diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/LambdaPersistenceDocTest.java b/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/LambdaPersistenceDocTest.java
index 66f937591c..d5f3207b43 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/LambdaPersistenceDocTest.java
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/LambdaPersistenceDocTest.java
@@ -258,6 +258,16 @@ public class LambdaPersistenceDocTest {
   static Object o5 = new Object() {
 
     class MyPersistentActor extends AbstractPersistentActor {
+
+      //#snapshot-criteria
+      @Override
+      public Recovery recovery() {
+        return Recovery.create(
+          SnapshotSelectionCriteria
+            .create(457L, System.currentTimeMillis()));
+      }
+      //#snapshot-criteria
+
       //#snapshot-offer
       private Object state;
 
@@ -291,14 +301,6 @@ public class LambdaPersistenceDocTest {
           match(Object.class, o -> {/* ... */}).build()
         );
       }
-
-      private void recover() {
-        //#snapshot-criteria
-        persistentActor.tell(Recovery.create(
-          SnapshotSelectionCriteria
-            .create(457L, System.currentTimeMillis())), null);
-        //#snapshot-criteria
-      }
     }
   };
 
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocTest.java b/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocTest.java
index ce6002f338..e9963615d7 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocTest.java
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/java/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocTest.java
@@ -240,9 +240,19 @@ public class PersistenceDocTest {
 
     static Object o5 = new Object() {
         class MyPersistentActor extends UntypedPersistentActor {
+
+            //#snapshot-criteria
+            @Override
+            public Recovery recovery() {
+                return Recovery.create(
+                SnapshotSelectionCriteria
+                    .create(457L, System.currentTimeMillis()));
+            }
+            //#snapshot-criteria
+
             @Override
             public String persistenceId() { return "persistence-id"; }
-            
+
             //#snapshot-offer
             private Object state;
 
@@ -258,30 +268,12 @@ public class PersistenceDocTest {
                 }
             }
             //#snapshot-offer
-            
+
             @Override
             public void onReceiveCommand(Object message) {
             }
         }
 
-        class MyActor extends UntypedActor {
-            ActorRef persistentActor;
-
-            public MyActor() {
-                persistentActor = getContext().actorOf(Props.create(MyPersistentActor.class));
-            }
-
-            public void onReceive(Object message) throws Exception {
-                // ...
-            }
-
-            private void recover() {
-                //#snapshot-criteria
-                persistentActor.tell(Recovery.create(SnapshotSelectionCriteria.create(457L,
-                    System.currentTimeMillis())), null);
-                //#snapshot-criteria
-            }
-        }
     };
 
     static Object o9 = new Object() {
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/java/lambda-persistence.rst b/akka-docs/rst/java/lambda-persistence.rst
index a2003ba439..30aa9ab83f 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/java/lambda-persistence.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/java/lambda-persistence.rst
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ and before any other received messages.
 
 .. includecode:: code/docs/persistence/LambdaPersistenceDocTest.java#recovery-completed
 
-If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal, ``onReplayFailure`` 
+If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal, ``onRecoveryFailure``
 is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped. 
 
 
@@ -293,6 +293,8 @@ In this case no stashing is happening, yet the events are still persisted and ca
 While it is possible to nest mixed ``persist`` and ``persistAsync`` with keeping their respective semantics
 it is not a recommended practice as it may lead to overly complex nesting.
 
+.. _failures-lambda:
+
 Failures
 --------
 
@@ -312,10 +314,7 @@ If persistence of an event is rejected before it is stored, e.g. due to serializ
 next message.
 
 If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal when the actor is
-started, ``onReplayFailure`` is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped.
-
-If the ``deleteMessages`` fails ``onDeleteMessagesFailure`` will be called (logging a warning by default) 
-and the actor continues with next message.
+started, ``onRecoveryFailure`` is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped.
 
 Atomic writes
 -------------
@@ -346,11 +345,51 @@ writing the previous batch. Batch writes are never timer-based which keeps laten
 Message deletion
 ----------------
 
-To delete all messages (journaled by a single persistent actor) up to a specified sequence number,
+It is possible to delete all messages (journaled by a single persistent actor) up to a specified sequence number,
 persistent actors may call the ``deleteMessages`` method.
 
-If the delete fails ``onDeleteMessagesFailure`` will be called (logging a warning by default) 
-and the actor continues with next message.
+Deleting messages in event sourcing based applications is typically either not used at all, or used in conjunction with
+:ref:`snapshotting <snapshots>`, i.e. after a snapshot has been successfully stored, a ``deleteMessagess(toSequenceNr)``
+up until the sequence number of the data held by that snapshot can be issued, to safely delete the previous events,
+while still having access to the accumulated state during replays - by loading the snapshot.
+
+Persistence status handling
+---------------------------
+Persisting, deleting and replaying messages can eitehr succeed or fail.
+
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| **Method**                      | **Success**                 | **Failure / Rejection**       | **After failure handler invoked** |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``persist`` / ``persistAsync``  | persist handler invoked     | ``onPersistFailure``          | Actor is stopped.                 |
+|                                 |                             +-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+|                                 |                             | ``onPersistRejected``         | ---                               |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``recovery``                    | ``RecoverySuccess``         | ``onRecoveryFailure``         | Actor is stopped.                 |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``deleteMessages``              | ``DeleteMessagesSuccess``   | ``DeleteMessagesFailure``     | ---                               |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+
+The most important operations (``persist`` and ``recovery``) have failure handlers modelled as explicit callbacks which
+the user can override in the ``PersistentActor``. The default implementations of these handlers emit a log message
+(``error`` for persist/recovery failures, and ``warning`` for others), logging the failure cause and information about
+which message caused the failure.
+
+For critical failures, such as recovery or persisting events failing, the persistent actor will be stopped after the failure
+handler is invoked. This is because if the underlying journal implementation is signalling persistence failures it is most
+likely either failing completely or overloaded and restarting right-away and trying to persist the event again will most
+likely not help the journal recover – as it would likely cause a `Thundering herd problem`_, as many persistent actors
+would restart and try to persist their events again. Instead, using a ``BackoffSupervisor`` (as described in :ref:`failures-lambda`) which
+implements an exponential-backoff strategy which allows for more breathing room for the journal to recover between
+restarts of the persistent actor.
+
+.. note::
+  Journal implementations may choose to implement a retry mechanisms, e.g. such that only after a write fails N number
+  of times a persistence failure is signalled back to the user. In other words, once a journal returns a failure,
+  it is considered *fatal* by Akka Persistence, and the persistent actor which caused the failure will be stopped.
+
+  Check the documentation of the journal implementation you are using for details if/how it is using this technique.
+
+.. _Thundering herd problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundering_herd_problem
 
