diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
index 5f295de702..486761279a 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends AkkaSpec(ActorSystemSpec.config) with ImplicitSend
       val t = probe.expectMsg(Terminated(a)(existenceConfirmed = true, addressTerminated = false))
       t.existenceConfirmed must be(true)
       t.addressTerminated must be(false)
+      system.shutdown()
     }
 
     "shut down when /user escalates" in {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
index 184478c727..a593c6dde8 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
@@ -550,6 +550,7 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
 
   def init(_system: ActorSystemImpl) {
     system = _system
+    rootGuardian.start()
     // chain death watchers so that killing guardian stops the application
     systemGuardian.sendSystemMessage(Watch(guardian, systemGuardian))
     rootGuardian.sendSystemMessage(Watch(systemGuardian, rootGuardian))
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
index 57f905ece8..352338f64a 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
@@ -184,6 +184,13 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcher(val prerequisites: DispatcherPrerequisites) ext
   @tailrec private final def addInhabitants(add: Long): Long = {
     val c = inhabitants
     val r = c + add
+    if (r < 0) {
+      // We haven't succeeded in decreasing the inhabitants yet but the simple fact that we're trying to
+      // go below zero means that there is an imbalance and we might as well throw the exception
+      val e = new IllegalStateException("ACTOR SYSTEM CORRUPTED!!! A dispatcher can't have less than 0 inhabitants!")
+      reportFailure(e)
+      throw e
+    }
     if (Unsafe.instance.compareAndSwapLong(this, inhabitantsOffset, c, r)) r else addInhabitants(add)
   }
 
@@ -236,18 +243,16 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcher(val prerequisites: DispatcherPrerequisites) ext
   }
 
   @tailrec
-  private final def ifSensibleToDoSoThenScheduleShutdown(): Unit = inhabitants match {
-    case 0 ⇒
-      shutdownSchedule match {
-        case UNSCHEDULED ⇒
-          if (updateShutdownSchedule(UNSCHEDULED, SCHEDULED)) scheduleShutdownAction()
-          else ifSensibleToDoSoThenScheduleShutdown()
-        case SCHEDULED ⇒
-          if (updateShutdownSchedule(SCHEDULED, RESCHEDULED)) ()
-          else ifSensibleToDoSoThenScheduleShutdown()
-        case RESCHEDULED ⇒
-      }
-    case _ ⇒
+  private final def ifSensibleToDoSoThenScheduleShutdown(): Unit = {
+    if (inhabitants <= 0) shutdownSchedule match {
+      case UNSCHEDULED ⇒
+        if (updateShutdownSchedule(UNSCHEDULED, SCHEDULED)) scheduleShutdownAction()
+        else ifSensibleToDoSoThenScheduleShutdown()
+      case SCHEDULED ⇒
+        if (updateShutdownSchedule(SCHEDULED, RESCHEDULED)) ()
+        else ifSensibleToDoSoThenScheduleShutdown()
+      case RESCHEDULED ⇒
+    }
   }
 
   private def scheduleShutdownAction(): Unit = {
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDaemon.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDaemon.scala
index d1add9522a..850518b245 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDaemon.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDaemon.scala
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ private[akka] class RemoteSystemDaemon(
                   path, systemService = false, Some(deploy), lookupDeploy = true, async = false)
                 addChild(subpath.mkString("/"), actor)
                 actor.sendSystemMessage(Watch(actor, this))
+                actor.start()
               }
               if (isTerminating) log.error("Skipping [{}] to RemoteSystemDaemon on [{}] while terminating", message, path.address)
             case _ ⇒