diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/akka-serializer.conf b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/akka-serializer.conf
index 324adb5c96..d1e948840e 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/akka-serializer.conf
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/akka-serializer.conf
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ akka {
       default = "akka.serialization.JavaSerializer"
     }
 
-    bindings {
+    serialization-bindings {
       java = ["akka.serialization.SerializeSpec$Address", "akka.serialization.MyJavaSerializableActor", "akka.serialization.MyStatelessActorWithMessagesInMailbox", "akka.serialization.MyActorWithProtobufMessagesInMailbox"]
       sjson = ["akka.serialization.SerializeSpec$Person"]
       proto = ["com.google.protobuf.Message", "akka.actor.ProtobufProtocol$MyMessage"]
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/config/Config.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/config/Config.scala
index d1f8412d1a..1dc2fa4cf2 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/config/Config.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/config/Config.scala
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ object Config {
 
   val serializers = config.getSection("akka.actor.serializers").map(_.map).getOrElse(Map("default" -> "akka.serialization.JavaSerializer"))
 
-  val bindings = config.getSection("akka.actor.bindings")
+  val bindings = config.getSection("akka.actor.serialization-bindings")
     .map(_.map)
     .map(m ⇒ Map() ++ m.map { case (k, v: List[String]) ⇒ Map() ++ v.map((_, k)) }.flatten)
 
diff --git a/config/akka-reference.conf b/config/akka-reference.conf
index edd36f3c92..187935a0b6 100644
--- a/config/akka-reference.conf
+++ b/config/akka-reference.conf
@@ -137,6 +137,23 @@ akka {
         message-time-to-live = 120
       }
     }
+
+    # entries for pluggable serializers and their bindings
+    # if a binding for a specific class is not found, then the default
+    # serializer is used
+    #
+    # serializers {
+    #   java = "akka.serialization.JavaSerializer"
+    #   proto = "akka.testing.ProtobufSerializer"
+    #   sjson = "akka.testing.SJSONSerializer"
+    #   default = "akka.serialization.JavaSerializer"
+    # }
+
+    # serialization-bindings {
+    #   java = ["akka.serialization.SerializeSpec$Address", "akka.serialization.MyJavaSerializableActor", "akka.serialization.MyStatelessActorWithMessagesInMailbox", "akka.serialization.MyActorWithProtobufMessagesInMailbox"]
+    #   sjson = ["akka.serialization.SerializeSpec$Person"]
+    #   proto = ["com.google.protobuf.Message", "akka.actor.ProtobufProtocol$MyMessage"]
+    # }
   }
 
   cluster {