diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
index 45b1dfa886..5cbb6b3c8b 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher.scala
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ class ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher(
     }
   }
 
+
   private[akka] def registerForExecution(mbox: MessageQueue with ExecutableMailbox): Unit = if (active.isOn) {
     if (mbox.suspended.isOff && mbox.dispatcherLock.tryLock()) {
       try {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
index 919d4b674d..a7bc8165aa 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package se.scalablesolutions.akka.dispatch
 import org.multiverse.commitbarriers.CountDownCommitBarrier
 
 import java.util.concurrent._
+import atomic. {AtomicReference, AtomicLong}
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util. {Switch, ReentrantGuard, Logging, HashCode}
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor._
 
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ final class MessageInvocation(val receiver: ActorRef,
 trait MessageDispatcher extends MailboxFactory with Logging {
   protected val uuids = new ConcurrentSkipListSet[Uuid]
   protected val guard = new ReentrantGuard
+  private val scheduledShutdown = new AtomicReference[ScheduledFuture[AnyRef]](null)
   protected val active = new Switch(false)
 
   /**
@@ -78,22 +80,30 @@ trait MessageDispatcher extends MailboxFactory with Logging {
   } else throw new IllegalActorStateException("Can't submit invocations to dispatcher since it's not started")
 
   protected def register(actorRef: ActorRef) {
-    if (uuids.isEmpty()) {
+    if (actorRef.mailbox eq null) actorRef.mailbox = createMailbox(actorRef)
+    if (uuids add actorRef.uuid) {
+      val future = scheduledShutdown.getAndSet(null)
+      if (future ne null) future.cancel(false)
+    }
+    if (active.isOff) {
       active.switchOn {
         start
       }
     }
-    if (actorRef.mailbox eq null) actorRef.mailbox = createMailbox(actorRef)
-    uuids add actorRef.uuid
   }
   
   protected def unregister(actorRef: ActorRef) = {
     if (uuids remove actorRef.uuid) {
       actorRef.mailbox = null
       if (uuids.isEmpty){
-        active switchOff {
-          shutdown // shut down in the dispatcher's references is zero
-        }
+        val future = scheduledShutdown.getAndSet(Scheduler.scheduleOnce(() => guard withGuard {
+          if (uuids.isEmpty()) {
+            active switchOff {
+              shutdown // shut down in the dispatcher's references is zero
+            }
+          }
+        }, 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
+        if (future ne null) future.cancel(false)
       }
     }
   }