diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 4ed1f05c11..169324b47f 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -1,2 +1,173 @@
 enablePlugins(akka.UnidocRoot, akka.TimeStampede, akka.UnidocWithPrValidation)
 disablePlugins(MimaPlugin)
+import com.typesafe.sbt.SbtMultiJvm.MultiJvmKeys.MultiJvm
+import com.typesafe.tools.mima.plugin.MimaPlugin
+import akka.AkkaBuild._
+
+initialize := {
+  System.setProperty("akka.mode", "test") // Is there better place for this? (and more importantly, what is it?)
+  // Load system properties from a file to make configuration from Jenkins easier
+  loadSystemProperties("project/akka-build.properties")
+  initialize.value
+}
+
+akka.AkkaBuild.buildSettings
+shellPrompt := { s => Project.extract(s).currentProject.id + " > " }
+resolverSettings
+
+lazy val aggregatedProjects: Seq[ProjectReference] = Seq(
+  actor, actorTests,
+  agent,
+  benchJmh,
+  camel,
+  cluster, clusterMetrics, clusterSharding, clusterTools,
+  contrib,
+  distributedData,
+  docs,
+  multiNodeTestkit,
+  osgi,
+  persistence, persistenceQuery, persistenceShared, persistenceTck,
+  protobuf,
+  remote, remoteTests,
+  slf4j,
+  stream, streamTestkit, streamTests, streamTestsTck,
+  testkit,
+  typed, typedTests, typedTestkit
+)
+
+lazy val root = Project(
+  id = "akka",
+  base = file("."),
+  aggregate = aggregatedProjects
+).settings(rootSettings: _*)
+
+lazy val akkaScalaNightly = akkaModule("akka-scala-nightly")
+  // remove dependencies that we have to build ourselves (Scala STM)
+  .aggregate(aggregatedProjects diff List[ProjectReference](agent, docs): _*)
+  .disablePlugins(ValidatePullRequest, MimaPlugin)
+
+lazy val actor = akkaModule("akka-actor")
+
+lazy val testkit = akkaModule("akka-testkit")
+  .dependsOn(actor)
+
+lazy val typed = akkaModule("akka-typed")
+  .dependsOn(testkit % "compile->compile;test->test")
+
+lazy val typedTests = akkaModule("akka-typed-tests")
+  .dependsOn(typed, typedTestkit % "compile->compile;test->test")
+
+lazy val typedTestkit = akkaModule("akka-typed-testkit")
+  .dependsOn(typed, testkit % "compile->compile;test->test")
+
+lazy val actorTests = akkaModule("akka-actor-tests")
+  .dependsOn(testkit % "compile->compile;test->test")
+
+lazy val benchJmh = akkaModule("akka-bench-jmh")
+  .dependsOn(
+    Seq(
+      actor,
+      stream, streamTests,
+      persistence, distributedData,
+      testkit
+    ).map(_ % "compile->compile;compile->test;provided->provided"): _*
+  ).disablePlugins(ValidatePullRequest)
+
+lazy val protobuf = akkaModule("akka-protobuf")
+
+lazy val remote = akkaModule("akka-remote")
+  .dependsOn(actor, stream, actorTests % "test->test", testkit % "test->test", streamTestkit % "test", protobuf)
+
+lazy val multiNodeTestkit = akkaModule("akka-multi-node-testkit")
+  .dependsOn(remote, testkit)
+
+lazy val remoteTests = akkaModule("akka-remote-tests")
+  .dependsOn(actorTests % "test->test", remote % "test->test", streamTestkit % "test", multiNodeTestkit)
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+lazy val cluster = akkaModule("akka-cluster")
+  .dependsOn(remote, remoteTests % "test->test" , testkit % "test->test")
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+lazy val clusterMetrics = akkaModule("akka-cluster-metrics")
+  .dependsOn(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm", slf4j % "test->compile")
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+lazy val clusterTools = akkaModule("akka-cluster-tools")
+  .dependsOn(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm")
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+lazy val clusterSharding = akkaModule("akka-cluster-sharding")
+  // TODO akka-persistence dependency should be provided in pom.xml artifact.
+  //      If I only use "provided" here it works, but then we can't run tests.
+  //      Scope "test" is alright in the pom.xml, but would have been nicer with
+  //      provided.
+  .dependsOn(
+    cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm",
+    distributedData,
+    persistence % "compile->compile;test->provided",
+    clusterTools)
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+lazy val distributedData = akkaModule("akka-distributed-data")
+  .dependsOn(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm")
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+lazy val slf4j = akkaModule("akka-slf4j")
+  .dependsOn(actor, testkit % "test->test")
+
+lazy val agent = akkaModule("akka-agent")
+  .dependsOn(actor, testkit % "test->test")
+
+lazy val persistence = akkaModule("akka-persistence")
+  .dependsOn(actor, testkit % "test->test", protobuf)
+
+lazy val persistenceQuery = akkaModule("akka-persistence-query")
+  .dependsOn(
+    stream,
+    persistence % "compile->compile;provided->provided;test->test",
+    streamTestkit % "test")
+
+lazy val persistenceTck = akkaModule("akka-persistence-tck")
+  .dependsOn(persistence % "compile->compile;provided->provided;test->test", testkit % "compile->compile;test->test")
+
+lazy val persistenceShared = akkaModule("akka-persistence-shared")
+  .dependsOn(persistence % "test->test", testkit % "test->test", remote % "test", protobuf)
+
+lazy val stream = akkaModule("akka-stream")
+  .dependsOn(actor)
+
+lazy val streamTestkit = akkaModule("akka-stream-testkit")
+  .dependsOn(stream, testkit % "compile->compile;test->test")
+
+lazy val streamTests = akkaModule("akka-stream-tests")
+  .dependsOn(streamTestkit % "test->test", stream)
+
+lazy val streamTestsTck = akkaModule("akka-stream-tests-tck")
+  .dependsOn(streamTestkit % "test->test", stream)
+
+lazy val camel = akkaModule("akka-camel")
+  .dependsOn(actor, slf4j, testkit % "test->test")
+
+lazy val osgi = akkaModule("akka-osgi")
+  .dependsOn(actor)
+
+lazy val docs = akkaModule("akka-docs")
+  .dependsOn(
+    actor, cluster, clusterMetrics, slf4j, agent, camel, osgi, persistenceTck, persistenceQuery, distributedData, stream,
+    clusterTools % "compile->compile;test->test",
+    testkit % "compile->compile;test->test",
+    remote % "compile->compile;test->test",
+    persistence % "compile->compile;provided->provided;test->test",
+    typed % "compile->compile;test->test",
+    typedTests % "compile->compile;test->test",
+    streamTestkit % "compile->compile;test->test"
+  )
+
+lazy val contrib = akkaModule("akka-contrib")
+  .dependsOn(remote, remoteTests % "test->test", cluster, clusterTools, persistence % "compile->compile;test->provided")
+  .configs(MultiJvm)
+
+def akkaModule(name: String): Project =
+  Project(id = name, base = file(name))
+    .settings(akka.AkkaBuild.buildSettings)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/project/AkkaBuild.scala b/project/AkkaBuild.scala
index b75e029d99..2beac404b8 100644
--- a/project/AkkaBuild.scala
+++ b/project/AkkaBuild.scala
@@ -8,17 +8,11 @@ import java.io.{FileInputStream, InputStreamReader}
 import java.util.Properties
 