 .. _persistent-views-java-lambda:
 
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/java/persistence.rst b/akka-docs/rst/java/persistence.rst
index b8470651e4..1db0257c0b 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/java/persistence.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/java/persistence.rst
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ and before any other received messages.
 
 .. includecode:: code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocTest.java#recovery-completed
 
-If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal, ``onReplayFailure`` 
+If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal, ``onRecoveryFailure``
 is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped. 
 
 .. _persist-async-java:
@@ -296,6 +296,8 @@ In this case no stashing is happening, yet the events are still persisted and ca
 While it is possible to nest mixed ``persist`` and ``persistAsync`` with keeping their respective semantics
 it is not a recommended practice as it may lead to overly complex nesting.
 
+.. _failures-java:
+
 Failures
 --------
 
@@ -315,7 +317,7 @@ If persistence of an event is rejected before it is stored, e.g. due to serializ
 next message.
 
 If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal when the actor is
-started, ``onReplayFailure`` is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped.
+started, ``onRecoveryFailure`` is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped.
 
 Atomic writes
 -------------
@@ -346,14 +348,51 @@ writing the previous batch. Batch writes are never timer-based which keeps laten
 Message deletion
 ----------------
 
-To delete all messages (journaled by a single persistent actor) up to a specified sequence number,
+It is possible to delete all messages (journaled by a single persistent actor) up to a specified sequence number,
 persistent actors may call the ``deleteMessages`` method.
 
-If the delete fails ``onDeleteMessagesFailure`` will be called (logging a warning by default) 
-and the actor continues with next message.
+Deleting messages in event sourcing based applications is typically either not used at all, or used in conjunction with
+:ref:`snapshotting <snapshots>`, i.e. after a snapshot has been successfully stored, a ``deleteMessagess(toSequenceNr)``
+up until the sequence number of the data held by that snapshot can be issued, to safely delete the previous events,
+while still having access to the accumulated state during replays - by loading the snapshot.
 
-If the ``deleteMessages`` fails ``onDeleteMessagesFailure`` will be called (logging a warning by default) 
-and the actor continues with next message.
+Persistence status handling
+---------------------------
+Persisting, deleting and replaying messages can eitehr succeed or fail.
+
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| **Method**                      | **Success**                 | **Failure / Rejection**       | **After failure handler invoked** |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``persist`` / ``persistAsync``  | persist handler invoked     | ``onPersistFailure``          | Actor is stopped.                 |
+|                                 |                             +-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+|                                 |                             | ``onPersistRejected``         | ---                               |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``recovery``                    | ``RecoverySuccess``         | ``onRecoveryFailure``         | Actor is stopped.                 |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``deleteMessages``              | ``DeleteMessagesSuccess``   | ``DeleteMessagesFailure``     | ---                               |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+
+The most important operations (``persist`` and ``recovery``) have failure handlers modelled as explicit callbacks which
+the user can override in the ``PersistentActor``. The default implementations of these handlers emit a log message
+(``error`` for persist/recovery failures, and ``warning`` for others), logging the failure cause and information about
+which message caused the failure.
+
+For critical failures, such as recovery or persisting events failing, the persistent actor will be stopped after the failure
+handler is invoked. This is because if the underlying journal implementation is signalling persistence failures it is most
+likely either failing completely or overloaded and restarting right-away and trying to persist the event again will most
+likely not help the journal recover – as it would likely cause a `Thundering herd problem`_, as many persistent actors
+would restart and try to persist their events again. Instead, using a ``BackoffSupervisor`` (as described in :ref:`failures-java`) which
+implements an exponential-backoff strategy which allows for more breathing room for the journal to recover between
+restarts of the persistent actor.
+
+.. note::
+  Journal implementations may choose to implement a retry mechanisms, e.g. such that only after a write fails N number
+  of times a persistence failure is signalled back to the user. In other words, once a journal returns a failure,
+  it is considered *fatal* by Akka Persistence, and the persistent actor which caused the failure will be stopped.
+
+  Check the documentation of the journal implementation you are using for details if/how it is using this technique.
+
+.. _Thundering herd problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundering_herd_problem
 
 .. _persistent-views-java:
 
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst b/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst
index 22052a368a..e04211f0ff 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst
@@ -489,3 +489,12 @@ The ``permanent`` deletion flag was removed. Support for non-permanent deletions
 removed. Events that were deleted with ``permanent=false`` with older version will
 still not be replayed in this version.
 
