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 f47dc9d6bc..7abe7ac311 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
@@ -155,6 +155,17 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends AkkaSpec(ActorSystemSpec.config) with ImplicitSend
       system.extension(TestExtension).system must be === system
     }
 
+    "log dead letters" in {
+      val sys = ActorSystem("LogDeadLetters", ConfigFactory.parseString("akka.loglevel=INFO").withFallback(AkkaSpec.testConf))
+      try {
+        val a = sys.actorOf(Props[ActorSystemSpec.Terminater])
+        EventFilter.info(pattern = "not delivered", occurrences = 1).intercept {
+          a ! "run"
+          a ! "boom"
+        }(sys)
+      } finally shutdown(sys)
+    }
+
     "run termination callbacks in order" in {
       val system2 = ActorSystem("TerminationCallbacks", AkkaSpec.testConf)
       val result = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue[Int]
diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala
index 64a220be91..6b756dbbfc 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/config/ConfigSpec.scala
@@ -53,6 +53,12 @@ class ConfigSpec extends AkkaSpec(ConfigFactory.defaultReference(ActorSystem.fin
 
         getMilliseconds("akka.logger-startup-timeout") must be(5.seconds.toMillis)
         settings.LoggerStartTimeout.duration must be(5.seconds)
+
+        getInt("akka.log-dead-letters") must be(10)
+        settings.LogDeadLetters must be(10)
+
+        getBoolean("akka.log-dead-letters-during-shutdown") must be(true)
+        settings.LogDeadLettersDuringShutdown must be(true)
       }
 
       {
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 7dfa07792d..b73ad80258 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -40,6 +40,18 @@ akka {
   # This is useful when you are uncertain of what configuration is used.
   log-config-on-start = off
 
+  # Log at info level when messages are sent to dead letters.
+  # Possible values:
+  # on: all dead letters are logged
+  # off: no logging of dead letters
+  # n: positive integer, number of dead letters that will be logged
+  log-dead-letters = 10
+
+  # Possibility to turn off logging of dead letters while the actor system
+  # is shutting down. Logging is only done when enabled by 'log-dead-letters'
+  # setting.
+  log-dead-letters-during-shutdown = on
+
   # List FQCN of extensions which shall be loaded at actor system startup.
   # Should be on the format: 'extensions = ["foo", "bar"]' etc.
   # See the Akka Documentation for more info about Extensions
@@ -285,16 +297,16 @@ akka {
       # schedule idle actors using the same dispatcher when a message comes in,
       # and the dispatchers ExecutorService is not fully busy already.
       attempt-teamwork = on
-      
-      # If this dispatcher requires a specific type of mailbox, specify the 
-      # fully-qualified class name here; the actually created mailbox will 
+
+      # If this dispatcher requires a specific type of mailbox, specify the
+      # fully-qualified class name here; the actually created mailbox will
       # be a subtype of this type. The empty string signifies no requirement.
       mailbox-requirement = ""
     }
-    
+
     default-mailbox {
-      # FQCN of the MailboxType. The Class of the FQCN must have a public 
-      # constructor with 
+      # FQCN of the MailboxType. The Class of the FQCN must have a public
+      # constructor with
       # (akka.actor.ActorSystem.Settings, com.typesafe.config.Config) parameters.
       mailbox-type = "akka.dispatch.UnboundedMailbox"
 
@@ -305,7 +317,7 @@ akka {
       # this is no longer the case, the type must explicitly be a bounded mailbox.
       mailbox-capacity = 1000
 
-      # If the mailbox is bounded then this is the timeout for enqueueing 
+      # If the mailbox is bounded then this is the timeout for enqueueing
       # in case the mailbox is full. Negative values signify infinite
       # timeout, which should be avoided as it bears the risk of dead-lock.
       mailbox-push-timeout-time = 10s
@@ -359,7 +371,7 @@ akka {
         # com.typesafe.config.Config) parameters.
         mailbox-type = "akka.dispatch.UnboundedDequeBasedMailbox"
       }
-      
+
       bounded-deque-based {
         # FQCN of the MailboxType, The Class of the FQCN must have a public
         # constructor with (akka.actor.ActorSystem.Settings,
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index cb926d0d1c..b90f363e34 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -151,6 +151,12 @@ object ActorSystem {
     @deprecated("use LoggerStartTimeout)", "2.2")
     final val EventHandlerStartTimeout: Timeout = Timeout(Duration(getMilliseconds("akka.event-handler-startup-timeout"), MILLISECONDS))
     final val LogConfigOnStart: Boolean = config.getBoolean("akka.log-config-on-start")
+    final val LogDeadLetters: Int = config.getString("akka.log-dead-letters").toLowerCase match {
+      case "off" | "false" ⇒ 0
+      case "on" | "true"   ⇒ Int.MaxValue
+      case _               ⇒ config.getInt("akka.log-dead-letters")
+    }
+    final val LogDeadLettersDuringShutdown: Boolean = config.getBoolean("akka.log-dead-letters-during-shutdown")
 
     final val AddLoggingReceive: Boolean = getBoolean("akka.actor.debug.receive")
     final val DebugAutoReceive: Boolean = getBoolean("akka.actor.debug.autoreceive")
@@ -178,6 +184,7 @@ object ActorSystem {
      * Returns the String representation of the Config that this Settings is backed by
      */
     override def toString: String = config.root.render
+
   }
 
