diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala
index a3a09b9575..df1c3471ff 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelectionSpec.scala
@@ -55,9 +55,13 @@ class ActorSelectionSpec extends AkkaSpec("akka.loglevel=DEBUG") with DefaultTim
 
   def identify(selection: ActorSelection): Option[ActorRef] = {
     selection.tell(Identify(selection), idProbe.ref)
-    idProbe.expectMsgPF() {
+    val result = idProbe.expectMsgPF() {
       case ActorIdentity(`selection`, ref) ⇒ ref
     }
+    val asked = Await.result((selection ? Identify(selection)).mapTo[ActorIdentity], timeout.duration)
+    asked.ref must be(result)
+    asked.correlationId must be(selection)
+    result
   }
 
   def identify(path: String): Option[ActorRef] = identify(system.actorSelection(path))
@@ -287,6 +291,19 @@ class ActorSelectionSpec extends AkkaSpec("akka.loglevel=DEBUG") with DefaultTim
       expectNoMsg(1 second)
     }
 
+    "compare equally" in {
+      ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello") must be === ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello")
+      ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello").## must be === ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello").##
+      ActorSelection(c2, "../*/hello") must not be ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello")
+      ActorSelection(c2, "../*/hello").## must not be ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello").##
+      ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hell") must not be ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello")
+      ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hell").## must not be ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello").##
+    }
+
+    "print nicely" in {
+      ActorSelection(c21, "../*/hello").toString must be(s"ActorSelection[Actor[akka://ActorSelectionSpec/user/c2/c21#${c21.path.uid}]/../*/hello]")
+    }
+
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/pattern/AskSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/pattern/AskSpec.scala
index 73e707e3ac..57431242ed 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/pattern/AskSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/pattern/AskSpec.scala
@@ -45,14 +45,14 @@ class AskSpec extends AkkaSpec {
       f.isCompleted must be(true)
       intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
         Await.result(f, remaining)
-      }.getMessage must be === "Unsupported type of ActorRef for the recipient. Question not sent to [null]"
+      }.getMessage must be === "Unsupported recipient ActorRef type, question not sent to [null]"
     }
 
     "return broken promises on 0 timeout" in {
       implicit val timeout = Timeout(0 seconds)
       val echo = system.actorOf(Props(new Actor { def receive = { case x ⇒ sender ! x } }))
       val f = echo ? "foo"
-      val expectedMsg = "Timeout length for an `ask` must be greater or equal to 1.  Question not sent to [%s]" format echo
+      val expectedMsg = "Timeout length must not be negative, question not sent to [%s]" format echo
       intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
         Await.result(f, remaining)
       }.getMessage must be === expectedMsg
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class AskSpec extends AkkaSpec {
       implicit val timeout = Timeout(-1000 seconds)
       val echo = system.actorOf(Props(new Actor { def receive = { case x ⇒ sender ! x } }))
       val f = echo ? "foo"
-      val expectedMsg = "Timeout length for an `ask` must be greater or equal to 1.  Question not sent to [%s]" format echo
+      val expectedMsg = "Timeout length must not be negative, question not sent to [%s]" format echo
       intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
         Await.result(f, remaining)
       }.getMessage must be === expectedMsg
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelection.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelection.scala
index 64f47a682c..3bdabd0e2c 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelection.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSelection.scala
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import language.implicitConversions
 import scala.collection.immutable
 import java.util.regex.Pattern
 import akka.util.Helpers
+import akka.routing.MurmurHash
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
 
 /**
  * An ActorSelection is a logical view of a section of an ActorSystem's tree of Actors,
@@ -16,23 +18,25 @@ import akka.util.Helpers
 abstract class ActorSelection extends Serializable {
   this: ScalaActorSelection ⇒
 
-  protected def target: ActorRef
+  import ActorSelection.PatternHolder
 
-  protected def path: Array[AnyRef]
+  protected[akka] val anchor: ActorRef
+
+  protected val path: immutable.IndexedSeq[AnyRef]
 
   @deprecated("use the two-arg variant (typically getSelf() as second arg)", "2.2")
-  def tell(msg: Any): Unit = target ! toMessage(msg, path)
+  def tell(msg: Any): Unit = anchor ! toMessage(msg, path)
 
-  def tell(msg: Any, sender: ActorRef): Unit = target.tell(toMessage(msg, path), sender)
+  def tell(msg: Any, sender: ActorRef): Unit = anchor.tell(toMessage(msg, path), sender)
 