+References to "replay" in names
+-------------------------------
+Previously a number of classes and methods used the word "replay" interchangeably with the word "recover".
+This lead to slight inconsistencies in APIs, where a method would be called ``recovery``, yet the
+signal for a completed recovery was named ``ReplayMessagesSuccess``.
+
+This is now fixed, and all methods use the same "recovery" wording consistently across the entire API.
+The old ``ReplayMessagesSuccess`` is now called ``RecoverySuccess``, and an additional method called ``onRecoveryFailure``
+has been introduced.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/scala/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocSpec.scala b/akka-docs/rst/scala/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocSpec.scala
index 36c621b165..7228b31be3 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/scala/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/scala/code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocSpec.scala
@@ -166,6 +166,12 @@ object PersistenceDocSpec {
     class MyPersistentActor extends PersistentActor {
       override def persistenceId = "my-stable-persistence-id"
 
+      //#snapshot-criteria
+      override def recovery = Recovery(fromSnapshot = SnapshotSelectionCriteria(
+        maxSequenceNr = 457L,
+        maxTimestamp = System.currentTimeMillis))
+      //#snapshot-criteria
+
       //#snapshot-offer
       var state: Any = _
 
@@ -179,11 +185,6 @@ object PersistenceDocSpec {
       override def receiveCommand: Receive = ???
     }
 
-    //#snapshot-criteria
-    persistentActor ! Recovery(fromSnapshot = SnapshotSelectionCriteria(
-      maxSequenceNr = 457L,
-      maxTimestamp = System.currentTimeMillis))
-    //#snapshot-criteria
   }
 
   object PersistAsync {
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/scala/persistence.rst b/akka-docs/rst/scala/persistence.rst
index 0eaad129fd..ed9abd8190 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/scala/persistence.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/scala/persistence.rst
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ and before any other received messages.
 
 .. includecode:: code/docs/persistence/PersistenceDocSpec.scala#recovery-completed
 
-If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal, ``onReplayFailure`` 
+If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal, ``onRecoveryFailure``
 is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped. 
 
 .. _persist-async-scala:
@@ -282,6 +282,8 @@ In this case no stashing is happening, yet the events are still persisted and ca
 While it is possible to nest mixed ``persist`` and ``persistAsync`` with keeping their respective semantics
 it is not a recommended practice as it may lead to overly complex nesting.
 
+.. _failures-scala:
+
 Failures
 --------
 
@@ -301,10 +303,7 @@ If persistence of an event is rejected before it is stored, e.g. due to serializ
 next message.
 
 If there is a problem with recovering the state of the actor from the journal when the actor is
-started, ``onReplayFailure`` is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped.
-
-If the ``deleteMessages`` fails ``onDeleteMessagesFailure`` will be called (logging a warning by default) 
-and the actor continues with next message.
+started, ``onRecoveryFailure`` is called (logging the error by default) and the actor will be stopped.
 
 Atomic writes
 -------------
@@ -334,15 +333,55 @@ the maximum throughput dramatically.
 A new batch write is triggered by a persistent actor as soon as a batch reaches the maximum size or if the journal completed
 writing the previous batch. Batch writes are never timer-based which keeps latencies at a minimum.
 
-
 Message deletion
 ----------------
 
-To delete all messages (journaled by a single persistent actor) up to a specified sequence number,
+It is possible to delete all messages (journaled by a single persistent actor) up to a specified sequence number,
 persistent actors may call the ``deleteMessages`` method.
 
-If the delete fails ``onDeleteMessagesFailure`` will be called (logging a warning by default) 
-and the actor continues with next message.
+Deleting messages in event sourcing based applications is typically either not used at all, or used in conjunction with
+:ref:`snapshotting <snapshots>`, i.e. after a snapshot has been successfully stored, a ``deleteMessagess(toSequenceNr)``
+up until the sequence number of the data held by that snapshot can be issued, to safely delete the previous events,
+while still having access to the accumulated state during replays - by loading the snapshot.
+
+Persistence status handling
+---------------------------
+Persisting, deleting and replaying messages can eitehr succeed or fail.
+
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| **Method**                      | **Success**                 | **Failure / Rejection**       | **After failure handler invoked** |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``persist`` / ``persistAsync``  | persist handler invoked     | ``onPersistFailure``          | Actor is stopped.                 |
+|                                 |                             +-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+|                                 |                             | ``onPersistRejected``         | ---                               |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``recovery``                    | ``RecoveryCompleted``       | ``onRecoveryFailure``         | Actor is stopped.                 |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+| ``deleteMessages``              | ``DeleteMessagesSuccess``   | ``DeleteMessagesFailure``     | ---                               |
++---------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
+
+The most important operations (``persist`` and ``recovery``) have failure handlers modelled as explicit callbacks which
+the user can override in the ``PersistentActor``. The default implementations of these handlers emit a log message
+(``error`` for persist/recovery failures, and ``warning`` for others), logging the failure cause and information about
+which message caused the failure.
+
+For critical failures, such as recovery or persisting events failing, the persistent actor will be stopped after the failure
+handler is invoked. This is because if the underlying journal implementation is signalling persistence failures it is most
+likely either failing completely or overloaded and restarting right-away and trying to persist the event again will most
+likely not help the journal recover – as it would likely cause a `Thundering herd problem`_, as many persistent actors
+would restart and try to persist their events again. Instead, using a ``BackoffSupervisor`` (as described in :ref:`failures-scala`) which
+implements an exponential-backoff strategy which allows for more breathing room for the journal to recover between
+restarts of the persistent actor.
+
+.. note::
+  Journal implementations may choose to implement a retry mechanisms, e.g. such that only after a write fails N number
+  of times a persistence failure is signalled back to the user. In other words, once a journal returns a failure,
+  it is considered *fatal* by Akka Persistence, and the persistent actor which caused the failure will be stopped.
+
+  Check the documentation of the journal implementation you are using for details if/how it is using this technique.
+
+.. _Thundering herd problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundering_herd_problem
+
 
 .. _persistent-views:
 
@@ -451,6 +490,24 @@ when the snapshot was taken.
 To bulk-delete a range of snapshots matching ``SnapshotSelectionCriteria``,
 persistent actors should use the ``deleteSnapshots`` method.
 
