diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
index fdad22f251..0291cadca0 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
@@ -65,9 +65,6 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
 
   val guard = new ReentrantGuard // TODO: remove this last synchronization point
 
-  @volatile
-  var mailbox: Mailbox = _
-
   @volatile
   var futureTimeout: Option[ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]] = None
 
@@ -102,10 +99,10 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
   def dispatcher: MessageDispatcher = props.dispatcher
 
   def isRunning: Boolean = !isShutdown
-  def isShutdown: Boolean = mailbox match {
-    case null ⇒ false
-    case m    ⇒ m.isClosed
-  }
+  def isShutdown: Boolean = mailbox.isClosed
+
+  @volatile
+  var mailbox: Mailbox = dispatcher.createMailbox(this) //FIXME exposing "this" in the constructor is shaky business
 
   def start(): Unit = {
     if (props.supervisor.isDefined) props.supervisor.get.link(self)
@@ -274,6 +271,9 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
     } catch {
       case e ⇒ //Should we really catch everything here?
         EventHandler.error(e, actor.get(), "error while processing " + envelope.message)
+
+        e.printStackTrace()
+
         throw e
     } finally {
       m.become(m.status)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
index cff7f82066..a2cb93a9b7 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
@@ -164,10 +164,7 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcher extends Serializable {
    */
   protected[akka] def register(actor: ActorCell): Unit = {
     if (uuids add actor.uuid) {
-      if (actor.mailbox eq null) {
-        actor.mailbox = createMailbox(actor)
-        systemDispatch(SystemEnvelope(actor, Create, NullChannel))
-      }
+      systemDispatch(SystemEnvelope(actor, Create, NullChannel)) //FIXME should this be here or moved into ActorCell.start perhaps?
       if (active.isOff) {
         active.switchOn {
           start()