-  private def toMessage(msg: Any, path: Array[AnyRef]): Any = {
+  private def toMessage(msg: Any, path: immutable.IndexedSeq[AnyRef]): Any = {
     var acc = msg
     var index = path.length - 1
     while (index >= 0) {
       acc = path(index) match {
-        case ".."       ⇒ SelectParent(acc)
-        case s: String  ⇒ SelectChildName(s, acc)
-        case p: Pattern ⇒ SelectChildPattern(p, acc)
+        case ".."             ⇒ SelectParent(acc)
+        case s: String        ⇒ SelectChildName(s, acc)
+        case p: PatternHolder ⇒ SelectChildPattern(p.pat, acc)
       }
       index -= 1
     }
@@ -42,19 +46,23 @@ abstract class ActorSelection extends Serializable {
   override def toString: String = {
     val sb = new java.lang.StringBuilder
     sb.append("ActorSelection[").
-      append(target.toString).
+      append(anchor.toString).
       append(path.mkString("/", "/", "")).
       append("]")
     sb.toString
   }
 
   override def equals(obj: Any): Boolean = obj match {
-    case s: ActorSelection ⇒ this.target == s.target && this.path == s.path
+    case s: ActorSelection ⇒ this.anchor == s.anchor && this.path == s.path
     case _                 ⇒ false
   }
 
-  override def hashCode: Int =
-    37 * (37 * 17 + target.hashCode) + path.hashCode
+  override lazy val hashCode: Int = {
+    import MurmurHash._
+    var h = startHash(anchor.##)
+    h = extendHash(h, path.##, startMagicA, startMagicB)
+    finalizeHash(h)
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -65,18 +73,22 @@ object ActorSelection {
   //This cast is safe because the self-type of ActorSelection requires that it mixes in ScalaActorSelection
   implicit def toScala(sel: ActorSelection): ScalaActorSelection = sel.asInstanceOf[ScalaActorSelection]
 
+  private case class PatternHolder(str: String) {
+    val pat = Helpers.makePattern(str)
+    override def toString = str
+  }
+
   /**
    * Construct an ActorSelection from the given string representing a path
    * relative to the given target. This operation has to create all the
    * matching magic, so it is preferable to cache its result if the
    * intention is to send messages frequently.
    */
-  def apply(anchor: ActorRef, path: String): ActorSelection = {
-    val elems = path.split("/+").dropWhile(_.isEmpty)
-    val compiled: Array[AnyRef] = elems map (x ⇒ if ((x.indexOf('?') != -1) || (x.indexOf('*') != -1)) Helpers.makePattern(x) else x)
+  def apply(anchorRef: ActorRef, path: String): ActorSelection = {
+    val compiled = compile(path.split("/+"))
     new ActorSelection with ScalaActorSelection {
-      def target = anchor
-      def path = compiled
+      override val anchor = anchorRef
+      override val path = compiled
     }
   }
 
@@ -86,16 +98,22 @@ object ActorSelection {
    * matching magic, so it is preferable to cache its result if the
    * intention is to send messages frequently.
    */
-  def apply(anchor: ActorRef, elements: immutable.Iterable[String]): ActorSelection = {
-    // TODO #3073 optimize/align compiled Array
-    val elems: Array[String] = elements.collect { case x if x.nonEmpty ⇒ x }(collection.breakOut)
-    val compiled: Array[AnyRef] = elems map (x ⇒ if ((x.indexOf('?') != -1) || (x.indexOf('*') != -1)) Helpers.makePattern(x) else x)
+  def apply(anchorRef: ActorRef, elements: immutable.Iterable[String]): ActorSelection = {
+    val compiled = compile(elements)
     new ActorSelection with ScalaActorSelection {
-      override def target = anchor
-      override def path = compiled
+      override val anchor = anchorRef
+      override val path = compiled
     }
   }
 