 import akka.TestExtras.JUnitFileReporting
-import com.typesafe.sbt.SbtMultiJvm.MultiJvmKeys.MultiJvm
 import com.typesafe.sbt.pgp.PgpKeys.publishSigned
-import com.typesafe.tools.mima.plugin.MimaPlugin
 import sbt.Keys._
 import sbt.{TestResult, _}
 
-object AkkaBuild extends Build {
-  System.setProperty("akka.mode", "test") // Is there better place for this?
-
-  // Load system properties from a file to make configuration from Jenkins easier
-  loadSystemProperties("project/akka-build.properties")
+object AkkaBuild {
 
   val enableMiMa = true
 
@@ -35,252 +29,6 @@ object AkkaBuild extends Build {
       parallelExecution in GlobalScope := System.getProperty("akka.parallelExecution", parallelExecutionByDefault.toString).toBoolean
     )
 
-  lazy val aggregatedProjects: Seq[ProjectReference] = Seq(
-    actor,
-    actorTests,
-    agent,
-    benchJmh,
-    camel,
-    cluster,
-    clusterMetrics,
-    clusterSharding,
-    clusterTools,
-    contrib,
-    distributedData,
-    docs,
-    multiNodeTestkit,
-    osgi,
-    persistence,
-    persistenceQuery,
-    persistenceShared,
-    persistenceTck,
-    protobuf,
-    remote,
-    remoteTests,
-    slf4j,
-    stream,
-    streamTestkit,
-    streamTests,
-    streamTestsTck,
-    testkit,
-    typed,
-    typedTests,
-    typedTestkit
-  )
-
-  lazy val root = Project(
-    id = "akka",
-    base = file("."),
-    aggregate = aggregatedProjects
-  ).settings(rootSettings: _*)
-
-  lazy val akkaScalaNightly = Project(
-    id = "akka-scala-nightly",
-    base = file("akka-scala-nightly"),
-    // remove dependencies that we have to build ourselves (Scala STM)
-    aggregate = aggregatedProjects diff List[ProjectReference](agent, docs)
-  ).disablePlugins(ValidatePullRequest, MimaPlugin)
-
-  lazy val actor = Project(
-    id = "akka-actor",
-    base = file("akka-actor")
-  )
-
-  lazy val testkit = Project(
-    id = "akka-testkit",
-    base = file("akka-testkit"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor)
-  )
-
-  lazy val actorTests = Project(
-    id = "akka-actor-tests",
-    base = file("akka-actor-tests"),
-    dependencies = Seq(testkit % "compile;test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val typed = Project(
-    id = "akka-typed",
-    base = file("akka-typed"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor)
-  )
-
-  lazy val typedTestkit = Project(
-    id = "akka-typed-testkit",
-    base = file("akka-typed-testkit"),
-    dependencies = Seq(typed, testkit % "compile;test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val typedTests = Project(
-    id = "akka-typed-tests",
-    base = file("akka-typed-tests"),
-    dependencies = Seq(typedTestkit % "compile;test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val benchJmh = Project(
-    id = "akka-bench-jmh",
-    base = file("akka-bench-jmh"),
-    dependencies = Seq(
-      actor,
-      stream, streamTests,
-      persistence, distributedData,
-      testkit
-    ).map(_ % "compile;compile->test;provided->provided")
-  ).disablePlugins(ValidatePullRequest)
-
-  lazy val protobuf = Project(
-    id = "akka-protobuf",
-    base = file("akka-protobuf")
-  )
-
-  lazy val remote = Project(
-    id = "akka-remote",
-    base = file("akka-remote"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor, stream, actorTests % "test->test", testkit % "test->test", streamTestkit % "test", protobuf)
-  )
-
-  lazy val multiNodeTestkit = Project(
-    id = "akka-multi-node-testkit",
-    base = file("akka-multi-node-testkit"),
-    dependencies = Seq(remote, testkit)
-  )
-
-  lazy val remoteTests = Project(
-    id = "akka-remote-tests",
-    base = file("akka-remote-tests"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actorTests % "test->test", remote % "test->test", streamTestkit % "test", multiNodeTestkit)
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
-  lazy val cluster = Project(
-    id = "akka-cluster",
-    base = file("akka-cluster"),
-    dependencies = Seq(remote, remoteTests % "test->test" , testkit % "test->test")
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
-  lazy val clusterMetrics = Project(
-    id = "akka-cluster-metrics",
-    base = file("akka-cluster-metrics"),
-    dependencies = Seq(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm", slf4j % "test->compile")
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
-  lazy val clusterTools = Project(
-    id = "akka-cluster-tools",
-    base = file("akka-cluster-tools"),
-    dependencies = Seq(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm")
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
-  lazy val clusterSharding = Project(
-    id = "akka-cluster-sharding",
-    base = file("akka-cluster-sharding"),
-    // TODO akka-persistence dependency should be provided in pom.xml artifact.
-    //      If I only use "provided" here it works, but then we can't run tests.
-    //      Scope "test" is alright in the pom.xml, but would have been nicer with
-    //      provided.
-    dependencies = Seq(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm",
-        distributedData, persistence % "compile;test->provided", clusterTools)
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
-  lazy val distributedData = Project(
-    id = "akka-distributed-data",
-    base = file("akka-distributed-data"),
-    dependencies = Seq(cluster % "compile->compile;test->test;multi-jvm->multi-jvm")
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
-  lazy val slf4j = Project(
-    id = "akka-slf4j",
-    base = file("akka-slf4j"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor, testkit % "test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val agent = Project(
-    id = "akka-agent",
-    base = file("akka-agent"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor, testkit % "test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val persistence = Project(
-    id = "akka-persistence",
-    base = file("akka-persistence"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor, testkit % "test->test", protobuf)
-  )
-
-  lazy val persistenceQuery = Project(
-    id = "akka-persistence-query",
-    base = file("akka-persistence-query"),
-    dependencies = Seq(
-      stream,
-      persistence % "compile;provided->provided;test->test",
-      streamTestkit % "test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val persistenceTck = Project(
-    id = "akka-persistence-tck",
-    base = file("akka-persistence-tck"),
-    dependencies = Seq(persistence % "compile;provided->provided;test->test", testkit % "compile;test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val persistenceShared = Project(
-    id = "akka-persistence-shared",
-    base = file("akka-persistence-shared"),
-    dependencies = Seq(persistence % "test->test", testkit % "test->test", remote % "test", protobuf)
-  )
-
-  lazy val stream = Project(
-    id = "akka-stream",
-    base = file("akka-stream"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor)
-  )
-
-  lazy val streamTestkit = Project(
-    id = "akka-stream-testkit",
-    base = file("akka-stream-testkit"),
-    dependencies = Seq(stream, testkit % "compile;test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val streamTests = Project(
-    id = "akka-stream-tests",
-    base = file("akka-stream-tests"),
-    dependencies = Seq(streamTestkit % "test->test", stream)
-  )
-
-  lazy val streamTestsTck = Project(
-    id = "akka-stream-tests-tck",
-    base = file("akka-stream-tests-tck"),
-    dependencies = Seq(streamTestkit % "test->test", stream)
-  )
-
-  lazy val camel = Project(
-    id = "akka-camel",
-    base = file("akka-camel"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor, slf4j, testkit % "test->test")
-  )
-
-  lazy val osgi = Project(
-    id = "akka-osgi",
-    base = file("akka-osgi"),
-    dependencies = Seq(actor)
-  )
-
-  lazy val docs = Project(
-    id = "akka-docs",
-    base = file("akka-docs"),
-    dependencies = Seq(
-      actor, cluster, clusterMetrics, slf4j, agent, camel, osgi, persistenceTck, persistenceQuery, distributedData, stream,
-      clusterTools % "compile;test->test",
-      testkit % "compile;test->test",
-      remote % "compile;test->test",
-      persistence % "compile;provided->provided;test->test",
-      typed % "compile;test->test",
-      typedTests % "compile;test->test",
-      streamTestkit % "compile;test->test"
-    )
-  )
-
-  lazy val contrib = Project(
-    id = "akka-contrib",
-    base = file("akka-contrib"),
-    dependencies = Seq(remote, remoteTests % "test->test", cluster, clusterTools, persistence % "compile;test->provided")
-  ).configs(MultiJvm)
-
   val dontPublishSettings = Seq(
     publishSigned := (),
     publish := (),
@@ -291,13 +39,6 @@ object AkkaBuild extends Build {
     sources in doc in Compile := List()
   )
 
-  override lazy val settings =
-    super.settings ++
-    buildSettings ++
-    Seq(
-      shellPrompt := { s => Project.extract(s).currentProject.id + " > " }
-    ) ++
-    resolverSettings
 
   lazy val parentSettings = Seq(
     publishArtifact := false
diff --git a/project/Doc.scala b/project/Doc.scala
index 63b5d4f663..a65878f230 100644
--- a/project/Doc.scala
+++ b/project/Doc.scala
@@ -120,7 +120,10 @@ object UnidocRoot extends AutoPlugin {
 
   override lazy val projectSettings =
     CliOptions.genjavadocEnabled.ifTrue(scalaJavaUnidocSettings).getOrElse(scalaUnidocSettings) ++
-    settings(Seq(), Seq(AkkaBuild.remoteTests, AkkaBuild.benchJmh, AkkaBuild.protobuf, AkkaBuild.akkaScalaNightly, AkkaBuild.docs))
+      // TODO These should be excluded, but I haven't figured out how to exclude them without having the project
+      //   reference available anymore (since the Project's are in build.sbt now)
+      // AkkaBuild.remoteTests, AkkaBuild.benchJmh, AkkaBuild.protobuf, AkkaBuild.akkaScalaNightly, AkkaBuild.docs))
+    settings(Seq(), Seq())
 }
 
 /**