCell, val messageQueue: Mes
     Unsafe.instance.compareAndSwapObject(this, AbstractMailbox.systemMessageOffset, _old, _new)
 
   final def canBeScheduledForExecution(hasMessageHint: Boolean, hasSystemMessageHint: Boolean): Boolean = status match {
-    case Open | Scheduled ⇒ hasMessageHint || hasSystemMessageHint || hasSystemMessages || messageQueue.hasMessages
+    case Open | Scheduled ⇒ hasMessageHint || hasSystemMessageHint || hasSystemMessages || hasMessages
     case Closed           ⇒ false
     case _                ⇒ hasSystemMessageHint || hasSystemMessages
   }
@@ -166,7 +171,7 @@ private[akka] abstract class Mailbox(val actor: ActorCell, val messageQueue: Mes
     left: Int = java.lang.Math.max(dispatcher.throughput, 1),
     deadlineNs: Long = if (dispatcher.isThroughputDeadlineTimeDefined == true) System.nanoTime + dispatcher.throughputDeadlineTime.toNanos else 0L): Unit =
     if (shouldProcessMessage) {
-      val next = messageQueue.dequeue()
+      val next = dequeue()
       if (next ne null) {
         if (Mailbox.debug) println(actor.self + " processing message " + next)
         actor invoke next
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
index e77d6ac469..57847f3553 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
@@ -773,7 +773,7 @@ trait SmallestMailboxLike { this: RouterConfig ⇒
    * routers based on mailbox and actor internal state.
    */
   protected def hasMessages(a: ActorRef): Boolean = a match {
-    case x: LocalActorRef ⇒ x.underlying.mailbox.messageQueue.hasMessages
+    case x: LocalActorRef ⇒ x.underlying.mailbox.hasMessages
     case _                ⇒ false
   }
 
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ trait SmallestMailboxLike { this: RouterConfig ⇒
    * routers based on mailbox and actor internal state.
    */
   protected def numberOfMessages(a: ActorRef): Int = a match {
-    case x: LocalActorRef ⇒ x.underlying.mailbox.messageQueue.numberOfMessages
+    case x: LocalActorRef ⇒ x.underlying.mailbox.numberOfMessages
     case _                ⇒ 0
   }
 
@@ -1249,9 +1249,9 @@ case class DefaultResizer(
       case a: LocalActorRef ⇒
         val cell = a.underlying
         pressureThreshold match {
-          case 1          ⇒ cell.mailbox.isScheduled && cell.mailbox.messageQueue.hasMessages
+          case 1          ⇒ cell.mailbox.isScheduled && cell.mailbox.hasMessages
           case i if i < 1 ⇒ cell.mailbox.isScheduled && cell.currentMessage != null
-          case threshold  ⇒ cell.mailbox.messageQueue.numberOfMessages >= threshold
+          case threshold  ⇒ cell.mailbox.numberOfMessages >= threshold
         }
       case x ⇒
         false
diff --git a/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/CallingThreadDispatcher.scala b/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/CallingThreadDispatcher.scala
index 8cbe954aac..aba582ae68 100644
--- a/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/CallingThreadDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/testkit/CallingThreadDispatcher.scala
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ class CallingThreadDispatcher(
           } else false
         }
         if (execute) runQueue(mbox, queue)
-      case m ⇒ m.messageQueue.enqueue(receiver.self, handle)
+      case m ⇒ m.enqueue(receiver.self, handle)
     }
   }