diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
index afb87d0253..e44d3f044a 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent._
 import akka.dispatch.{ UnboundedMessageQueueSemantics, RequiresMessageQueue }
 import scala.collection.breakOut
 import akka.remote.QuarantinedEvent
+import java.util.ArrayList
+import java.util.Collections
 
 /**
  * Base trait for all cluster messages. All ClusterMessage's are serializable.
@@ -247,7 +249,7 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
 
   protected def selfUniqueAddress = cluster.selfUniqueAddress
 
-  val NumberOfGossipsBeforeShutdownWhenLeaderExits = 3
+  val NumberOfGossipsBeforeShutdownWhenLeaderExits = 5
   val MaxGossipsBeforeShuttingDownMyself = 5
 
   def vclockName(node: UniqueAddress): String = s"${node.address}-${node.longUid}"
@@ -573,6 +575,8 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
 
       logInfo("Marked address [{}] as [{}]", address, Leaving)
       publish(latestGossip)
+      // immediate gossip to speed up the leaving process
+      gossip()
     }
   }
 
@@ -775,6 +779,32 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
   def isGossipSpeedupNeeded: Boolean =
     (latestGossip.overview.seen.size < latestGossip.members.size / 2)
 
+  /**
+   * Sends full gossip to `n` other random members.
+   */
+  def gossipRandomN(n: Int): Unit = {
+    if (!isSingletonCluster && n > 0) {
+      val localGossip = latestGossip
+      // using ArrayList to be able to shuffle
+      val possibleTargets = new ArrayList[UniqueAddress](localGossip.members.size)
+      localGossip.members.foreach { m ⇒
+        if (validNodeForGossip(m.uniqueAddress))
+          possibleTargets.add(m.uniqueAddress)
+      }
+      val randomTargets =
+        if (possibleTargets.size <= n)
+          possibleTargets
+        else {
+          Collections.shuffle(possibleTargets, ThreadLocalRandom.current())
+          possibleTargets.subList(0, n)
+        }
+
+      val iter = randomTargets.iterator
+      while (iter.hasNext)
+        gossipTo(iter.next())
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Initiates a new round of gossip.
    */
@@ -878,8 +908,7 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
         logInfo("Shutting down myself")
         // not crucial to send gossip, but may speedup removal since fallback to failure detection is not needed
         // if other downed know that this node has seen the version
-        downed.filterNot(n ⇒ unreachable(n) || n == selfUniqueAddress).take(MaxGossipsBeforeShuttingDownMyself)
-          .foreach(gossipTo)
+        gossipRandomN(MaxGossipsBeforeShuttingDownMyself)
         shutdown()
       }
     }
@@ -988,7 +1017,7 @@ private[cluster] class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with
         // for downing. However, if those final gossip messages never arrive it is
         // alright to require the downing, because that is probably caused by a
         // network failure anyway.
-        for (_ ← 1 to NumberOfGossipsBeforeShutdownWhenLeaderExits) gossip()
+        gossipRandomN(NumberOfGossipsBeforeShutdownWhenLeaderExits)
         shutdown()
       }