diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/dispatch/MailboxConfigSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/dispatch/MailboxConfigSpec.scala
index de3ec03fae..534c4a757d 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/dispatch/MailboxConfigSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/dispatch/MailboxConfigSpec.scala
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import akka.util.duration._
 import akka.testkit.AkkaSpec
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
 import akka.actor.ActorContext
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 @org.junit.runner.RunWith(classOf[org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner])
 abstract class MailboxSpec extends AkkaSpec with BeforeAndAfterAll with BeforeAndAfterEach {
@@ -152,10 +153,14 @@ class PriorityMailboxSpec extends MailboxSpec {
 object CustomMailboxSpec {
   val config = """
     my-dispatcher {
-       mailboxType = "akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxSpec$MyMailbox"
+       mailboxType = "akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxSpec$MyMailboxType"
     }
     """
 
+  class MyMailboxType(config: Config) extends MailboxType {
+    override def create(owner: ActorContext) = new MyMailbox(owner)
+  }
+
   class MyMailbox(owner: ActorContext) extends CustomMailbox(owner)
     with QueueBasedMessageQueue with UnboundedMessageQueueSemantics with DefaultSystemMessageQueue {
     final val queue = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue[Envelope]()
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index eb2f79f5fc..42993515e8 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -166,7 +166,8 @@ akka {
       mailbox-push-timeout-time = 10s
 
       # FQCN of the MailboxType, if not specified the default bounded or unbounded
-      # mailbox is used.
+      # mailbox is used. The Class of the FQCN must have a constructor with a
+      # com.typesafe.config.Config parameter.
       mailboxType = ""
     }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
index d6addcb144..997623195f 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/AbstractDispatcher.scala
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import akka.event.EventStream
 import akka.actor.ActorSystem.Settings
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
+import akka.util.ReflectiveAccess
 
 final case class Envelope(val message: Any, val sender: ActorRef) {
   if (message.isInstanceOf[AnyRef] && (message.asInstanceOf[AnyRef] eq null)) throw new InvalidMessageException("Message is null")
@@ -282,9 +283,10 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcherConfigurator(val config: Config, val prerequisit
 
   /**
    * Returns a factory for the [[akka.dispatch.Mailbox]] given the configuration.
-   * Default implementation use [[akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType]] if
-   * mailboxType config property is specified, otherwise [[akka.dispatch.UnboundedMailbox]]
-   * when capacity is < 1, otherwise [[akka.dispatch.BoundedMailbox]].
+   * Default implementation instantiate the [[akka.dispatch.MailboxType]] specified
+   * as FQCN in mailboxType config property. If mailboxType is unspecified (empty)
+   * then [[akka.dispatch.UnboundedMailbox]] is used when capacity is < 1,
+   * otherwise [[akka.dispatch.BoundedMailbox]].
    */
   def mailboxType(): MailboxType = {
     config.getString("mailboxType") match {
@@ -295,7 +297,16 @@ abstract class MessageDispatcherConfigurator(val config: Config, val prerequisit
           val duration = Duration(config.getNanoseconds("mailbox-push-timeout-time"), TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS)
           BoundedMailbox(capacity, duration)
         }
-      case fqn ⇒ new CustomMailboxType(fqn)
+      case fqcn ⇒
+        val constructorSignature = Array[Class[_]](classOf[Config])
+        ReflectiveAccess.createInstance[MailboxType](fqcn, constructorSignature, Array[AnyRef](config)) match {
+          case Right(instance) ⇒ instance
+          case Left(exception) ⇒
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+              ("Cannot instantiate MailboxType [%s], defined in [%s], " +
+                "make sure it has constructor with a [com.typesafe.config.Config] parameter")
+                .format(fqcn, config.getString("id")), exception)
+        }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
index 86b286e916..bb0f845aba 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailbox.scala
@@ -37,6 +37,13 @@ object Mailbox {
 
 /**
  * Custom mailbox implementations are implemented by extending this class.
+ * E.g.
+ * <pre<code>
+ * class MyMailbox(owner: ActorContext) extends CustomMailbox(owner)
+ *   with QueueBasedMessageQueue with UnboundedMessageQueueSemantics with DefaultSystemMessageQueue {
+ *   val queue = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue[Envelope]()
+ * }
+ * </code></pre>
  */
 abstract class CustomMailbox(val actorContext: ActorContext) extends Mailbox(actorContext.asInstanceOf[ActorCell])
 
@@ -373,29 +380,3 @@ case class BoundedPriorityMailbox( final val cmp: Comparator[Envelope], final va
     }
 }
 
