diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
index 9fb535dcb2..bc8e8f1cbe 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
   val system: ActorSystemImpl,
   val self: InternalActorRef,
   val props: Props,
-  @volatile var parent: InternalActorRef)
+  val parent: InternalActorRef)
   extends UntypedActorContext with Cell
   with cell.ReceiveTimeout
   with cell.Children
@@ -290,14 +290,15 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
   protected final def lookupRoot = self
   final def provider = system.provider
 
-  var actor: Actor = _
+  private[this] var _actor: Actor = _
+  def actor: Actor = _actor
+  protected def actor_=(a: Actor): Unit = _actor = a
   var currentMessage: Envelope = _
   private var behaviorStack: List[Actor.Receive] = emptyBehaviorStack
 
   /*
    * MESSAGE PROCESSING
    */
-
   //Memory consistency is handled by the Mailbox (reading mailbox status then processing messages, then writing mailbox status
   final def systemInvoke(message: SystemMessage): Unit = try {
     message match {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
index 6cbd821af4..00a84f956a 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRef.scala
@@ -262,10 +262,7 @@ private[akka] class LocalActorRef private[akka] (
    * that is reached).
    */
   private val actorCell: ActorCell = newActorCell(_system, this, _props, _supervisor)
-  actorCell.start()
-
-  // ➡➡➡ NEVER SEND THE SAME SYSTEM MESSAGE OBJECT TO TWO ACTORS ⬅⬅⬅
-  _supervisor.sendSystemMessage(akka.dispatch.Supervise(this))
+  actorCell.start(sendSupervise = true)
 
   protected def newActorCell(system: ActorSystemImpl, ref: InternalActorRef, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef): ActorCell =
     new ActorCell(system, ref, props, supervisor)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index c155f9d092..a83c78e0bb 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -698,19 +698,30 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(val name: String, applicationConfig: Config,
       node match {
         case wc: ActorRefWithCell ⇒
           val cell = wc.underlying
-          indent + "-> " + node.path.name + " " + Logging.simpleName(node) + " " +
+          (if (indent.isEmpty) "-> " else indent.dropRight(1) + "⌊-> ") +
+            node.path.name + " " + Logging.simpleName(node) + " " +
             (cell match {
               case real: ActorCell ⇒ if (real.actor ne null) real.actor.getClass else "null"
               case _               ⇒ Logging.simpleName(cell)
             }) +
+            (cell match {
+              case real: ActorCell ⇒ " status=" + real.mailbox.status
+              case _               ⇒ ""
+            }) +
             " " + (cell.childrenRefs match {
               case ChildrenContainer.TerminatingChildrenContainer(_, toDie, reason) ⇒
                 "Terminating(" + reason + ")" +
-                  (toDie.toSeq.sorted mkString ("\n" + indent + "        toDie: ", "\n" + indent + "               ", ""))
+                  (toDie.toSeq.sorted mkString ("\n" + indent + "   |    toDie: ", "\n" + indent + "   |           ", ""))
+              case x @ (ChildrenContainer.TerminatedChildrenContainer | ChildrenContainer.EmptyChildrenContainer) ⇒ x.toString
+              case n: ChildrenContainer.NormalChildrenContainer ⇒ n.c.size + " children"
               case x ⇒ Logging.simpleName(x)
             }) +
             (if (cell.childrenRefs.children.isEmpty) "" else "\n") +
-            (cell.childrenRefs.children.toSeq.sorted map (printNode(_, indent + "   |")) mkString ("\n"))
+            ({
+              val children = cell.childrenRefs.children.toSeq.sorted
+              val bulk = children.dropRight(1) map (printNode(_, indent + "   |"))
+              bulk ++ (children.lastOption map (printNode(_, indent + "    ")))
+            } mkString ("\n"))
         case _ ⇒
           indent + node.path.name + " " + Logging.simpleName(node)
       }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala
index b08c7adbee..ca1bb2492e 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/RepointableActorRef.scala
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ private[akka] class RepointableActorRef(
    * This is called by activate() to obtain the cell which is to replace the
    * unstarted cell. The cell must be fully functional.
    */
-  def newCell(): Cell = new ActorCell(system, this, props, supervisor).start()
+  def newCell(): Cell = new ActorCell(system, this, props, supervisor).start(sendSupervise = false)
 
   def suspend(): Unit = underlying.suspend()
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Children.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Children.scala
index a949297b1b..e20a8addbd 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Children.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Children.scala
@@ -101,6 +101,8 @@ private[akka] trait Children { this: ActorCell ⇒
     }
   }
 
+  final protected def setTerminated(): Unit = Unsafe.instance.putObjectVolatile(this, AbstractActorCell.childrenOffset, TerminatedChildrenContainer)
+
   /*
    * ActorCell-internal API
    */
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/ChildrenContainer.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/ChildrenContainer.scala
index b31bbbd4af..8b85a22ea8 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/ChildrenContainer.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/ChildrenContainer.scala
@@ -58,13 +58,14 @@ private[akka] object ChildrenContainer {
     def shallDie(actor: ActorRef): ChildrenContainer = this
     def reserve(name: String): ChildrenContainer = new NormalChildrenContainer(emptyStats.updated(name, ChildNameReserved))
     def unreserve(name: String): ChildrenContainer = this
-    override def toString = "no children"
   }
 