+Snapshot status handling
+------------------------
+
+Saving or deleting snapshots can either succeed or fail – this information is reported back to the persistent actor via
+status messages as illustrated in the following table.
+
+============================================== ========================== ==============================
+**Method**                                     **Success**                **Failure message**
+============================================== ========================== ==============================
+``saveSnapshot``                               ``SaveSnapshotSuccess``    ``SaveSnapshotFailure``
+``deleteSnapshot(Long)``                       ``DeleteSnapshotSuccess``  ``DeleteSnapshotFailure``
+``deleteSnapshots(SnapshotSelectionCriteria)`` ``DeleteSnapshotsSuccess`` ``DeleteSnapshotsFailure``
+============================================== ========================== ==============================
+
+If failure messages are left unhandled by the actor, a default warning log message will be logged for each incoming failure message.
+No default action is performed on the success messages, however you're free to handle them e.g. in order to delete
+an in memory representation of the snapshot, or in the case of failure to attempt save the snapshot aggain.
+
 .. _at-least-once-delivery:
 
 At-Least-Once Delivery
diff --git a/akka-persistence-tck/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/JournalSpec.scala b/akka-persistence-tck/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/JournalSpec.scala
index 64dd33bb34..72900b1e7a 100644
--- a/akka-persistence-tck/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/JournalSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence-tck/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/JournalSpec.scala
@@ -92,54 +92,54 @@ abstract class JournalSpec(config: Config) extends PluginSpec(config) {
     "replay all messages" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(1, Long.MaxValue, Long.MaxValue, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       1 to 5 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay messages using a lower sequence number bound" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(3, Long.MaxValue, Long.MaxValue, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       3 to 5 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay messages using an upper sequence number bound" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(1, 3, Long.MaxValue, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       1 to 3 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay messages using a count limit" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(1, Long.MaxValue, 3, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       1 to 3 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay messages using a lower and upper sequence number bound" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(2, 4, Long.MaxValue, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       2 to 4 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay messages using a lower and upper sequence number bound and a count limit" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(2, 4, 2, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       2 to 3 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay a single if lower sequence number bound equals upper sequence number bound" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(2, 2, Long.MaxValue, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       2 to 2 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "replay a single message if count limit equals 1" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(2, 4, 1, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
       2 to 2 foreach { i ⇒ receiverProbe.expectMsg(replayedMessage(i)) }
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "not replay messages if count limit equals 0" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(2, 4, 0, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "not replay messages if lower  sequence number bound is greater than upper sequence number bound" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(3, 2, Long.MaxValue, pid, receiverProbe.ref)
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 5L))
     }
     "not replay messages if the persistent actor has not yet written messages" in {
       journal ! ReplayMessages(0, Long.MaxValue, Long.MaxValue, "non-existing-pid", receiverProbe.ref)
-      receiverProbe.expectMsg(ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr = 0L))
+      receiverProbe.expectMsg(RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr = 0L))
     }
     "not replay permanently deleted messages (range deletion)" in {
       val receiverProbe2 = TestProbe()
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala
index 181e54117a..23088fd52e 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
    * @param event the event that was processed in `receiveRecover`, if the exception
    *   was thrown there
    */
-  protected def onReplayFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Option[Any]): Unit =
+  protected def onRecoveryFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Option[Any]): Unit =
     event match {
       case Some(evt) ⇒
         log.error(cause, "Exception in receiveRecover when replaying event type [{}] with sequence number [{}] for " +
@@ -148,18 +148,6 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
       event.getClass.getName, seqNr, persistenceId, cause.getMessage)
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Called when ``deleteMessages`` failed. By default this method logs the problem
-   * as a warning, and the actor continues.
-   *
-   * @param cause failure cause
-   * @param toSequenceNr the sequence number parameter of the ``deleteMessages`` call
-   */
-  protected def onDeleteMessagesFailure(cause: Throwable, toSequenceNr: Long): Unit = {
-    log.warning("Failed to deleteMessages toSequenceNr [{}] for persistenceId [{}] due to [{}].",
-      toSequenceNr, persistenceId, cause.getMessage)
-  }
-
   private def startRecovery(recovery: Recovery): Unit = {
     changeState(recoveryStarted(recovery.replayMax))
     loadSnapshot(snapshotterId, recovery.fromSnapshot, recovery.toSequenceNr)
@@ -216,7 +204,16 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
   override def unhandled(message: Any): Unit = {
     message match {
       case RecoveryCompleted ⇒ // mute
-      case m                 ⇒ super.unhandled(m)
+      case SaveSnapshotFailure(m, e) ⇒
+        log.warning("Failed to saveSnapshot given metadata [{}] due to: [{}: {}]", m, e.getClass.getCanonicalName, e.getMessage)
+      case DeleteSnapshotFailure(m, e) ⇒
+        log.warning("Failed to deleteSnapshot given metadata [{}] due to: [{}: {}]", m, e.getClass.getCanonicalName, e.getMessage)
+      case DeleteSnapshotsFailure(c, e) ⇒
+        log.warning("Failed to deleteSnapshots given criteria [{}] due to: [{}: {}]", c, e.getClass.getCanonicalName, e.getMessage)
+      case DeleteMessagesFailure(e, toSequenceNr) ⇒
+        log.warning("Failed to deleteMessages toSequenceNr [{}] for persistenceId [{}] due to [{}: {}].",
+          toSequenceNr, persistenceId, e.getClass.getCanonicalName, e.getMessage)
+      case m ⇒ super.unhandled(m)
     }
   }
 
