diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
index 803fd700cc..f33d3b1b24 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
@@ -177,23 +177,8 @@ object Dispatchers extends Logging {
   def from(cfg: ConfigMap): Option[MessageDispatcher] = {
     lazy val name = cfg.getString("name", UUID.newUuid.toString)
 
-    val dispatcher: Option[MessageDispatcher] = cfg.getString("type") map {
-      case "ReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDriven"       => newReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDrivenDispatcher(name)
-      case "ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealing"      => newExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher(name)
-      case "ExecutorBasedEventDriven"                  => newExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(name,cfg.getInt("throughput",THROUGHPUT))
-      case "ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDriven"         => newReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher(name)
-      case "Hawt"                                      => newHawtDispatcher(cfg.getBool("aggregate").getOrElse(true))
-      case "GlobalReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDriven" => globalReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDrivenDispatcher
-      case "GlobalReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDriven"   => globalReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher
-      case "GlobalExecutorBasedEventDriven"            => globalExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher
-      case "GlobalHawt"                                => globalHawtDispatcher
-
-      case unknown => throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown dispatcher type [%s]" format unknown)
-    }
-
-    dispatcher foreach {
-      case d: ThreadPoolBuilder => d.configureIfPossible( builder => {
-
+    def threadPoolConfig(b: ThreadPoolBuilder) {
+      b.configureIfPossible( builder => {
         cfg.getInt("keep-alive-ms").foreach(builder.setKeepAliveTimeInMillis(_))
         cfg.getDouble("core-pool-size-factor").foreach(builder.setCorePoolSizeFromFactor(_))
         cfg.getDouble("max-pool-size-factor").foreach(builder.setMaxPoolSizeFromFactor(_))
@@ -209,7 +194,20 @@ object Dispatchers extends Logging {
           case x => throw new IllegalArgumentException("[%s] is not a valid rejectionPolicy!" format x)
         }).foreach(builder.setRejectionPolicy(_))
       })
-      case _ =>
+    }
+
+    val dispatcher: Option[MessageDispatcher] = cfg.getString("type") map {
+      case "ReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDriven"       => new ReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDrivenDispatcher(name)
+      case "ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealing"      => new ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher(name,MAILBOX_CAPACITY,threadPoolConfig)
+      case "ExecutorBasedEventDriven"                  => new ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(name, cfg.getInt("throughput",THROUGHPUT),MAILBOX_CAPACITY,threadPoolConfig)
+      case "ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDriven"         => new ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher(name,threadPoolConfig)
+      case "Hawt"                                      => new HawtDispatcher(cfg.getBool("aggregate").getOrElse(true))
+      case "GlobalReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDriven" => globalReactorBasedSingleThreadEventDrivenDispatcher
+      case "GlobalReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDriven"   => globalReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher
+      case "GlobalExecutorBasedEventDriven"            => globalExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher
+      case "GlobalHawt"                                => globalHawtDispatcher
+
+      case unknown => throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown dispatcher type [%s]" format unknown)
     }
 
     dispatcher
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
index 5f8469eb84..c3ecf5ded7 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
@@ -65,10 +65,12 @@ import java.util.concurrent.{ConcurrentLinkedQueue, LinkedBlockingQueue}
 class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(
   _name: String,
   throughput: Int = Dispatchers.THROUGHPUT,
-  capacity: Int = Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY) extends MessageDispatcher with ThreadPoolBuilder {
+  capacity: Int = Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY,
+  config: (ThreadPoolBuilder) => Unit = _ => ()) extends MessageDispatcher with ThreadPoolBuilder {
 
   def this(_name: String, throughput: Int) = this(_name, throughput, Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY) // Needed for Java API usage
-  def this(_name: String) = this(_name, Dispatchers.THROUGHPUT) // Needed for Java API usage
+  def this(_name: String) = this(_name,Dispatchers.THROUGHPUT,Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY) // Needed for Java API usage
+
 
   mailboxCapacity = capacity
 
@@ -163,5 +165,9 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(
   override def toString = "ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher[" + name + "]"
 
   // FIXME: should we have an unbounded queue and not bounded as default ????
-  private[akka] def init = withNewThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity.buildThreadPool
+  private[akka] def init = {
+    withNewThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity
+    config(this)
+    buildThreadPool
+  }
 }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala
index f9409e91fb..9b1097213e 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.{Actor, ActorRef, IllegalActorStateExcept
  */
 class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher(
   _name: String,
-  capacity: Int = Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY) extends MessageDispatcher with ThreadPoolBuilder {
+  capacity: Int = Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY,
+  config: (ThreadPoolBuilder) => Unit = _ => ()) extends MessageDispatcher with ThreadPoolBuilder {
+
+  def this(_name: String, capacity: Int) = this(_name,capacity, _ => ())
+  
   mailboxCapacity = capacity
 
   @volatile private var active: Boolean = false
@@ -180,7 +184,11 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher(
 
   override def toString = "ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher[" + name + "]"
 
-  private[akka] def init = withNewThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity.buildThreadPool
+  private[akka] def init = {
+    withNewThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity
+    config(this)
+    buildThreadPool
+  }
 
   protected override def createMailbox(actorRef: ActorRef): AnyRef = {
     if (mailboxCapacity <= 0) new ConcurrentLinkedDeque[MessageInvocation]
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
index 1b01e90298..684f737c07 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
@@ -62,16 +62,18 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.{ActorRef, IllegalActorStateException}
  *
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
-class ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher(_name: String)
+class ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher(_name: String,config: (ThreadPoolBuilder) => Unit)
     extends AbstractReactorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher("akka:event-driven:reactor:dispatcher:" + _name)
     with ThreadPoolBuilder {
 
+  def this(_name: String) = this(_name,_ => ())
+  
   private var fair = true
   private val busyActors = new HashSet[AnyRef]
   private val messageDemultiplexer = new Demultiplexer(queue)
 
   // build default thread pool
-  withNewThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity.buildThreadPool
+  init
 
   def start = if (!active) {
     log.debug("Starting up %s", toString)
@@ -165,4 +167,10 @@ class ReactorBasedThreadPoolEventDrivenDispatcher(_name: String)
 
     def wakeUp = messageQueue.interrupt
   }
+
+  private[akka] def init = {
+    withNewThreadPoolWithLinkedBlockingQueueWithUnboundedCapacity
+    config(this)
+    buildThreadPool
+  }
 }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
index 9fe47d5415..9657ad3fe4 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ trait ThreadPoolBuilder extends Logging {
   def withNewThreadPoolWithCustomBlockingQueue(queue: BlockingQueue[Runnable]): ThreadPoolBuilder = synchronized {
     ensureNotActive
     verifyNotInConstructionPhase
-    inProcessOfBuilding = false
     blockingQueue = queue
     threadPoolBuilder = new ThreadPoolExecutor(NR_START_THREADS, NR_MAX_THREADS, KEEP_ALIVE_TIME, MILLISECONDS, queue)
     this