diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
index 21b6fc4d82..ba2c1922cb 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import scala.concurrent.duration.Duration
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 import akka.dispatch.MessageDispatcher
+import akka.util.Reflect
 
 /**
  * The actor context - the view of the actor cell from the actor.
@@ -624,28 +625,9 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
     case _                               ⇒
   }
 
-  @tailrec private final def lookupAndSetField(clazz: Class[_], instance: AnyRef, name: String, value: Any): Boolean = {
-    @tailrec def clearFirst(fields: Array[java.lang.reflect.Field], idx: Int): Boolean =
-      if (idx < fields.length) {
-        val field = fields(idx)
-        if (field.getName == name) {
-          field.setAccessible(true)
-          field.set(instance, value)
-          true
-        } else clearFirst(fields, idx + 1)
-      } else false
-
-    clearFirst(clazz.getDeclaredFields, 0) || {
-      clazz.getSuperclass match {
-        case null ⇒ false // clazz == classOf[AnyRef]
-        case sc   ⇒ lookupAndSetField(sc, instance, name, value)
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   final protected def clearActorCellFields(cell: ActorCell): Unit = {
     cell.unstashAll()
-    if (!lookupAndSetField(classOf[ActorCell], cell, "props", ActorCell.terminatedProps))
+    if (!Reflect.lookupAndSetField(classOf[ActorCell], cell, "props", ActorCell.terminatedProps))
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("ActorCell has no props field")
   }
 
@@ -657,8 +639,8 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
 
   final protected def setActorFields(actorInstance: Actor, context: ActorContext, self: ActorRef): Unit =
     if (actorInstance ne null) {
-      if (!lookupAndSetField(actorInstance.getClass, actorInstance, "context", context)
-        || !lookupAndSetField(actorInstance.getClass, actorInstance, "self", self))
+      if (!Reflect.lookupAndSetField(actorInstance.getClass, actorInstance, "context", context)
+        || !Reflect.lookupAndSetField(actorInstance.getClass, actorInstance, "self", self))
         throw new IllegalActorStateException(actorInstance.getClass + " is not an Actor since it have not mixed in the 'Actor' trait")
     }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Reflect.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Reflect.scala
index b7f641f976..e375e50376 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Reflect.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Reflect.scala
@@ -131,4 +131,27 @@ private[akka] object Reflect {
     }
     rec(root)
   }
+
+  /**
+   * INTERNAL API
+   * Set a val inside a class.
+   */
+  @tailrec protected[akka] final def lookupAndSetField(clazz: Class[_], instance: AnyRef, name: String, value: Any): Boolean = {
+    @tailrec def clearFirst(fields: Array[java.lang.reflect.Field], idx: Int): Boolean =
+      if (idx < fields.length) {
+        val field = fields(idx)
+        if (field.getName == name) {
+          field.setAccessible(true)
+          field.set(instance, value)
+          true
+        } else clearFirst(fields, idx + 1)
+      } else false
+
+    clearFirst(clazz.getDeclaredFields, 0) || {
+      clazz.getSuperclass match {
+        case null ⇒ false // clazz == classOf[AnyRef]
+        case sc   ⇒ lookupAndSetField(sc, instance, name, value)
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }