diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
index f88f40fecf..870b74edd2 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/actor/ActorRef.scala
@@ -780,7 +780,7 @@ class LocalActorRef private[akka] (
     if (isShutdown) throw new ActorStartException(
       "Can't restart an actor that has been shut down with 'stop' or 'exit'")
     if (!isRunning) {
-      dispatcher.register(this)
+      dispatcher.attach(this)
       if (isTransactor)
         transactorConfig = transactorConfig.copy(factory = Some(TransactionFactory(transactorConfig.config, id)))
 
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ class LocalActorRef private[akka] (
     if (isRunning) {
       receiveTimeout = None
       cancelReceiveTimeout
-      dispatcher.unregister(this)
+      dispatcher.detach(this)
       transactorConfig = transactorConfig.copy(factory = None) 
       _status = ActorRefInternals.SHUTDOWN
       actor.postStop
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
index 49e94afc6f..2b0a7cbfe0 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
@@ -132,16 +132,15 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(
     case JMSBasedDurableMailbox(serializer)       => throw new UnsupportedOperationException("JMSBasedDurableMailbox is not yet supported")
   }
 
-  def start: Unit = if (active.isOff) active switchOn {
+  protected def start: Unit = active switchOn {
     log.debug("Starting up %s\n\twith throughput [%d]", toString, throughput)
   }
 
-  def shutdown: Unit = if (active.isOn) active switchOff {
+  protected def shutdown: Unit = active switchOff {
     val old = executorService.getAndSet(config.createLazyExecutorService(threadFactory))
     if (old ne null) {
       log.debug("Shutting down %s", toString)
       old.shutdownNow()
-      uuids.clear
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala
index 53296cce71..a6e40d2f50 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher.scala
@@ -170,16 +170,15 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher(
     } else false
   }
 
-  def start = active switchOn {
+  protected def start = active switchOn {
     log.debug("Starting up %s",toString)
   }
 
-  def shutdown: Unit = if (active.isOn) active switchOff {
+  protected def shutdown: Unit = active switchOff {
     val old = executorService.getAndSet(config.createLazyExecutorService(threadFactory))
     if (old ne null) {
       log.debug("Shutting down %s", toString)
       old.shutdownNow()
-      uuids.clear
     }
   }
 
@@ -194,9 +193,6 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher(
     executorService.get() execute mbox
   }
 
-  def ensureNotActive(): Unit = if (active.isOn) throw new IllegalActorStateException(
-    "Can't build a new thread pool for a dispatcher that is already up and running")
-
   override val toString = "ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher[" + name + "]"
 
   def createTransientMailbox(actorRef: ActorRef, mailboxType: TransientMailboxType): AnyRef = mailboxType match {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
index c84a56e78d..1e18f057cf 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.{ActorRegistry, ActorRef, Uuid, ActorInit
 import org.multiverse.commitbarriers.CountDownCommitBarrier
 
 import java.util.concurrent._
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util. {Logging, HashCode}
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util. {ReentrantGuard, Logging, HashCode}
 
 /**
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
@@ -58,24 +58,33 @@ final class MessageInvocation(val receiver: ActorRef,
 trait MessageDispatcher extends MailboxFactory with Logging {
   
   protected val uuids = new ConcurrentSkipListSet[Uuid]
+  protected val guard = new ReentrantGuard
 
-  def register(actorRef: ActorRef) {
-    start
+  final def attach(actorRef: ActorRef): Unit = guard withGuard {
+    register(actorRef)
+  }
+
+  final def detach(actorRef: ActorRef): Unit = guard withGuard {
+    unregister(actorRef)
+  }
+
+  protected def register(actorRef: ActorRef) {
+    if (uuids.isEmpty()) start
     if (actorRef.mailbox eq null) actorRef.mailbox = createMailbox(actorRef)
     uuids add actorRef.uuid
   }
   
-  def unregister(actorRef: ActorRef) = {
-    uuids remove actorRef.uuid
-    actorRef.mailbox = null
-    if (uuids.isEmpty) shutdown // shut down in the dispatcher's references is zero
+  protected def unregister(actorRef: ActorRef) = {
+    if (uuids remove actorRef.uuid) {
+      actorRef.mailbox = null
+      if (uuids.isEmpty) shutdown // shut down in the dispatcher's references is zero
+    }
   }
 
   def stopAllLinkedActors {
     val i = uuids.iterator
     while(i.hasNext()) {
       val uuid = i.next()
-      i.remove()
       ActorRegistry.actorFor(uuid) match {
         case Some(actor) => actor.stop
         case None => log.warn("stopAllLinkedActors couldn't find linked actor: " + uuid)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
index ef53e81eac..0e1a1ceafb 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ThreadPoolBuilder.scala
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent._
 import atomic.{AtomicLong, AtomicInteger}
 import ThreadPoolExecutor.CallerRunsPolicy
 
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.IllegalActorStateException
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util. {Duration, Logger, Logging}
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util. {Duration, Logging}
 
 object ThreadPoolConfig {
   type Bounds = Int
@@ -194,7 +193,7 @@ class MonitorableThread(runnable: Runnable, name: String)
 /**
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
-class BoundedExecutorDecorator(val executor: ExecutorService, bound: Int) extends ExecutorServiceDelegate with Logging {
+class BoundedExecutorDecorator(val executor: ExecutorService, bound: Int) extends ExecutorServiceDelegate {
   protected val semaphore = new Semaphore(bound)
 
   override def execute(command: Runnable) = {
@@ -219,7 +218,7 @@ class BoundedExecutorDecorator(val executor: ExecutorService, bound: Int) extend
   }
 }
 
-trait ExecutorServiceDelegate extends ExecutorService {
+trait ExecutorServiceDelegate extends ExecutorService with Logging {
 
   def executor: ExecutorService
 
@@ -254,7 +253,10 @@ trait LazyExecutorService extends ExecutorServiceDelegate {
 
   def createExecutor: ExecutorService
 
-  lazy val executor = createExecutor
+  lazy val executor = {
+    log.info("Lazily initializing ExecutorService for ",this)
+    createExecutor
+  }
 }
 
 class LazyExecutorServiceWrapper(executorFactory: => ExecutorService) extends LazyExecutorService {
diff --git a/akka-spring/src/test/scala/DispatcherSpringFeatureTest.scala b/akka-spring/src/test/scala/DispatcherSpringFeatureTest.scala
index a5ae40ff16..fac5358fc3 100644
--- a/akka-spring/src/test/scala/DispatcherSpringFeatureTest.scala
+++ b/akka-spring/src/test/scala/DispatcherSpringFeatureTest.scala
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ class DispatcherSpringFeatureTest extends FeatureSpec with ShouldMatchers {
     }
 
     unpackExecutorService(dispatcher match {
-      case e: ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher => e.start; e.executorService.get()
-      case e: ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher => e.start; e.executorService.get()
+      case e: ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher => e.executorService.get()
+      case e: ExecutorBasedEventDrivenWorkStealingDispatcher => e.executorService.get()
       case x => throw new IllegalStateException("Illegal dispatcher type: " + x)
     }).asInstanceOf[ThreadPoolExecutor]
   }