diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/ResizerSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/ResizerSpec.scala
index 6ccad2a95f..35cc429fa6 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/ResizerSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/ResizerSpec.scala
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class ResizerSpec extends AkkaSpec(ResizerSpec.config) with DefaultTimeout with
       Await.result(router ? CurrentRoutees, 5 seconds).asInstanceOf[RouterRoutees].routees.size must be(2)
 
       def loop(loops: Int, t: Int, latch: TestLatch, count: AtomicInteger) = {
-        count.set(0)
+        (10 millis).dilated.sleep
         for (m ← 0 until loops) {
           router.!((t, latch, count))
           (10 millis).dilated.sleep
diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
index 077e69e5d9..a9ec39ff6e 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import akka.util.Duration
 import akka.config.ConfigurationException
 import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 object RoutingSpec {
 
@@ -22,6 +23,10 @@ object RoutingSpec {
         router = round-robin
         nr-of-instances = 3
       }
+      /myrouter {
+        router = "akka.routing.RoutingSpec$MyRouter"
+        foo = bar
+      }
     }
     """
 
@@ -38,6 +43,18 @@ object RoutingSpec {
     }
   }
 
+  class MyRouter(config: Config) extends RouterConfig {
+    val foo = config.getString("foo")
+    def createRoute(routeeProps: Props, actorContext: ActorContext): Route = {
+      val routees = IndexedSeq(actorContext.actorOf(Props[Echo]))
+      registerRoutees(actorContext, routees)
+
+      {
+        case (sender, message) ⇒ Nil
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
 }
 
 @org.junit.runner.RunWith(classOf[org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner])
@@ -465,6 +482,10 @@ class RoutingSpec extends AkkaSpec(RoutingSpec.config) with DefaultTimeout with
         sys.shutdown()
       }
     }
+    "support custom router" in {
+      val myrouter = system.actorOf(Props().withRouter(FromConfig), "myrouter")
+      myrouter.isTerminated must be(false)
+    }
   }
 
   "custom router" must {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 07e363fca9..02d1a49035 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ akka {
 
         # routing (load-balance) scheme to use
         #     available: "from-code", "round-robin", "random", "smallest-mailbox", "scatter-gather", "broadcast"
-        #     or:        fully qualified class name of the router class
+        #     or:        Fully qualified class name of the router class.
+        #                The router class must extend akka.routing.CustomRouterConfig and and have constructor
+        #                with com.typesafe.config.Config parameter.
         #     default is "from-code";
         # Whether or not an actor is transformed to a Router is decided in code only (Props.withRouter).
         # The type of router can be overridden in the configuration; specifying "from-code" means
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Deployer.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Deployer.scala
index 23c6da6661..5ac4c13391 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Deployer.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/Deployer.scala
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import akka.event.EventStream
 import com.typesafe.config._
 import akka.routing._
 import java.util.concurrent.{ TimeUnit, ConcurrentHashMap }
+import akka.util.ReflectiveAccess
 
 case class Deploy(path: String, config: Config, recipe: Option[ActorRecipe] = None, routing: RouterConfig = NoRouter, scope: Scope = LocalScope)
 
@@ -56,16 +57,7 @@ class Deployer(val settings: ActorSystem.Settings) {
     val within = Duration(deployment.getMilliseconds("within"), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
 