@@ -393,7 +390,7 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
   /**
    * Permanently deletes all persistent messages with sequence numbers less than or equal `toSequenceNr`.
    *
-   * If the delete fails [[#onDeleteMessagesFailure]] will be called.
+   * If the delete fails an [[akka.persistence.JournalProtocol.DeleteMessagesFailure]] will be sent to the actor.
    *
    * @param toSequenceNr upper sequence number bound of persistent messages to be deleted.
    */
@@ -425,7 +422,7 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
   /**
    * Processes a loaded snapshot, if any. A loaded snapshot is offered with a `SnapshotOffer`
    * message to the actor's `receiveRecover`. Then initiates a message replay, either starting
-   * from the loaded snapshot or from scratch, and switches to `replayStarted` state.
+   * from the loaded snapshot or from scratch, and switches to `recoveryStarted` state.
    * All incoming messages are stashed.
    *
    * @param replayMax maximum number of messages to replay.
@@ -456,7 +453,7 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
             // Since we are recovering we can ignore the receive behavior from the stack
             Eventsourced.super.aroundReceive(recoveryBehavior, SnapshotOffer(metadata, snapshot))
         }
-        changeState(replayStarted(recoveryBehavior))
+        changeState(recovering(recoveryBehavior))
         journal ! ReplayMessages(lastSequenceNr + 1L, toSnr, replayMax, persistenceId, self)
       case other ⇒ internalStash.stash()
     }
@@ -468,11 +465,11 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
    *
    * If replay succeeds it got highest stored sequence number response from the journal and then switches
    * to `processingCommands` state. Otherwise the actor is stopped.
-   * If replay succeeds the `onReplaySuccess` callback method is called, otherwise `onReplayFailure`.
+   * If replay succeeds the `onReplaySuccess` callback method is called, otherwise `onRecoveryFailure`.
    *
    * All incoming messages are stashed.
    */
-  private def replayStarted(recoveryBehavior: Receive) = new State {
+  private def recovering(recoveryBehavior: Receive) = new State {
     override def toString: String = s"replay started"
     override def recoveryRunning: Boolean = true
 
@@ -483,9 +480,9 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
           Eventsourced.super.aroundReceive(recoveryBehavior, p)
         } catch {
           case NonFatal(t) ⇒
-            try onReplayFailure(t, Some(p.payload)) finally context.stop(self)
+            try onRecoveryFailure(t, Some(p.payload)) finally context.stop(self)
         }
-      case ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSeqNr) ⇒
+      case RecoverySuccess(highestSeqNr) ⇒
         onReplaySuccess() // callback for subclass implementation
         changeState(processingCommands)
         sequenceNr = highestSeqNr
@@ -493,7 +490,7 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
         internalStash.unstashAll()
         Eventsourced.super.aroundReceive(recoveryBehavior, RecoveryCompleted)
       case ReplayMessagesFailure(cause) ⇒
-        try onReplayFailure(cause, event = None) finally context.stop(self)
+        try onRecoveryFailure(cause, event = None) finally context.stop(self)
       case other ⇒
         internalStash.stash()
     }
@@ -581,10 +578,6 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
 
       case WriteMessagesFailed(_) ⇒
         () // it will be stopped by the first WriteMessageFailure message
-
-      case DeleteMessagesFailure(e, toSequenceNr) ⇒
-        onDeleteMessagesFailure(e, toSequenceNr)
-
     }
 
     def onWriteMessageComplete(err: Boolean): Unit =
@@ -616,7 +609,6 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with Stash with Stas
       else
         internalStash.unstash()
     }
-
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/JournalProtocol.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/JournalProtocol.scala
index 5a3d72cd5a..cd7ca2eaee 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/JournalProtocol.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/JournalProtocol.scala
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ private[persistence] object JournalProtocol {
   /** Internal journal acknowledgement. */
   sealed trait Response extends Message
 
+  /**
+   * Reply message to a successful [[DeleteMessagesTo]] request.
+   */
+  final case class DeleteMessagesSuccess(toSequenceNr: Long)
+    extends Response
+
   /**
    * Reply message to a failed [[DeleteMessagesTo]] request.
    */
@@ -128,7 +134,7 @@ private[persistence] object JournalProtocol {
    *
    * @param highestSequenceNr highest stored sequence number.
    */
-  case class ReplayMessagesSuccess(highestSequenceNr: Long)
+  case class RecoverySuccess(highestSequenceNr: Long)
     extends Response with DeadLetterSuppression
 
   /**
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentView.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentView.scala
index 6e22a7b683..d3585aff02 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentView.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentView.scala
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ trait PersistentView extends Actor with Snapshotter with Stash with StashFactory
           case NonFatal(t) ⇒
             changeState(ignoreRemainingReplay(t))
         }
-      case _: ReplayMessagesSuccess ⇒
+      case _: RecoverySuccess ⇒
         onReplayComplete()
       case ReplayMessagesFailure(cause) ⇒
         try onReplayError(cause) finally onReplayComplete()
@@ -339,8 +339,8 @@ trait PersistentView extends Actor with Snapshotter with Stash with StashFactory
         // replay must be a full replay (up to the highest stored sequence number)
         // Recover(lastSequenceNr) is sent by preRestart
         setLastSequenceNr(Long.MaxValue)
-      case _: ReplayMessagesSuccess ⇒ replayCompleted(receive)
-      case _                        ⇒ internalStash.stash()
+      case _: RecoverySuccess ⇒ replayCompleted(receive)
+      case _                  ⇒ internalStash.stash()
     }
 
     def replayCompleted(receive: Receive): Unit = {
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotProtocol.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotProtocol.scala
index 556d5ea879..042b7be716 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotProtocol.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotProtocol.scala
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ package akka.persistence
  * @param sequenceNr sequence number at which the snapshot was taken.
  * @param timestamp time at which the snapshot was saved, defaults to 0 when unknown.
  */
-@SerialVersionUID(1L) //
-//#snapshot-metadata
+@SerialVersionUID(1L) //#snapshot-metadata
 final case class SnapshotMetadata(persistenceId: String, sequenceNr: Long, timestamp: Long = 0L)
 //#snapshot-metadata
 
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncRecovery.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncRecovery.scala
index 5b3c6f9912..5c7e14877f 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncRecovery.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncRecovery.scala
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@ trait AsyncRecovery {
    * @param fromSequenceNr sequence number where replay should start (inclusive).
    * @param toSequenceNr sequence number where replay should end (inclusive).
    * @param max maximum number of messages to be replayed.
-   * @param replayCallback called to replay a single message. Can be called from any
+   * @param recoveryCallback called to replay a single message. Can be called from any
    *                       thread.
    *
    * @see [[AsyncWriteJournal]]
    */
   def asyncReplayMessages(persistenceId: String, fromSequenceNr: Long, toSequenceNr: Long,
-                          max: Long)(replayCallback: PersistentRepr ⇒ Unit): Future[Unit]
+                          max: Long)(recoveryCallback: PersistentRepr ⇒ Unit): Future[Unit]
 
