diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
index 2fd205edeb..39a1ff774c 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@ import org.multiverse.api.exceptions.DeadTransactionException
 import java.net.InetSocketAddress
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
-import java.util.concurrent.{ConcurrentHashMap, TimeUnit}
 import java.util.{Map => JMap}
 import java.lang.reflect.Field
 
 import jsr166x.{Deque, ConcurrentLinkedDeque}
 
 import com.google.protobuf.ByteString
+import java.util.concurrent.{ScheduledFuture, ConcurrentHashMap, TimeUnit}
 
 /**
  * ActorRef is an immutable and serializable handle to an Actor.
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ trait ActorRef extends TransactionManagement with java.lang.Comparable[ActorRef]
   @volatile protected[this] var _isShutDown = false
   @volatile protected[akka] var _isBeingRestarted = false
   @volatile protected[akka] var _homeAddress = new InetSocketAddress(RemoteServer.HOSTNAME, RemoteServer.PORT)
-  @volatile protected[akka] var _timeoutActor: Option[ActorRef] = None
+  @volatile protected[akka] var _futureTimeout: Option[ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]] = None
   @volatile protected[akka] var startOnCreation = false
   @volatile protected[akka] var registeredInRemoteNodeDuringSerialization = false
   protected[this] val guard = new ReentrantGuard
@@ -559,14 +559,16 @@ trait ActorRef extends TransactionManagement with java.lang.Comparable[ActorRef]
     cancelReceiveTimeout
     receiveTimeout.foreach { time =>
       log.debug("Scheduling timeout for %s", this)
-      _timeoutActor = Some(Scheduler.scheduleOnce(this, ReceiveTimeout, time, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS))
+      _futureTimeout = Some(Scheduler.scheduleOnce(this, ReceiveTimeout, time, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS))
     }
   }
 
-  protected[akka] def cancelReceiveTimeout = _timeoutActor.foreach { timeoutActor =>
-    if (timeoutActor.isRunning) Scheduler.unschedule(timeoutActor)
-    _timeoutActor = None
-    log.debug("Timeout canceled for %s", this)
+  protected[akka] def cancelReceiveTimeout = {
+    if(_futureTimeout.isDefined) {
+      _futureTimeout.get.cancel(true)
+      _futureTimeout = None
+      log.debug("Timeout canceled for %s", this)
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Scheduler.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Scheduler.scala
index 6f4f099bb2..07486521ec 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Scheduler.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Scheduler.scala
@@ -23,59 +23,39 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Logging
 object Scheduler extends Logging {
   import Actor._
 
-  case object UnSchedule
   case class SchedulerException(msg: String, e: Throwable) extends RuntimeException(msg, e)
 
   private var service = Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor(SchedulerThreadFactory)
-  private val schedulers = new ConcurrentHashMap[ActorRef, ActorRef]
+
   log.info("Starting up Scheduler")
 
-  def schedule(receiver: ActorRef, message: AnyRef, initialDelay: Long, delay: Long, timeUnit: TimeUnit): ActorRef = {
+  def schedule(receiver: ActorRef, message: AnyRef, initialDelay: Long, delay: Long, timeUnit: TimeUnit): ScheduledFuture[AnyRef] = {
     log.trace(
       "Schedule scheduled event\n\tevent = [%s]\n\treceiver = [%s]\n\tinitialDelay = [%s]\n\tdelay = [%s]\n\ttimeUnit = [%s]",
       message, receiver, initialDelay, delay, timeUnit)
     try {
-      val future = service.scheduleAtFixedRate(
+      service.scheduleAtFixedRate(
         new Runnable { def run = receiver ! message },
         initialDelay, delay, timeUnit).asInstanceOf[ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]]
-      createAndStoreScheduleActorForFuture(future)
-      val scheduler = actorOf(new ScheduleActor(future)).start
-      schedulers.put(scheduler, scheduler)
-      scheduler
     } catch {
       case e => throw SchedulerException(message + " could not be scheduled on " + receiver, e)
     }
   }
 
-  def scheduleOnce(receiver: ActorRef, message: AnyRef, delay: Long, timeUnit: TimeUnit): ActorRef = {
+  def scheduleOnce(receiver: ActorRef, message: AnyRef, delay: Long, timeUnit: TimeUnit): ScheduledFuture[AnyRef] = {
     log.trace(
       "Schedule one-time event\n\tevent = [%s]\n\treceiver = [%s]\n\tdelay = [%s]\n\ttimeUnit = [%s]",
       message, receiver, delay, timeUnit)
     try {
-      val future = service.schedule(
+      service.schedule(
         new Runnable { def run = receiver ! message }, delay, timeUnit).asInstanceOf[ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]]
-      createAndStoreScheduleActorForFuture(future)
     } catch {
       case e => throw SchedulerException(message + " could not be scheduled on " + receiver, e)
     }
   }
 
-  private def createAndStoreScheduleActorForFuture(future: ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]): ActorRef = {
-    val scheduler = actorOf(new ScheduleActor(future)).start
-    schedulers.put(scheduler, scheduler)
-    scheduler
-  }
-
-  def unschedule(scheduleActor: ActorRef) = {
-    scheduleActor ! UnSchedule
-    schedulers.remove(scheduleActor)
-  }
-
   def shutdown = {
     log.info("Shutting down Scheduler")
-    import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
-    schedulers.values.foreach(_ ! UnSchedule)
-    schedulers.clear
     service.shutdown
   }
 
@@ -86,15 +66,6 @@ object Scheduler extends Logging {
   }
 }
 
-private class ScheduleActor(future: ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]) extends Actor {
-  def receive = {
-    case Scheduler.UnSchedule =>
-      Scheduler.log.trace("Unschedule event handled by scheduleActor\n\tactorRef = [%s]", self.toString)
-      future.cancel(true)
-      self.stop
-  }
-}
-
 private object SchedulerThreadFactory extends ThreadFactory {
   private var count = 0
   val threadFactory = Executors.defaultThreadFactory()