-/**
- * Mailbox factory that creates instantiates the implementation from a
- * fully qualified class name. The implementation class must have
- * a constructor with a [[akka.actor.ActorContext]] parameter.
- * E.g.
- * <pre<code>
- * class MyMailbox(owner: ActorContext) extends CustomMailbox(owner)
- *   with QueueBasedMessageQueue with UnboundedMessageQueueSemantics with DefaultSystemMessageQueue {
- *   val queue = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue[Envelope]()
- * }
- * </code></pre>
- */
-class CustomMailboxType(mailboxFQN: String) extends MailboxType {
-
-  override def create(receiver: ActorContext): Mailbox = {
-    val constructorSignature = Array[Class[_]](classOf[ActorContext])
-    ReflectiveAccess.createInstance[Mailbox](mailboxFQN, constructorSignature, Array[AnyRef](receiver)) match {
-      case Right(instance) ⇒ instance
-      case Left(exception) ⇒
-        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot instantiate mailbox [%s] due to: %s".
-          format(mailboxFQN, exception.toString))
-    }
-  }
-
-}
-
diff --git a/akka-docs/modules/code/akka/docs/actor/mailbox/DurableMailboxDocSpec.scala b/akka-docs/modules/code/akka/docs/actor/mailbox/DurableMailboxDocSpec.scala
index c7d396ec4a..9e7a0fd6dc 100644
--- a/akka-docs/modules/code/akka/docs/actor/mailbox/DurableMailboxDocSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-docs/modules/code/akka/docs/actor/mailbox/DurableMailboxDocSpec.scala
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ object DurableMailboxDocSpec {
   val config = """
     //#dispatcher-config
     my-dispatcher {
-      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.FileBasedMailbox
+      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.FileBasedMailboxType
     }
     //#dispatcher-config
     """
diff --git a/akka-docs/modules/durable-mailbox.rst b/akka-docs/modules/durable-mailbox.rst
index 2f6ca9e261..dc83522705 100644
--- a/akka-docs/modules/durable-mailbox.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/modules/durable-mailbox.rst
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ You configure durable mailboxes through the dispatcher, as described in
 Config::
 
   my-dispatcher {
-    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.FileBasedMailbox
+    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.FileBasedMailboxType
   }
 
 You can also configure and tune the file-based durable mailbox. This is done in
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ You configure durable mailboxes through the dispatcher, as described in
 Config::
 
   my-dispatcher {
-    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.RedisBasedMailbox
+    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.RedisBasedMailboxType
   }
 
 You also need to configure the IP and port for the Redis server. This is done in
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ You configure durable mailboxes through the dispatcher, as described in
 Config::
 
   my-dispatcher {
-    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.ZooKeeperBasedMailbox
+    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.ZooKeeperBasedMailboxType
   }
 
 You also need to configure ZooKeeper server addresses, timeouts, etc. This is
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ You configure durable mailboxes through the dispatcher, as described in
 Config::
 
   my-dispatcher {
-    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.BeanstalkBasedMailbox
+    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.BeanstalkBasedMailboxType
   }
 
 You also need to configure the IP, and port, and so on, for the Beanstalk
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ You configure durable mailboxes through the dispatcher, as described in
 Config::
 
   my-dispatcher {
-    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.MongoBasedMailbox
+    mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.MongoBasedMailboxType
   }
 
 You will need to configure the URI for the MongoDB server, using the URI Format specified in the
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailbox.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailbox.scala
index 57d7b3e098..cd9186388e 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailbox.scala
@@ -13,9 +13,15 @@ import akka.actor.ActorContext
 import akka.dispatch.Envelope
 import akka.event.Logging
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
+import akka.dispatch.MailboxType
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 class BeanstalkBasedMailboxException(message: String) extends AkkaException(message) {}
 
+class BeanstalkBasedMailboxType(config: Config) extends MailboxType {
+  override def create(owner: ActorContext) = new BeanstalkBasedMailbox(owner)
+}
+
 /**
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailboxSpec.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailboxSpec.scala
index e306545056..f7ed2e71ac 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailboxSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-beanstalk-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/BeanstalkBasedMailboxSpec.scala
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 package akka.actor.mailbox
 
-import akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType
-
 object BeanstalkBasedMailboxSpec {
   val config = """
     Beanstalkd-dispatcher {
-      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.BeanstalkBasedMailbox
+      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.BeanstalkBasedMailboxType
       throughput = 1
     }
     """
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FiledBasedMailbox.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FiledBasedMailbox.scala
index 55c96ea65c..2accd9fb20 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FiledBasedMailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FiledBasedMailbox.scala
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ import akka.actor.ActorContext
 import akka.dispatch.Envelope
 import akka.event.Logging
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
+import akka.dispatch.MailboxType
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
+
+class FileBasedMailboxType(config: Config) extends MailboxType {
+  override def create(owner: ActorContext) = new FileBasedMailbox(owner)
+}
 
 class FileBasedMailbox(val owner: ActorContext) extends DurableMailbox(owner) with DurableMessageSerialization {
 
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FileBasedMailboxSpec.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FileBasedMailboxSpec.scala
index 30278fca5a..3f202ddc5a 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FileBasedMailboxSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-file-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/FileBasedMailboxSpec.scala
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 package akka.actor.mailbox
 