   /**
    * Plugin API: asynchronously reads the highest stored sequence number for the
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncWriteJournal.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncWriteJournal.scala
index 3b4ab470a7..3ebda5bf2a 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncWriteJournal.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/AsyncWriteJournal.scala
@@ -8,13 +8,11 @@ package akka.persistence.journal
 import akka.actor._
 import akka.pattern.pipe
 import akka.persistence._
+
 import scala.collection.immutable
 import scala.concurrent.Future
+import scala.util.{ Failure, Success, Try }
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
-import scala.util.Try
-import scala.util.Success
-import scala.util.Failure
-import akka.AkkaException
 
 /**
  * Abstract journal, optimized for asynchronous, non-blocking writes.
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ trait AsyncWriteJournal extends Actor with WriteJournalBase with AsyncRecovery {
           }.map(_ ⇒ highSeqNr)
         }
       }.map {
-        highSeqNr ⇒ ReplayMessagesSuccess(highSeqNr)
+        highSeqNr ⇒ RecoverySuccess(highSeqNr)
       }.recover {
         case e ⇒ ReplayMessagesFailure(e)
       }.pipeTo(persistentActor).onSuccess {
@@ -118,9 +116,12 @@ trait AsyncWriteJournal extends Actor with WriteJournalBase with AsyncRecovery {
       }
 
     case d @ DeleteMessagesTo(persistenceId, toSequenceNr, persistentActor) ⇒
-      asyncDeleteMessagesTo(persistenceId, toSequenceNr) onComplete {
-        case Success(_) ⇒ if (publish) context.system.eventStream.publish(d)
-        case Failure(e) ⇒ persistentActor ! DeleteMessagesFailure(e, toSequenceNr)
+      asyncDeleteMessagesTo(persistenceId, toSequenceNr) map {
+        case _ ⇒ DeleteMessagesSuccess(toSequenceNr)
+      } recover {
+        case e ⇒ DeleteMessagesFailure(e, toSequenceNr)
+      } pipeTo persistentActor onComplete {
+        case _ if publish ⇒ context.system.eventStream.publish(d)
       }
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/AtLeastOnceDeliveryFailureSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/AtLeastOnceDeliveryFailureSpec.scala
index b22bfbde7e..b1b2693ab7 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/AtLeastOnceDeliveryFailureSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/AtLeastOnceDeliveryFailureSpec.scala
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ object AtLeastOnceDeliveryFailureSpec {
     private def debugMessage(msg: String): String =
       s"[sender] ${msg} (mode = ${if (recoveryRunning) "replay" else "live"} snr = ${lastSequenceNr} state = ${state.sorted})"
 
-    override protected def onReplayFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Option[Any]): Unit = {
+    override protected def onRecoveryFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Option[Any]): Unit = {
       // mute logging
     }
 
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/EndToEndEventAdapterSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/EndToEndEventAdapterSpec.scala
index 868f56f2fe..7b9d0f64e6 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/EndToEndEventAdapterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/EndToEndEventAdapterSpec.scala
@@ -88,8 +88,6 @@ object EndToEndEventAdapterSpec {
     }
     override def receiveCommand = persistIncoming
 
-    override def onReplayFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Option[Any]): Unit =
-      probe.foreach { _ ! cause }
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc511df98d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2015 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.persistence
+
+import akka.actor._
+import akka.event.Logging
+import akka.event.Logging.Warning
+import akka.persistence.JournalProtocol.DeleteMessagesFailure
+import akka.persistence.journal.inmem.InmemJournal
+import akka.testkit.{ EventFilter, ImplicitSender, TestEvent }
+
+import scala.concurrent.Future
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import scala.language.postfixOps
+import scala.util.control.NoStackTrace
+
+object PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec {
+
+  case class DeleteTo(n: Long)
+  class SimulatedException(msg: String) extends RuntimeException(msg) with NoStackTrace
+  class SimulatedSerializationException(msg: String) extends RuntimeException(msg) with NoStackTrace
+
+  class DeleteFailingInmemJournal extends InmemJournal {
+    override def asyncDeleteMessagesTo(persistenceId: String, toSequenceNr: Long): Future[Unit] =
+      Future.failed(new SimulatedException("Boom! Unable to delete events!"))
+  }
+
+  class DoesNotHandleDeleteFailureActor(name: String, probe: ActorRef) extends PersistentActor {
+    override def persistenceId = name
+    override def receiveCommand: Receive = {
+      case DeleteTo(n) ⇒ deleteMessages(n)
+    }
+    override def receiveRecover: Receive = Actor.emptyBehavior
+  }
+
+  class HandlesDeleteFailureActor(name: String, probe: ActorRef) extends PersistentActor {
+    override def persistenceId = name
+    override def receiveCommand: Receive = {
+      case DeleteTo(n)              ⇒ deleteMessages(n)
+      case f: DeleteMessagesFailure ⇒ probe ! f
+    }
+    override def receiveRecover: Receive = Actor.emptyBehavior
+  }
+
+}
+
+class PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec extends PersistenceSpec(PersistenceSpec.config("inmem", "SnapshotFailureRobustnessSpec", extraConfig = Some(
+  """
+  akka.persistence.journal.inmem.class = "akka.persistence.PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec$DeleteFailingInmemJournal"
+  """))) with ImplicitSender {
+  import PersistentActorDeleteFailureSpec._
+
+  system.eventStream.publish(TestEvent.Mute(EventFilter[akka.pattern.AskTimeoutException]()))
+
+  "A persistent actor" must {
+    "have default warn logging be triggered, when deletion failed" in {
+      val persistentActor = system.actorOf(Props(classOf[DoesNotHandleDeleteFailureActor], name, testActor))
+      system.eventStream.subscribe(testActor, classOf[Logging.Warning])
+      persistentActor ! DeleteTo(100)
+      val message = expectMsgType[Warning].message.toString
+      message should include("Failed to deleteMessages")
+      message should include("Boom! Unable to delete events!") // the `cause` message
+    }
+
+    "be receive an DeleteMessagesFailure when deletion failed, and the default logging should not be triggered" in {
+      val persistentActor = system.actorOf(Props(classOf[HandlesDeleteFailureActor], name, testActor))
+      system.eventStream.subscribe(testActor, classOf[Logging.Warning])
+      persistentActor ! DeleteTo(100)
+      expectMsgType[DeleteMessagesFailure]
+      expectNoMsg(100.millis) // since the actor handled the message, we do not issue warn logging automatically
+    }
+
+  }
+}
+
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorFailureSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorFailureSpec.scala
index 06cee55e6f..0eb78a9c46 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorFailureSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorFailureSpec.scala
@@ -4,20 +4,18 @@
 
