diff --git a/akka-actor-migration/src/main/scala/akka/actor/GlobalActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor-migration/src/main/scala/akka/actor/GlobalActorSystem.scala
index e08883c6ed..0eae8797d8 100644
--- a/akka-actor-migration/src/main/scala/akka/actor/GlobalActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-migration/src/main/scala/akka/actor/GlobalActorSystem.scala
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import akka.util.Timeout
 import akka.util.duration._
 
 @deprecated("use ActorSystem instead", "2.0")
-object GlobalActorSystem extends ActorSystemImpl("GlobalSystem", OldConfigurationLoader.defaultConfig) {
+object GlobalActorSystem extends ActorSystemImpl("GlobalSystem", OldConfigurationLoader.defaultConfig, OldConfigurationLoader.oldClassLoader) {
   start()
 
   /**
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ object GlobalActorSystem extends ActorSystemImpl("GlobalSystem", OldConfiguratio
  */
 @deprecated("use default config location or write your own configuration loader", "2.0")
 object OldConfigurationLoader {
+  val oldClassLoader: ClassLoader = ActorSystem.findClassLoader(1)
 
   val defaultConfig: Config = {
     val cfg = fromProperties orElse fromClasspath orElse fromHome getOrElse emptyConfig
-    val config = cfg.withFallback(ConfigFactory.defaultReference)
-    config.checkValid(ConfigFactory.defaultReference, "akka")
+    val config = cfg.withFallback(ConfigFactory.defaultReference(oldClassLoader))
+    config.checkValid(ConfigFactory.defaultReference(oldClassLoader), "akka")
     config
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
index 255a42d87c..f997c36623 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import akka.routing._
 import akka.AkkaException
 import akka.util.{ Switch, Helpers }
 import akka.event._
-import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
 
 /**
  * Interface for all ActorRef providers to implement.
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index 1daad13963..557a62133c 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -37,27 +37,30 @@ object ActorSystem {
 
   val GlobalHome = SystemHome orElse EnvHome
 
-  def create(name: String, config: Config): ActorSystem = apply(name, config)
-  def apply(name: String, config: Config): ActorSystem = new ActorSystemImpl(name, config).start()
-
+  def create(): ActorSystem = apply()
   /**
    * Uses the standard default Config from ConfigFactory.load(), since none is provided.
    */
   def create(name: String): ActorSystem = apply(name)
+  def create(name: String, config: Config): ActorSystem = apply(name, config)
+  def create(name: String, config: Config, classLoader: ClassLoader): ActorSystem = apply(name, config, classLoader)
 
   /**
    * Uses the standard default Config from ConfigFactory.load(), since none is provided.
    */
-  def apply(name: String): ActorSystem = apply(name, ConfigFactory.load())
-
-  def create(): ActorSystem = apply()
   def apply(): ActorSystem = apply("default")
+  def apply(name: String): ActorSystem = {
+    val classLoader = findClassLoader(1)
+    apply(name, ConfigFactory.load(classLoader), classLoader)
+  }
+  def apply(name: String, config: Config): ActorSystem = apply(name, config, findClassLoader(1))
+  def apply(name: String, config: Config, classLoader: ClassLoader): ActorSystem = new ActorSystemImpl(name, config, classLoader).start()
 
-  class Settings(cfg: Config, final val name: String) {
+  class Settings(classLoader: ClassLoader, cfg: Config, final val name: String) {
 
     final val config: Config = {
-      val config = cfg.withFallback(ConfigFactory.defaultReference)
-      config.checkValid(ConfigFactory.defaultReference, "akka")
+      val config = cfg.withFallback(ConfigFactory.defaultReference(classLoader))
+      config.checkValid(ConfigFactory.defaultReference(classLoader), "akka")
       config
     }
 
@@ -98,6 +101,27 @@ object ActorSystem {
 
     override def toString: String = config.root.render
   }
+
+  /**
+   * INTERNAL
+   */
+  private[akka] def findClassLoader(depth: Int): ClassLoader = {
+    def findCaller(get: Int ⇒ Class[_]): ClassLoader =
+      Iterator.from(depth).map(get) dropWhile { c ⇒
+        c != null &&
+          (c.getName.startsWith("akka.actor.ActorSystem") ||
+            c.getName.startsWith("scala.Option") ||
+            c.getName.startsWith("scala.collection.Iterator") ||
+            c.getName.startsWith("akka.util.Reflect"))
+      } next () match {
+        case null ⇒ getClass.getClassLoader
+        case c    ⇒ c.getClassLoader
+      }
+
+    Option(Thread.currentThread.getContextClassLoader) orElse
+      (Reflect.getCallerClass map findCaller) getOrElse
+      getClass.getClassLoader
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -344,14 +368,14 @@ abstract class ExtendedActorSystem extends ActorSystem {
   def dynamicAccess: DynamicAccess
 }
 
-class ActorSystemImpl protected[akka] (val name: String, applicationConfig: Config) extends ExtendedActorSystem {
+class ActorSystemImpl protected[akka] (val name: String, applicationConfig: Config, classLoader: ClassLoader) extends ExtendedActorSystem {
 
   if (!name.matches("""^\w+$"""))
     throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid ActorSystem name [" + name + "], must contain only word characters (i.e. [a-zA-Z_0-9])")
 
   import ActorSystem._
 
-  final val settings: Settings = new Settings(applicationConfig, name)
+  final val settings: Settings = new Settings(classLoader, applicationConfig, name)
 
   protected def uncaughtExceptionHandler: Thread.UncaughtExceptionHandler =
     new Thread.UncaughtExceptionHandler() {
@@ -366,33 +390,13 @@ class ActorSystemImpl protected[akka] (val name: String, applicationConfig: Conf
     }
 
   final val threadFactory: MonitorableThreadFactory =
-    MonitorableThreadFactory(name, settings.Daemonicity, Option(Thread.currentThread.getContextClassLoader), uncaughtExceptionHandler)
+    MonitorableThreadFactory(name, settings.Daemonicity, Option(classLoader), uncaughtExceptionHandler)
 
   /**
    * This is an extension point: by overriding this method, subclasses can
    * control all reflection activities of an actor system.
    */
-  protected def createDynamicAccess(): DynamicAccess = new ReflectiveDynamicAccess(findClassLoader)
-
-  protected def findClassLoader: ClassLoader = {
-    def findCaller(get: Int ⇒ Class[_]): ClassLoader = {
-      val frames = Iterator.from(2).map(get)
-      frames dropWhile { c ⇒
-        c != null &&
-          (c.getName.startsWith("akka.actor.ActorSystem") ||
-            c.getName.startsWith("scala.Option") ||
-            c.getName.startsWith("scala.collection.Iterator") ||
-            c.getName.startsWith("akka.util.Reflect"))
-      } next () match {
-        case null ⇒ getClass.getClassLoader
-        case c    ⇒ c.getClassLoader
-      }
-    }
-
-    Option(Thread.currentThread.getContextClassLoader) orElse
-      (Reflect.getCallerClass map findCaller) getOrElse
-      getClass.getClassLoader
-  }
+  protected def createDynamicAccess(): DynamicAccess = new ReflectiveDynamicAccess(classLoader)
 
   private val _pm: DynamicAccess = createDynamicAccess()
   def dynamicAccess: DynamicAccess = _pm