diff --git a/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/MultiJvmSync.scala b/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/MultiJvmSync.scala
index 3eeab35bd0..014afd0c54 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/MultiJvmSync.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/MultiJvmSync.scala
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ object MultiJvmSync {
     val barrier = if (AkkaRemoteSpec.testNodes eq null)
       new FileBasedBarrier(name, count, testName, nodeName, timeout)
     else
-      new ZkClient.ZkBarrier(name + "_" + nodeName, count, testName)
+      new ZkClient.ZkBarrier(name + "_" + nodeName, count, "/" + testName)
     barrier.await()
   }
 }
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/ZKClient.scala b/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/ZKClient.scala
index 225be41d76..d6ef72ae22 100755
--- a/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/ZKClient.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/remote/ZKClient.scala
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@ package akka.remote
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
 import org.apache.zookeeper._
 import ZooDefs.Ids
+import collection.JavaConversions._
+import java.net.InetAddress
 
 object ZkClient extends Watcher {
   // Don't forget to close!
   lazy val zk: ZooKeeper = {
     val remoteNodes = AkkaRemoteSpec.testNodes split ','
-  
+
     // ZkServers are configured to listen on a specific port.
     val connectString = remoteNodes map (_+":2181") mkString ","
     new ZooKeeper(connectString, 3000, this)
@@ -22,29 +24,56 @@ object ZkClient extends Watcher {
   }
 
   class ZkBarrier(name: String, count: Int, root: String) extends Barrier {
-    if (zk.exists(root, false) eq null) {
-      zk.create(root, Array[Byte](), Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE, CreateMode.EPHEMERAL)
+    @annotation.tailrec
+    private def waitForServer() {
+      // SI-1672
+      val r = try {
+        zk.exists("/", false); true
+      } catch {
+        case _: KeeperException.ConnectionLossException =>
+          println("Server is not ready, sleeping...")
+          Thread.sleep(10000)
+          false
+      }
+      if (!r) waitForServer()
+    }
+    waitForServer()
+
+    try {
+      zk.create(root, Array[Byte](), Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE, CreateMode.PERSISTENT)
+    } catch {
+      case _: KeeperException.NodeExistsException =>
     }
 
     def enter() {
       zk.create(root + "/" + name, Array[Byte](), Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE,
                 CreateMode.EPHEMERAL)
+
       while (true) {
         ZkClient.this.synchronized {
-          if (zk.getChildren(root, true).size < count) {
+          val children = zk.getChildren(root, true)
+          println("Enter, children: " + children.mkString(","))
+          if (children.size < count) {
+            println("waiting")
             ZkClient.this.wait()
-          }
+          } else
+            return
         }
       }
     }
 
-    def leave() {
+    final def leave() {
       zk.delete(root + "/" + name, -1)
+
       while (true) {
         ZkClient.this.synchronized {
-          if (!zk.getChildren(root, true).isEmpty) {
+          val children = zk.getChildren(root, true)
+          println("Leave, children: " + children.mkString(","))
+          if (!children.isEmpty) {
+            println("waiting")
             ZkClient.this.wait()
-          }
+          } else
+            return
         }
       }
     }