 package akka.persistence
 
-import scala.collection.immutable
 import akka.actor.{ OneForOneStrategy, _ }
-import akka.persistence.journal.AsyncWriteProxy
 import akka.persistence.journal.AsyncWriteTarget.{ ReplayFailure, ReplayMessages, ReplaySuccess, WriteMessages }
 import akka.persistence.journal.inmem.InmemStore
-import akka.testkit.{ ImplicitSender, TestProbe, TestEvent, EventFilter }
+import akka.persistence.journal.{ AsyncWriteJournal, AsyncWriteProxy }
+import akka.testkit.{ EventFilter, ImplicitSender, TestEvent }
 import akka.util.Timeout
 
+import scala.collection.immutable
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
 import scala.language.postfixOps
 import scala.util.control.NoStackTrace
-import scala.util.Try
-import akka.persistence.journal.AsyncWriteJournal
-import scala.util.Failure
+import scala.util.{ Failure, Try }
 
 object PersistentActorFailureSpec {
   import PersistentActorSpec.{ Cmd, Evt, ExamplePersistentActor }
@@ -32,7 +30,7 @@ object PersistentActorFailureSpec {
 
     override def preStart(): Unit = {
       super.preStart()
-      self ! SetStore(context.actorOf(Props[FailingInmemStore]))
+      self ! SetStore(context.actorOf(Props[FailingInmemStore]()))
     }
 
   }
@@ -46,7 +44,7 @@ object PersistentActorFailureSpec {
       case ReplayMessages(pid, fromSnr, toSnr, max) ⇒
         val highest = highestSequenceNr(pid)
         val readFromStore = read(pid, fromSnr, toSnr, max)
-        if (readFromStore.length == 0)
+        if (readFromStore.isEmpty)
           sender() ! ReplaySuccess(highest)
         else if (isCorrupt(readFromStore))
           sender() ! ReplayFailure(new SimulatedException(s"blahonga $fromSnr $toSnr"))
@@ -66,9 +64,9 @@ object PersistentActorFailureSpec {
     def checkSerializable(w: WriteMessages): immutable.Seq[Try[Unit]] =
       w.messages.collect {
         case a: AtomicWrite ⇒
-          (a.payload.collectFirst {
-            case PersistentRepr(Evt(s: String), _) if s.contains("not serializable") ⇒ s
-          }) match {
+          a.payload.collectFirst {
+            case PersistentRepr(Evt(s: String), _: Long) if s.contains("not serializable") ⇒ s
+          } match {
             case Some(s) ⇒ Failure(new SimulatedSerializationException(s))
             case None    ⇒ AsyncWriteJournal.successUnit
           }
@@ -80,6 +78,15 @@ object PersistentActorFailureSpec {
     override def receive = failingReceive.orElse(super.receive)
   }
 
+  class OnRecoveryFailurePersistentActor(name: String, probe: ActorRef) extends ExamplePersistentActor(name) {
+    val receiveCommand: Receive = commonBehavior orElse {
+      case c @ Cmd(txt) ⇒ persist(Evt(txt))(updateState)
+    }
+
+    override protected def onRecoveryFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Option[Any]): Unit =
+      probe ! "recovery-failure:" + cause.getMessage
+  }
+
   class Supervisor(testActor: ActorRef) extends Actor {
     override def supervisorStrategy = OneForOneStrategy(loggingEnabled = false) {
       case e ⇒
@@ -174,14 +181,30 @@ class PersistentActorFailureSpec extends PersistenceSpec(PersistenceSpec.config(
       watch(ref)
       expectTerminated(ref)
     }
-    "stop if persist fails" in {
+    "call onRecoveryFailure when recovery from persisted events fails" in {
+      val props = Props(classOf[OnRecoveryFailurePersistentActor], name, testActor)
+
+      val persistentActor = system.actorOf(props)
+      persistentActor ! Cmd("corrupt")
+      persistentActor ! GetState
+      expectMsg(List("corrupt"))
+
+      // recover by creating another with same name
+      system.actorOf(Props(classOf[Supervisor], testActor)) ! props
+      val ref = expectMsgType[ActorRef]
+      expectMsg("recovery-failure:blahonga 1 1")
+      watch(ref)
+      expectTerminated(ref)
+    }
+    "call onPersistFailure and stop when persist fails" in {
       system.actorOf(Props(classOf[Supervisor], testActor)) ! Props(classOf[Behavior1PersistentActor], name)
       val persistentActor = expectMsgType[ActorRef]
       watch(persistentActor)
       persistentActor ! Cmd("wrong")
+      expectMsg("Failure: wrong-1")
       expectTerminated(persistentActor)
     }
-    "stop if persistAsync fails" in {
+    "call onPersistFailure and stop if persistAsync fails xoxo" in {
       system.actorOf(Props(classOf[Supervisor], testActor)) ! Props(classOf[AsyncPersistPersistentActor], name)
       val persistentActor = expectMsgType[ActorRef]
       persistentActor ! Cmd("a")
@@ -190,6 +213,7 @@ class PersistentActorFailureSpec extends PersistenceSpec(PersistenceSpec.config(
       expectMsg("a-1") // reply after successful persistAsync
       persistentActor ! Cmd("wrong")
       expectMsg("wrong") // reply before persistAsync
+      expectMsg("Failure: wrong-2") // onPersistFailure sent message
       expectTerminated(persistentActor)
     }
     "call onPersistRejected and continue if persist rejected" in {
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorSpec.scala
index cc7f976d24..67dcd7a319 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/PersistentActorSpec.scala
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package akka.persistence
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
 
