diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClientDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClientDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala
index 49483d39ef..3efb891a3b 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClientDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClientDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ abstract class ClientDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec(multiNodeConfig: ClientDow
 
       runOn(first) {
         // kill 'third' node
-        testConductor.shutdown(third, 0)
+        testConductor.shutdown(third, 0).await
         markNodeAsUnavailable(thirdAddress)
 
         // mark 'third' node as DOWN
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterAccrualFailureDetectorSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterAccrualFailureDetectorSpec.scala
index 05253a16b3..552f90bd49 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterAccrualFailureDetectorSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterAccrualFailureDetectorSpec.scala
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ abstract class ClusterAccrualFailureDetectorSpec
 
     "mark node as 'unavailable' if a node in the cluster is shut down (and its heartbeats stops)" taggedAs LongRunningTest in {
       runOn(first) {
-        testConductor.shutdown(third, 0)
+        testConductor.shutdown(third, 0).await
       }
 
       enterBarrier("third-shutdown")
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ConvergenceSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ConvergenceSpec.scala
index c8125f32b1..b2a9453035 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ConvergenceSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/ConvergenceSpec.scala
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ abstract class ConvergenceSpec(multiNodeConfig: ConvergenceMultiNodeConfig)
 
       runOn(first) {
         // kill 'third' node
-        testConductor.shutdown(third, 0)
+        testConductor.shutdown(third, 0).await
         markNodeAsUnavailable(thirdAddress)
       }
 
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LargeClusterSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LargeClusterSpec.scala
index 6465c5ead8..1ebb930df6 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LargeClusterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LargeClusterSpec.scala
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ abstract class LargeClusterSpec
         }
 
         runOn(firstDatacenter) {
-          testConductor.shutdown(secondDatacenter, 0)
+          testConductor.shutdown(secondDatacenter, 0).await
         }
 
         enterBarrier("second-datacenter-shutdown")
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala
index bf026b43b3..134ed4d0d6 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec.scala
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ abstract class LeaderDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec(multiNodeConfig: LeaderDow
       val fourthAddress = address(fourth)
       runOn(first) {
         // kill 'fourth' node
-        testConductor.shutdown(fourth, 0)
+        testConductor.shutdown(fourth, 0).await
         enterBarrier("down-fourth-node")
 
         // mark the node as unreachable in the failure detector
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ abstract class LeaderDowningNodeThatIsUnreachableSpec(multiNodeConfig: LeaderDow
       enterBarrier("before-down-second-node")
       runOn(first) {
         // kill 'second' node
-        testConductor.shutdown(second, 0)
+        testConductor.shutdown(second, 0).await
         enterBarrier("down-second-node")
 
         // mark the node as unreachable in the failure detector
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderElectionSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderElectionSpec.scala
index ddc9a46ecb..fc8c4d2619 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderElectionSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LeaderElectionSpec.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ case class LeaderElectionMultiNodeConfig(failureDetectorPuppet: Boolean) extends
   val third = role("third")
   val fourth = role("fourth")
 
-  commonConfig(debugConfig(on = true).withFallback(MultiNodeClusterSpec.clusterConfig(failureDetectorPuppet)))
+  commonConfig(debugConfig(on = false).withFallback(MultiNodeClusterSpec.clusterConfig(failureDetectorPuppet)))
 }
 
 class LeaderElectionWithFailureDetectorPuppetMultiJvmNode1 extends LeaderElectionSpec(failureDetectorPuppet = true)
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ abstract class LeaderElectionSpec(multiNodeConfig: LeaderElectionMultiNodeConfig
         case `controller` ⇒
           val leaderAddress = address(leader)
           enterBarrier("before-shutdown" + n)
-          testConductor.shutdown(leader, 0)
+          testConductor.shutdown(leader, 0).await
           enterBarrier("after-shutdown" + n, "after-unavailable" + n, "after-down" + n, "completed" + n)
 
         case `leader` ⇒
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SingletonClusterSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SingletonClusterSpec.scala
index 3575c5b6d4..291a59a44f 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SingletonClusterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/SingletonClusterSpec.scala
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ abstract class SingletonClusterSpec(multiNodeConfig: SingletonClusterMultiNodeCo
     "become singleton cluster when one node is shutdown" taggedAs LongRunningTest in {
       runOn(first) {
         val secondAddress = address(second)
-        testConductor.shutdown(second, 0)
+        testConductor.shutdown(second, 0).await
 
         markNodeAsUnavailable(secondAddress)
 
diff --git a/akka-remote-tests/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Conductor.scala b/akka-remote-tests/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Conductor.scala
index bbccd3d0a5..eae82b6e6d 100644
--- a/akka-remote-tests/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Conductor.scala
+++ b/akka-remote-tests/src/main/scala/akka/remote/testconductor/Conductor.scala
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS
 import akka.util.{ Timeout }
 import scala.reflect.classTag
 import akka.ConfigurationException
+import akka.AkkaException
 
 sealed trait Direction {
   def includes(other: Direction): Boolean
@@ -207,7 +208,10 @@ trait Conductor { this: TestConductorExt ⇒
    */
   def shutdown(node: RoleName, exitValue: Int): Future[Done] = {
     import Settings.QueryTimeout
-    controller ? Terminate(node, exitValue) mapTo classTag[Done]
+    import system.dispatcher
+    // the recover is needed to handle ClientDisconnectedException exception,
+    // which is normal during shutdown
+    controller ? Terminate(node, exitValue) mapTo classTag[Done] recover { case _: ClientDisconnectedException ⇒ Done }
   }
 
   /**
@@ -309,7 +313,7 @@ private[akka] class ServerFSM(val controller: ActorRef, val channel: Channel) ex
 
   whenUnhandled {
     case Event(ClientDisconnected, Some(s)) ⇒
-      s ! Status.Failure(new RuntimeException("client disconnected in state " + stateName + ": " + channel))
+      s ! Status.Failure(new ClientDisconnectedException("client disconnected in state " + stateName + ": " + channel))
       stop()
     case Event(ClientDisconnected, None) ⇒ stop()
   }
@@ -367,6 +371,7 @@ private[akka] class ServerFSM(val controller: ActorRef, val channel: Channel) ex
  */
 private[akka] object Controller {
   case class ClientDisconnected(name: RoleName)
+  class ClientDisconnectedException(msg: String) extends AkkaException(msg)
   case object GetNodes
   case object GetSockAddr
   case class CreateServerFSM(channel: Channel)