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils
-import akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType
 
 object FileBasedMailboxSpec {
   val config = """
     File-dispatcher {
-      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.FileBasedMailbox
+      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.FileBasedMailboxType
       throughput = 1
     }
     """
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mailboxes-common/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/DurableMailbox.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mailboxes-common/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/DurableMailbox.scala
index c8f9026cbf..6a474c8ab7 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mailboxes-common/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/DurableMailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mailboxes-common/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/DurableMailbox.scala
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider
 import akka.remote.netty.NettyRemoteServer
 import akka.serialization.Serialization
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
-import akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType
 
 private[akka] object DurableExecutableMailboxConfig {
   val Name = "[\\.\\/\\$\\s]".r
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailbox.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailbox.scala
index b404e3c844..dfb8e3a481 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailbox.scala
@@ -12,9 +12,15 @@ import akka.event.Logging
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
 import akka.dispatch.{ Await, Promise, Envelope, DefaultPromise }
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
+import akka.dispatch.MailboxType
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 class MongoBasedMailboxException(message: String) extends AkkaException(message)
 
+class MongoBasedMailboxType(config: Config) extends MailboxType {
+  override def create(owner: ActorContext) = new MongoBasedMailbox(owner)
+}
+
 /**
  * A "naive" durable mailbox which uses findAndRemove; it's possible if the actor crashes
  * after consuming a message that the message could be lost.
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailboxSpec.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailboxSpec.scala
index 59e3c3785c..0167af12aa 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailboxSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-mongo-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/MongoBasedMailboxSpec.scala
@@ -8,12 +8,11 @@ import akka.actor._
 import akka.actor.Actor._
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch
 import akka.dispatch.MessageDispatcher
-import akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType
 
 object MongoBasedMailboxSpec {
   val config = """
     mongodb-dispatcher {
-      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.MongoBasedMailbox
+      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.MongoBasedMailboxType
       throughput = 1
     }
     """
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailbox.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailbox.scala
index 21c5555590..6d0f173bbf 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailbox.scala
@@ -10,9 +10,15 @@ import akka.actor.ActorContext
 import akka.dispatch.Envelope
 import akka.event.Logging
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
+import akka.dispatch.MailboxType
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 class RedisBasedMailboxException(message: String) extends AkkaException(message)
 
+class RedisBasedMailboxType(config: Config) extends MailboxType {
+  override def create(owner: ActorContext) = new RedisBasedMailbox(owner)
+}
+
 class RedisBasedMailbox(val owner: ActorContext) extends DurableMailbox(owner) with DurableMessageSerialization {
 
   private val settings = RedisBasedMailboxExtension(owner.system)
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailboxSpec.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailboxSpec.scala
index efcf483915..15bad81d2f 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailboxSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-redis-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/RedisBasedMailboxSpec.scala
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 package akka.actor.mailbox
-import akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType
 
 object RedisBasedMailboxSpec {
   val config = """
     Redis-dispatcher {
-      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.RedisBasedMailbox
+      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.RedisBasedMailboxType
       throughput = 1
     }
     """
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailbox.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailbox.scala
index 1cdedba25d..4309da402a 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailbox.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/main/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailbox.scala
@@ -14,9 +14,15 @@ import akka.dispatch.Envelope
 import akka.event.Logging
 import akka.cluster.zookeeper.ZooKeeperQueue
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
+import akka.dispatch.MailboxType
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 class ZooKeeperBasedMailboxException(message: String) extends AkkaException(message)
 
+class ZooKeeperBasedMailboxType(config: Config) extends MailboxType {
+  override def create(owner: ActorContext) = new ZooKeeperBasedMailbox(owner)
+}
+
 class ZooKeeperBasedMailbox(val owner: ActorContext) extends DurableMailbox(owner) with DurableMessageSerialization {
 
   private val settings = ZooKeeperBasedMailboxExtension(owner.system)
diff --git a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailboxSpec.scala b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailboxSpec.scala
index ce13d9fffc..e5af760f40 100644
--- a/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailboxSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-durable-mailboxes/akka-zookeeper-mailbox/src/test/scala/akka/actor/mailbox/ZooKeeperBasedMailboxSpec.scala
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@ import akka.actor.{ Actor, LocalActorRef }
 import akka.cluster.zookeeper._
 import org.I0Itec.zkclient._
 import akka.dispatch.MessageDispatcher
-import akka.dispatch.CustomMailboxType
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
 
 object ZooKeeperBasedMailboxSpec {
   val config = """
     ZooKeeper-dispatcher {
-      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.ZooKeeperBasedMailbox
+      mailboxType = akka.actor.mailbox.ZooKeeperBasedMailboxType
       throughput = 1
     }
     """