 import akka.actor._
+import akka.persistence.JournalProtocol.DeleteMessagesSuccess
 import akka.testkit.{ ImplicitSender, TestLatch, TestProbe }
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
@@ -24,15 +25,19 @@ object PersistentActorSpec {
 
   abstract class ExamplePersistentActor(name: String) extends NamedPersistentActor(name) {
     var events: List[Any] = Nil
+    var askedForDelete: Option[ActorRef] = None
 
     val updateState: Receive = {
-      case Evt(data) ⇒ events = data :: events
+      case Evt(data)               ⇒ events = data :: events
+      case d @ Some(ref: ActorRef) ⇒ askedForDelete = d.asInstanceOf[Some[ActorRef]]
     }
 
     val commonBehavior: Receive = {
-      case "boom"               ⇒ throw new TestException("boom")
-      case Delete(toSequenceNr) ⇒ deleteMessages(toSequenceNr)
-      case GetState             ⇒ sender() ! events.reverse
+      case "boom"   ⇒ throw new TestException("boom")
+      case GetState ⇒ sender() ! events.reverse
+      case Delete(toSequenceNr) ⇒
+        persist(Some(sender())) { s ⇒ askedForDelete = s }
+        deleteMessages(toSequenceNr)
     }
 
     def receiveRecover = updateState
@@ -42,6 +47,9 @@ object PersistentActorSpec {
     val receiveCommand: Receive = commonBehavior orElse {
       case Cmd(data) ⇒
         persistAll(Seq(Evt(s"${data}-1"), Evt(s"${data}-2")))(updateState)
+      case d: DeleteMessagesSuccess ⇒
+        val replyTo = askedForDelete.getOrElse(throw new RuntimeException("Received DeleteMessagesSuccess without anyone asking for delete!"))
+        replyTo ! d
     }
 
     override protected def onPersistRejected(cause: Throwable, event: Any, seqNr: Long): Unit =
@@ -49,6 +57,11 @@ object PersistentActorSpec {
         case Evt(data) ⇒ sender() ! s"Rejected: $data"
         case _         ⇒ super.onPersistRejected(cause, event, seqNr)
       }
+    override protected def onPersistFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Any, seqNr: Long): Unit =
+      event match {
+        case Evt(data) ⇒ sender() ! s"Failure: $data"
+        case _         ⇒ super.onPersistFailure(cause, event, seqNr)
+      }
   }
 
   class Behavior2PersistentActor(name: String) extends ExamplePersistentActor(name) {
@@ -220,6 +233,13 @@ object PersistentActorSpec {
       counter += 1
       counter
     }
+
+    override protected def onPersistFailure(cause: Throwable, event: Any, seqNr: Long): Unit =
+      event match {
+        case Evt(data) ⇒ sender() ! s"Failure: $data"
+        case _         ⇒ super.onPersistFailure(cause, event, seqNr)
+      }
+
   }
   class AsyncPersistThreeTimesPersistentActor(name: String) extends ExamplePersistentActor(name) {
     var counter = 0
@@ -1107,6 +1127,7 @@ abstract class PersistentActorSpec(config: Config) extends PersistenceSpec(confi
       expectMsg(List("a-1", "a-2", "b-1", "b-2"))
       persistentActor ! Delete(2L) // delete "a-1" and "a-2"
       persistentActor ! "boom" // restart, recover
+      expectMsgType[DeleteMessagesSuccess]
       persistentActor ! GetState
       expectMsg(List("b-1", "b-2"))
     }
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotRecoveryLocalStoreSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotRecoveryLocalStoreSpec.scala
index cb34674b4a..bae79abb39 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotRecoveryLocalStoreSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotRecoveryLocalStoreSpec.scala
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ class SnapshotRecoveryLocalStoreSpec extends PersistenceSpec(PersistenceSpec.con
 
       val recoveringActor = system.actorOf(Props(classOf[LoadSnapshotTestPersistentActor], persistenceId, testActor))
 
-      recoveringActor ! Recovery()
       expectMsgPF() { case SnapshotOffer(SnapshotMetadata(`persistenceId`, seqNo, timestamp), state) ⇒ }
       expectMsg(RecoveryCompleted)
     }
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotSerializationSpec.scala b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotSerializationSpec.scala
index 08f1c46c64..01d9a644ea 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotSerializationSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/test/scala/akka/persistence/SnapshotSerializationSpec.scala
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ class SnapshotSerializationSpec extends PersistenceSpec(PersistenceSpec.config("
       sPersistentActor ! "blahonga"
       expectMsg(0)
       val lPersistentActor = system.actorOf(Props(classOf[TestPersistentActor], name, testActor))
-      lPersistentActor ! Recovery()
       expectMsgPF() {
         case (SnapshotMetadata(`persistenceId`, 0, timestamp), state) ⇒
           state should ===(new MySnapshot("blahonga"))
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/stream/PersistentPublisher.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/stream/PersistentPublisher.scala
index cfef8a465a..adbf3728ae 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/stream/PersistentPublisher.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/stream/PersistentPublisher.scala
@@ -208,8 +208,8 @@ private class PersistentPublisherBuffer(override val processorId: String, publis
     self ! Filled
   }
 
-  override def onReplayFailure(receive: Receive, await: Boolean, cause: Throwable): Unit = {
-    super.onReplayFailure(receive, await, cause)
+  override def onRecoveryFailure(receive: Receive, await: Boolean, cause: Throwable): Unit = {
+    super.onRecoveryFailure(receive, await, cause)
     self ! Filled
   }