+  private def compile(in: Iterable[String]): immutable.IndexedSeq[AnyRef] = {
+    in.iterator.filterNot(_.isEmpty).map { x ⇒
+      if ((x.indexOf('?') != -1) || (x.indexOf('*') != -1))
+        PatternHolder(x)
+      else x
+    }.toVector
+  }
+
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
index 8bde7ef8cc..16db6c2c8d 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Address.scala
@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@ private[akka] trait PathUtils {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Extractor for so-called “relative actor paths” as in “relative URI”, not in
+ * “relative to some actor”. Examples:
+ *
+ *  * "grand/child"
+ *  * "/user/hello/world"
+ */
 object RelativeActorPath extends PathUtils {
   def unapply(addr: String): Option[immutable.Seq[String]] = {
     try {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/pattern/AskSupport.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/pattern/AskSupport.scala
index 0a26eca0ca..1905d73533 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/pattern/AskSupport.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/pattern/AskSupport.scala
@@ -74,6 +74,53 @@ trait AskSupport {
    * See [[scala.concurrent.Future]] for a description of `flow`
    */
   def ask(actorRef: ActorRef, message: Any)(implicit timeout: Timeout): Future[Any] = actorRef ? message
+
+  /**
+   * Import this implicit conversion to gain `?` and `ask` methods on
+   * [[akka.actor.ActorSelection]], which will defer to the
+   * `ask(actorSelection, message)(timeout)` method defined here.
+   *
+   * {{{
+   * import akka.pattern.ask
+   *
+   * val future = selection ? message             // => ask(selection, message)
+   * val future = selection ask message           // => ask(selection, message)
+   * val future = selection.ask(message)(timeout) // => ask(selection, message)(timeout)
+   * }}}
+   *
+   * All of the above use an implicit [[akka.actor.Timeout]].
+   */
+  implicit def ask(actorSelection: ActorSelection): AskableActorSelection = new AskableActorSelection(actorSelection)
+
+  /**
+   * Sends a message asynchronously and returns a [[scala.concurrent.Future]]
+   * holding the eventual reply message; this means that the target actor
+   * needs to send the result to the `sender` reference provided. The Future
+   * will be completed with an [[akka.pattern.AskTimeoutException]] after the
+   * given timeout has expired; this is independent from any timeout applied
+   * while awaiting a result for this future (i.e. in
+   * `Await.result(..., timeout)`).
+   *
+   * <b>Warning:</b>
+   * When using future callbacks, inside actors you need to carefully avoid closing over
+   * the containing actor’s object, i.e. do not call methods or access mutable state
+   * on the enclosing actor from within the callback. This would break the actor
+   * encapsulation and may introduce synchronization bugs and race conditions because
+   * the callback will be scheduled concurrently to the enclosing actor. Unfortunately
+   * there is not yet a way to detect these illegal accesses at compile time.
+   *
+   * <b>Recommended usage:</b>
+   *
+   * {{{
+   *   val f = ask(selection, request)(timeout)
+   *   flow {
+   *     EnrichedRequest(request, f())
+   *   } pipeTo nextActor
+   * }}}
+   *
+   * See [[scala.concurrent.Future]] for a description of `flow`
+   */
+  def ask(actorSelection: ActorSelection, message: Any)(implicit timeout: Timeout): Future[Any] = actorSelection ? message
 }
 
 /*
@@ -84,15 +131,37 @@ final class AskableActorRef(val actorRef: ActorRef) extends AnyVal {
   def ask(message: Any)(implicit timeout: Timeout): Future[Any] = actorRef match {
     case ref: InternalActorRef if ref.isTerminated ⇒
       actorRef ! message
-      Future.failed[Any](new AskTimeoutException("Recipient[%s] had already been terminated." format actorRef))
+      Future.failed[Any](new AskTimeoutException(s"Recipient[$actorRef] had already been terminated."))
     case ref: InternalActorRef ⇒
-      if (timeout.duration.length <= 0) Future.failed[Any](new IllegalArgumentException("Timeout length for an `ask` must be greater or equal to 1.  Question not sent to [%s]" format actorRef))
+      if (timeout.duration.length <= 0)
+        Future.failed[Any](new IllegalArgumentException(s"Timeout length must not be negative, question not sent to [$actorRef]"))
       else {
         val a = PromiseActorRef(ref.provider, timeout)
         actorRef.tell(message, a)
         a.result.future
       }
-    case _ ⇒ Future.failed[Any](new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported type of ActorRef for the recipient. Question not sent to [%s]" format actorRef))
+    case _ ⇒ Future.failed[Any](new IllegalArgumentException(s"Unsupported recipient ActorRef type, question not sent to [$actorRef]"))
+  }
+
+  def ?(message: Any)(implicit timeout: Timeout): Future[Any] = ask(message)(timeout)
+}
+
+/*
+ * Implementation class of the “ask” pattern enrichment of ActorSelection
+ */
+final class AskableActorSelection(val actorSel: ActorSelection) extends AnyVal {
+
+  def ask(message: Any)(implicit timeout: Timeout): Future[Any] = actorSel.anchor match {
+    case ref: InternalActorRef ⇒
+      if (timeout.duration.length <= 0)
+        Future.failed[Any](
+          new IllegalArgumentException(s"Timeout length must not be negative, question not sent to [$actorSel]"))
+      else {
+        val a = PromiseActorRef(ref.provider, timeout)
+        actorSel.tell(message, a)
+        a.result.future
+      }
+    case _ ⇒ Future.failed[Any](new IllegalArgumentException(s"Unsupported recipient ActorRef type, question not sent to [$actorSel]"))
   }
 
   def ?(message: Any)(implicit timeout: Timeout): Future[Any] = ask(message)(timeout)