diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala
index f6386bef82..2d19f7a518 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatcher.scala
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import akka.actor.ActorSystem
  *     .setCorePoolSize(16)
  *     .setMaxPoolSize(128)
  *     .setKeepAliveTimeInMillis(60000)
- *     .setRejectionPolicy(new CallerRunsPolicy)
  *     .buildThreadPool
  * </pre>
  * <p/>
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@ import akka.actor.ActorSystem
  *     .setCorePoolSize(16)
  *     .setMaxPoolSize(128)
  *     .setKeepAliveTimeInMillis(60000)
- *     .setRejectionPolicy(new CallerRunsPolicy())
  *     .buildThreadPool();
  * </pre>
  * <p/>
@@ -123,7 +121,13 @@ class Dispatcher(
           executorService.get() execute mbox
           true
         } catch {
-          case e: RejectedExecutionException ⇒ executorService.get() execute mbox; true //Retry once
+          case e: RejectedExecutionException ⇒
+            try {
+              executorService.get() execute mbox
+              true
+            } catch { //Retry once
+              case e: RejectedExecutionException ⇒ mbox.setAsIdle(); throw e
+            }
         }
       } else false
     } else false
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
index 2797652f77..65eef3821d 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import akka.actor.ActorSystem
  *     .setCorePoolSize(16)
  *     .setMaxPoolSize(128)
  *     .setKeepAliveTimeInMillis(60000)
- *     .setRejectionPolicy(new CallerRunsPolicy)
  *     .build
  * </pre>
  * <p/>
@@ -36,7 +35,6 @@ import akka.actor.ActorSystem
  *     .setCorePoolSize(16)
  *     .setMaxPoolSize(128)
  *     .setKeepAliveTimeInMillis(60000)
- *     .setRejectionPolicy(new CallerRunsPolicy())
  *     .build();
  * </pre>
  * <p/>
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
index 6a9c2c55c4..6cb927a5dd 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ package akka.dispatch
 import java.util.Collection
 import java.util.concurrent._
 import atomic.{ AtomicLong, AtomicInteger }
-import ThreadPoolExecutor.CallerRunsPolicy
 import akka.util.Duration
 import akka.event.Logging.{ Warning, Error }
 import akka.actor.ActorSystem
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.{ AbortPolicy }
 
 object ThreadPoolConfig {
   type Bounds = Int
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ object ThreadPoolConfig {
   val defaultCorePoolSize: Int = 16
   val defaultMaxPoolSize: Int = 128
   val defaultTimeout: Duration = Duration(60000L, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
-  def defaultFlowHandler: FlowHandler = flowHandler(new CallerRunsPolicy)
+  def defaultFlowHandler: FlowHandler = flowHandler(new AbortPolicy)
 
   def flowHandler(rejectionHandler: RejectedExecutionHandler): FlowHandler = Left(rejectionHandler)
   def flowHandler(bounds: Int): FlowHandler = Right(bounds)
diff --git a/config/akka-reference.conf b/config/akka-reference.conf
index 0aa5a8d8b3..6abc7cc91c 100644
--- a/config/akka-reference.conf
+++ b/config/akka-reference.conf
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ akka {
       task-queue-size = -1             # Specifies the bounded capacity of the task queue (< 1 == unbounded)
       task-queue-type = "linked"       # Specifies which type of task queue will be used, can be "array" or "linked" (default)
       allow-core-timeout = on          # Allow core threads to time out
-      rejection-policy = "caller-runs" # abort, caller-runs, discard-oldest, discard
+      rejection-policy = "abort"       # abort, caller-runs, discard-oldest, discard
       throughput = 5                   # Throughput for Dispatcher, set to 1 for complete fairness
       throughput-deadline-time = -1    # Throughput deadline for Dispatcher, set to 0 or negative for no deadline
       mailbox-capacity = -1            # If negative (or zero) then an unbounded mailbox is used (default)
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ akka {
       task-queue-size = -1             # Specifies the bounded capacity of the task queue (< 1 == unbounded)
       task-queue-type = "linked"       # Specifies which type of task queue will be used, can be "array" or "linked" (default)
       allow-core-timeout = on          # Allow core threads to time out
-      rejection-policy = "caller-runs" # abort, caller-runs, discard-oldest, discard
+      rejection-policy = "abort"       # abort, caller-runs, discard-oldest, discard
       throughput = 5                   # Throughput for Dispatcher, set to 1 for complete fairness
       throughput-deadline-time = -1    # Throughput deadline for Dispatcher, set to 0 or negative for no deadline
       mailbox-capacity = -1            # If negative (or zero) then an unbounded mailbox is used (default)