diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
index 63ce310848..7a86c47c51 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
@@ -189,3 +189,13 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(
     buildThreadPool
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Usable to create a single-threaded dispatcher
+ */
+object SingleThread extends Function1[ThreadPoolBuilder,Unit] {
+  def apply(b: ThreadPoolBuilder) {
+    b setCorePoolSize 1
+    b setMaxPoolSize  1
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadBasedDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadBasedDispatcher.scala
index eda5a86a9e..090be85cee 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadBasedDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadBasedDispatcher.scala
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config.config
 import concurrent.forkjoin.{TransferQueue, LinkedTransferQueue}
 import java.util.concurrent.{ConcurrentLinkedQueue, BlockingQueue, TimeUnit, LinkedBlockingQueue}
 
+object ThreadBasedDispatcher {
+  def oneThread(b: ThreadPoolBuilder) {
+    b setCorePoolSize 1
+    b setMaxPoolSize 1
+    b setAllowCoreThreadTimeout true
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Dedicates a unique thread for each actor passed in as reference. Served through its messageQueue.
  *
@@ -18,16 +26,14 @@ import java.util.concurrent.{ConcurrentLinkedQueue, BlockingQueue, TimeUnit, Lin
  */
 class ThreadBasedDispatcher(private val actor: ActorRef,
                             val mailboxConfig: MailboxConfig
-                            ) extends MessageDispatcher {
+                            ) extends ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(
+                                actor.getClass.getName + ":" + actor.uuid,
+                                Dispatchers.THROUGHPUT,
+                                -1,
+                                mailboxConfig,
+                                ThreadBasedDispatcher.oneThread) {
   def this(actor: ActorRef, capacity: Int) = this(actor,MailboxConfig(capacity,None,true))
   def this(actor: ActorRef) = this(actor, Dispatchers.MAILBOX_CAPACITY)// For Java
-
-  private val name = actor.getClass.getName + ":" + actor.uuid
-  private val threadName = "akka:thread-based:dispatcher:" + name
-  private var selectorThread: Thread = _
-  @volatile private var active: Boolean = false
-
-  override def createMailbox(actorRef: ActorRef): AnyRef = mailboxConfig.newMailbox(blockDequeue = true)
   
   override def register(actorRef: ActorRef) = {
     if(actorRef != actor)
@@ -36,35 +42,5 @@ class ThreadBasedDispatcher(private val actor: ActorRef,
     super.register(actorRef)
   }
 
-  def mailbox = actor.mailbox.asInstanceOf[Queue[MessageInvocation] with MessageQueue]
-
-  def mailboxSize(a: ActorRef) = mailbox.size
-
-  def dispatch(invocation: MessageInvocation) = mailbox enqueue invocation
-
-  def start = if (!active) {
-    log.debug("Starting up %s", toString)
-    active = true
-    selectorThread = new Thread(threadName) {
-      override def run = {
-        while (active) {
-          try {
-            actor.invoke(mailbox.dequeue)
-          } catch { case e: InterruptedException => active = false }
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    selectorThread.start
-  }
-
-  def isShutdown = !active
-
-  def shutdown = if (active) {
-    log.debug("Shutting down %s", toString)
-    active = false
-    selectorThread.interrupt
-    uuids.clear
-  }
-
-  override def toString = "ThreadBasedDispatcher[" + threadName + "]"
+  override def toString = "ThreadBasedDispatcher[" + name + "]"
 }
\ No newline at end of file