diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
index c8a13229c4..cb2f2b98dc 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ case class ThreadPoolConfigDispatcherBuilder(dispatcherFactory: (ThreadPoolConfi
   def build = dispatcherFactory(config)
 
   //TODO remove this, for backwards compat only
-  def buildThreadPool = build
+  @deprecated("Use .build instead") def buildThreadPool = build
 
   def withNewBoundedThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity(bounds: Int): ThreadPoolConfigDispatcherBuilder =
     this.copy(config = config.copy(flowHandler = flowHandler(bounds), queueFactory = linkedBlockingQueue()))
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/remoteinterface/RemoteInterface.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/remoteinterface/RemoteInterface.scala
index f27ba25dc8..252a4817b7 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/remoteinterface/RemoteInterface.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/remoteinterface/RemoteInterface.scala
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ case class RemoteServerClientClosed(
 case class RemoteServerWriteFailed(
   @BeanProperty request: AnyRef,
   @BeanProperty cause: Throwable,
-  @BeanProperty client: RemoteServerModule, remoteAddress: InetSocketAddress) extends RemoteServerLifeCycleEvent
+  @BeanProperty server: RemoteServerModule, remoteAddress: Option[InetSocketAddress]) extends RemoteServerLifeCycleEvent
 
 /**
  * Thrown for example when trying to send a message using a RemoteClient that is either not started or shut down.
@@ -237,14 +237,27 @@ trait RemoteServerModule extends RemoteModule {
   /**
    *  Starts the server up
    */
-  def start(host: String = ReflectiveAccess.Remote.configDefaultAddress.getHostName,
-            port: Int = ReflectiveAccess.Remote.configDefaultAddress.getPort,
-            loader: Option[ClassLoader] = None): RemoteServerModule
+  def start(): RemoteServerModule =
+    start(ReflectiveAccess.Remote.configDefaultAddress.getHostName,
+          ReflectiveAccess.Remote.configDefaultAddress.getPort)
+
+  /**
+   *  Starts the server up
+   */
+  def start(loader: ClassLoader): RemoteServerModule =
+    start(ReflectiveAccess.Remote.configDefaultAddress.getHostName,
+          ReflectiveAccess.Remote.configDefaultAddress.getPort,
+          Option(loader))
+
+  /**
+   *  Starts the server up
+   */
+  def start(host: String, port: Int, loader: Option[ClassLoader] = None): RemoteServerModule
 
   /**
    *  Shuts the server down
    */
-  def shutdownServerModule: Unit
+  def shutdownServerModule(): Unit
 
   /**
    *  Register typed actor by interface name.
@@ -391,7 +404,7 @@ trait RemoteClientModule extends RemoteModule { self: RemoteModule =>
   /**
    * Clean-up all open connections.
    */
-  def shutdownClientModule: Unit
+  def shutdownClientModule(): Unit
 
   /**
    * Shuts down a specific client connected to the supplied remote address returns true if successful
@@ -424,7 +437,7 @@ trait RemoteClientModule extends RemoteModule { self: RemoteModule =>
 
   private[akka] def deregisterSupervisorForActor(actorRef: ActorRef): ActorRef
 
-    private[akka] def registerClientManagedActor(hostname: String, port: Int, uuid: Uuid): Unit
+  private[akka] def registerClientManagedActor(hostname: String, port: Int, uuid: Uuid): Unit
 
-    private[akka] def unregisterClientManagedActor(hostname: String, port: Int, uuid: Uuid): Unit
+  private[akka] def unregisterClientManagedActor(hostname: String, port: Int, uuid: Uuid): Unit
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/BootableRemoteActorService.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/BootableRemoteActorService.scala
index c49e505d5a..3a1b5c967f 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/BootableRemoteActorService.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/BootableRemoteActorService.scala
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ trait BootableRemoteActorService extends Bootable with Logging {
   self: BootableActorLoaderService =>
 
   protected lazy val remoteServerThread = new Thread(new Runnable() {
-    def run = Actor.remote.start(loader = self.applicationLoader) //Use config host/port
+    def run = Actor.remote.start(self.applicationLoader.getOrElse(null)) //Use config host/port
   }, "Akka Remote Service")
 
   def startRemoteService = remoteServerThread.start
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/NettyRemoteSupport.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/NettyRemoteSupport.scala
index 3bbf349bfc..ecd80f5815 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/NettyRemoteSupport.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/NettyRemoteSupport.scala
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ abstract class RemoteClient private[akka] (
     actorRef: ActorRef,
     typedActorInfo: Option[Tuple2[String, String]],
     actorType: AkkaActorType): Option[CompletableFuture[T]] = synchronized { //TODO: find better strategy to prevent race
+
     send(createRemoteMessageProtocolBuilder(
         Some(actorRef),
         Left(actorRef.uuid),
@@ -819,8 +820,8 @@ class RemoteServerHandler(
             //Not interesting at the moment
           } else if (!future.isSuccess) {
             val socketAddress = future.getChannel.getRemoteAddress match {
-              case i: InetSocketAddress => i
-              case _ => null
+              case i: InetSocketAddress => Some(i)
+              case _ => None
             }
             server.notifyListeners(RemoteServerWriteFailed(message, future.getCause, server, socketAddress))
           }