   /**
    * This is the empty container, shared among all leaf actors.
    */
-  object EmptyChildrenContainer extends EmptyChildrenContainer
+  object EmptyChildrenContainer extends EmptyChildrenContainer {
+    override def toString = "no children"
+  }
 
   /**
    * This is the empty container which is installed after the last child has
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ private[akka] object ChildrenContainer {
       throw new IllegalStateException("cannot reserve actor name '" + name + "': already terminated")
     override def isTerminating: Boolean = true
     override def isNormal: Boolean = false
+    override def toString = "terminated"
   }
 
   /**
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@ private[akka] object ChildrenContainer {
    * calling context.stop(child) and processing the ChildTerminated() system
    * message).
    */
-  class NormalChildrenContainer(c: TreeMap[String, ChildStats]) extends ChildrenContainer {
+  class NormalChildrenContainer(val c: TreeMap[String, ChildStats]) extends ChildrenContainer {
 
     def add(child: ActorRef): ChildrenContainer =
       new NormalChildrenContainer(c.updated(child.path.name, ChildRestartStats(child)))
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Dispatch.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Dispatch.scala
index 5dd9f16a6c..8c849366d8 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Dispatch.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/Dispatch.scala
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ private[akka] trait Dispatch { this: ActorCell ⇒
 
   final def isTerminated: Boolean = mailbox.isClosed
 
-  final def start(): this.type = {
+  final def start(sendSupervise: Boolean): this.type = {
 
     /*
      * Create the mailbox and enqueue the Create() message to ensure that
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ private[akka] trait Dispatch { this: ActorCell ⇒
     // ➡➡➡ NEVER SEND THE SAME SYSTEM MESSAGE OBJECT TO TWO ACTORS ⬅⬅⬅
     mailbox.systemEnqueue(self, Create())
 
+    if (sendSupervise) {
+      // ➡➡➡ NEVER SEND THE SAME SYSTEM MESSAGE OBJECT TO TWO ACTORS ⬅⬅⬅
+      parent.sendSystemMessage(akka.dispatch.Supervise(self))
+    }
+
     // This call is expected to start off the actor by scheduling its mailbox.
     dispatcher.attach(this)
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala
index 88fca60eb4..6d0c6ce283 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/cell/FaultHandling.scala
@@ -98,13 +98,20 @@ private[akka] trait FaultHandling { this: ActorCell ⇒
     // stop all children, which will turn childrenRefs into TerminatingChildrenContainer (if there are children)
     children foreach stop
 
+    val wasTerminating = isTerminating
+
     if (setChildrenTerminationReason(ChildrenContainer.Termination)) {
-      // do not process normal messages while waiting for all children to terminate
-      suspendNonRecursive()
-      // do not propagate failures during shutdown to the supervisor
-      setFailed()
-      if (system.settings.DebugLifecycle) publish(Debug(self.path.toString, clazz(actor), "stopping"))
-    } else finishTerminate()
+      if (!wasTerminating) {
+        // do not process normal messages while waiting for all children to terminate
+        suspendNonRecursive()
+        // do not propagate failures during shutdown to the supervisor
+        setFailed()
+        if (system.settings.DebugLifecycle) publish(Debug(self.path.toString, clazz(actor), "stopping"))
+      }
+    } else {
+      setTerminated()
+      finishTerminate()
+    }
   }
 
   final def handleInvokeFailure(t: Throwable, message: String): Unit = {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
index cb0f5ee09b..5f68694d8f 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ private[akka] class RoutedActorCell(_system: ActorSystemImpl, _ref: InternalActo
   if (routerConfig.resizer.isEmpty && _routees.isEmpty)
     throw new ActorInitializationException("router " + routerConfig + " did not register routees!")
 
-  start()
+  start(sendSupervise = false)
 
   /*
    * end of construction
diff --git a/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala b/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala
index f381e53013..4e9053722e 100644
--- a/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-testkit/src/test/scala/akka/testkit/AkkaSpec.scala
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 import akka.dispatch.{ Await, MessageDispatcher }
 import akka.dispatch.Dispatchers
 import akka.pattern.ask
+import akka.actor.ActorSystemImpl
 
 object TimingTest extends Tag("timing")
 object LongRunningTest extends Tag("long-running")
@@ -78,7 +79,9 @@ abstract class AkkaSpec(_system: ActorSystem)
     beforeShutdown()
     system.shutdown()
     try system.awaitTermination(5 seconds) catch {
-      case _: TimeoutException ⇒ system.log.warning("Failed to stop [{}] within 5 seconds", system.name)
+      case _: TimeoutException ⇒
+        system.log.warning("Failed to stop [{}] within 5 seconds", system.name)
+        println(system.asInstanceOf[ActorSystemImpl].printTree)
     }
     atTermination()
   }