     val resizer: Option[Resizer] = if (config.hasPath("resizer")) {
-      val resizerConfig = deployment.getConfig("resizer")
-      Some(DefaultResizer(
-        lowerBound = resizerConfig.getInt("lower-bound"),
-        upperBound = resizerConfig.getInt("upper-bound"),
-        pressureThreshold = resizerConfig.getInt("pressure-threshold"),
-        rampupRate = resizerConfig.getDouble("rampup-rate"),
-        backoffThreshold = resizerConfig.getDouble("backoff-threshold"),
-        backoffRate = resizerConfig.getDouble("backoff-rate"),
-        stopDelay = Duration(resizerConfig.getMilliseconds("stop-delay"), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS),
-        messagesPerResize = resizerConfig.getInt("messages-per-resize")))
+      Some(DefaultResizer(deployment.getConfig("resizer")))
     } else {
       None
     }
@@ -77,7 +69,17 @@ class Deployer(val settings: ActorSystem.Settings) {
       case "smallest-mailbox" ⇒ SmallestMailboxRouter(nrOfInstances, routees, resizer)
       case "scatter-gather"   ⇒ ScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(nrOfInstances, routees, within, resizer)
       case "broadcast"        ⇒ BroadcastRouter(nrOfInstances, routees, resizer)
-      case x                  ⇒ throw new ConfigurationException("unknown router type " + x + " for path " + key)
+      case fqn ⇒
+        val constructorSignature = Array[Class[_]](classOf[Config])
+        ReflectiveAccess.createInstance[RouterConfig](fqn, constructorSignature, Array[AnyRef](deployment)) match {
+          case Right(router) ⇒ router
+          case Left(exception) ⇒
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+              ("Cannot instantiate router [%s], defined in [%s], " +
+                "make sure it extends [akka.routing.RouterConfig] and has constructor with " +
+                "[com.typesafe.config.Config] parameter")
+                .format(fqn, key), exception)
+        }
     }
 
     val recipe: Option[ActorRecipe] =
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
index f3065788ec..0473f99fd6 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@ import akka.actor._
 import akka.dispatch.Future
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import akka.util.{ Duration, Timeout }
 import akka.util.duration._
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 import akka.config.ConfigurationException
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions.iterableAsScalaIterable
 
@@ -760,6 +762,19 @@ trait Resizer {
   def resize(props: Props, actorContext: ActorContext, currentRoutees: IndexedSeq[ActorRef], routerConfig: RouterConfig)
 }
 
+case object DefaultResizer {
+  def apply(resizerConfig: Config): DefaultResizer =
+    DefaultResizer(
+      lowerBound = resizerConfig.getInt("lower-bound"),
+      upperBound = resizerConfig.getInt("upper-bound"),
+      pressureThreshold = resizerConfig.getInt("pressure-threshold"),
+      rampupRate = resizerConfig.getDouble("rampup-rate"),
+      backoffThreshold = resizerConfig.getDouble("backoff-threshold"),
+      backoffRate = resizerConfig.getDouble("backoff-rate"),
+      stopDelay = Duration(resizerConfig.getMilliseconds("stop-delay"), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS),
+      messagesPerResize = resizerConfig.getInt("messages-per-resize"))
+}
+
 case class DefaultResizer(
   /**
    * The fewest number of routees the router should ever have.
diff --git a/akka-docs/java/routing.rst b/akka-docs/java/routing.rst
index cdcc869b2a..42ad1108ea 100644
--- a/akka-docs/java/routing.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/java/routing.rst
@@ -256,6 +256,14 @@ If you are interested in how to use the VoteCountRouter it looks like this:
 
 .. includecode:: code/akka/docs/jrouting/CustomRouterDocTestBase.java#crTest
 
+Configured Custom Router
+************************
+
+It is possible to define configuration properties for custom routers. In the ``router`` property of the deployment
+configuration you define the fully qualified class name of the router class. The router class must extend
+``akka.routing.CustomRouterConfig`` and and have constructor with ``com.typesafe.config.Config`` parameter.
+The deployment section of the configuration is passed to the constructor.
+
 Custom Resizer
 **************
 
diff --git a/akka-docs/scala/routing.rst b/akka-docs/scala/routing.rst
index 4e75be8798..5b2ed24d28 100644
--- a/akka-docs/scala/routing.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/scala/routing.rst
@@ -255,6 +255,14 @@ All in all the custom router looks like this:
 If you are interested in how to use the VoteCountRouter you can have a look at the test class
 `RoutingSpec <https://github.com/jboner/akka/blob/master/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala>`_
 
+Configured Custom Router
+************************
+
+It is possible to define configuration properties for custom routers. In the ``router`` property of the deployment
+configuration you define the fully qualified class name of the router class. The router class must extend
+``akka.routing.RouterConfig`` and and have constructor with ``com.typesafe.config.Config`` parameter.
+The deployment section of the configuration is passed to the constructor.
+
 Custom Resizer
 **************