diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/Gossiper.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/Gossiper.scala
index 6e7120aabd..73e975ad91 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/Gossiper.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/Gossiper.scala
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ case class Gossip(
     leader: InetSocketAddress, // FIXME leader is always head of 'members', so we probably don't need this field
     members: SortedSet[Member] = SortetSet.empty[Member](Ordering.fromLessThan[String](_ > _)), // sorted set of members with their status, sorted by name
     seen: Map[Member, VectorClock] = Map.empty[Member, VectorClock],                            // for ring convergence
-    pendingChanges: Vector[PendingPartitioningChange],                                          // for handoff
+    pendingChanges: Option[Vector[PendingPartitioningChange]] = None,                           // for handoff
     meta: Option[Map[String, Array[Byte]]] = None)                                              // misc meta-data
 
   case class Member(address: InetSocketAddress, status: MemberStatus)
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/VectorClock.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/VectorClock.scala
index 9515a859e2..c734bc0ea0 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/VectorClock.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/VectorClock.scala
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ case class VectorClock(
 
   def maxVersion: Long = versions.foldLeft(1L)((max, entry) ⇒ math.max(max, entry.version))
 
-  // FIXME implement VectorClock.merge
+  // FIXME Do we need to implement VectorClock.merge?
   def merge(other: VectorClock): VectorClock = {
     sys.error("Not implemented")
   }