diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
index 5ee900a222..7c52e716f2 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ object Dispatchers {
   val MAILBOX_PUSH_TIME_OUT           = Duration(config.getInt("akka.actor.default-dispatcher.mailbox-push-timeout-time", 10), TIME_UNIT)
   val THROUGHPUT_DEADLINE_TIME        = Duration(config.getInt("akka.actor.throughput-deadline-time",-1), TIME_UNIT)
   val THROUGHPUT_DEADLINE_TIME_MILLIS = THROUGHPUT_DEADLINE_TIME.toMillis.toInt
-  val MAILBOX_TYPE: MailboxType       = if (MAILBOX_CAPACITY < 0) UnboundedMailbox() else BoundedMailbox()
+  val MAILBOX_TYPE: MailboxType       = if (MAILBOX_CAPACITY < 1) UnboundedMailbox() else BoundedMailbox()
 
   lazy val defaultGlobalDispatcher = {
     config.getSection("akka.actor.default-dispatcher").flatMap(from).getOrElse(globalExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
index b319d8ac87..a4387fadf1 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcherConfigurator {
   def mailboxType(config: Configuration): MailboxType = {
     val capacity = config.getInt("mailbox-capacity", Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY)
     // FIXME how do we read in isBlocking for mailbox? Now set to 'false'.
-    if (capacity < 0) UnboundedMailbox()
+    if (capacity < 1) UnboundedMailbox()
     else BoundedMailbox(false, capacity, Duration(config.getInt("mailbox-push-timeout-time", Dispatchers.MAILBOX_PUSH_TIME_OUT.toMillis.toInt), TIME_UNIT))
   }