diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
index a1eb6bd309..39a354a831 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
@@ -656,9 +656,9 @@ trait Actor extends TransactionManagement {
    * To be invoked from within the actor itself.
    */
   protected[this] def link(actor: Actor) = {
-    getLinkedActors.add(actor)
     if (actor._supervisor.isDefined) throw new IllegalStateException(
       "Actor can only have one supervisor [" + actor + "], e.g. link(actor) fails")
+    getLinkedActors.add(actor)
     actor._supervisor = Some(this)
     Actor.log.debug("Linking actor [%s] to actor [%s]", actor, this)
   }