   /**
@@ -459,6 +466,7 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(val name: String, applicationConfig: Config,
 
   import ActorSystem._
 
+  @volatile private var logDeadLetterListener: Option[ActorRef] = None
   final val settings: Settings = new Settings(classLoader, applicationConfig, name)
 
   protected def uncaughtExceptionHandler: Thread.UncaughtExceptionHandler =
@@ -569,6 +577,8 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(val name: String, applicationConfig: Config,
   private lazy val _start: this.type = {
     // the provider is expected to start default loggers, LocalActorRefProvider does this
     provider.init(this)
+    if (settings.LogDeadLetters > 0)
+      logDeadLetterListener = Some(systemActorOf(Props[DeadLetterListener], "deadLetterListener"))
     registerOnTermination(stopScheduler())
     loadExtensions()
     if (LogConfigOnStart) logConfiguration()
@@ -589,7 +599,10 @@ private[akka] class ActorSystemImpl(val name: String, applicationConfig: Config,
   def awaitTermination() = awaitTermination(Duration.Inf)
   def isTerminated = terminationCallbacks.isTerminated
 
-  def shutdown(): Unit = guardian.stop()
+  def shutdown(): Unit = {
+    if (!settings.LogDeadLettersDuringShutdown) logDeadLetterListener foreach stop
+    guardian.stop()
+  }
 
   //#create-scheduler
   /**
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailboxes.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailboxes.scala
index 0a3a3e9fd9..46c647545e 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailboxes.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Mailboxes.scala
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@ private[akka] class Mailboxes(
   import Mailboxes._
 
   val deadLetterMailbox: Mailbox = new Mailbox(new MessageQueue {
-    def enqueue(receiver: ActorRef, envelope: Envelope): Unit =
-      deadLetters.tell(DeadLetter(envelope.message, envelope.sender, receiver), envelope.sender)
+    def enqueue(receiver: ActorRef, envelope: Envelope): Unit = envelope.message match {
+      case _: DeadLetter ⇒ // actor subscribing to DeadLetter, drop it
+      case msg           ⇒ deadLetters.tell(DeadLetter(msg, envelope.sender, receiver), envelope.sender)
+    }
     def dequeue() = null
     def hasMessages = false
     def numberOfMessages = 0
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/event/DeadLetterListener.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/event/DeadLetterListener.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a43db10289
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/event/DeadLetterListener.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright (C) 2009-2013 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.event
+
+import akka.actor.Actor
+import akka.actor.DeadLetter
+import akka.event.Logging.Info
+
+class DeadLetterListener extends Actor {
+
+  val eventStream = context.system.eventStream
+  val maxCount = context.system.settings.LogDeadLetters
+  var count = 0
+
+  override def preStart(): Unit =
+    eventStream.subscribe(self, classOf[DeadLetter])
+
+  // don't re-subscribe, skip call to preStart
+  override def postRestart(reason: Throwable): Unit = ()
+
+  // don't remove subscription, skip call to postStop, no children to stop
+  override def preRestart(reason: Throwable, message: Option[Any]): Unit = ()
+
+  override def postStop(): Unit =
+    eventStream.unsubscribe(self)
+
+  def receive = {
+    case DeadLetter(message, snd, rcp) ⇒
+      count += 1
+      val done = maxCount != Int.MaxValue && count >= maxCount
+      val doneMsg = if (done) ", no more dead letters will be logged" else ""
+      eventStream.publish(Info(rcp.path.toString, rcp.getClass,
+        s"Message [${message.getClass.getName}] from $snd to $rcp was not delivered. [$count] dead letters encountered$doneMsg. " +
+          "This logging can be turned off or adjusted with configuration settings 'akka.log-dead-letters' " +
+          "and 'akka.log-dead-letters-during-shutdown'."))
+      if (done) context.stop(self)
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala
index fd53a6f3f4..93ecde01e7 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/MultiNodeClusterSpec.scala
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ object MultiNodeClusterSpec {
       failure-detector.heartbeat-interval = 400 ms
     }
     akka.loglevel = INFO
+    akka.log-dead-letters-during-shutdown = off
     akka.remote.log-remote-lifecycle-events = off
     akka.loggers = ["akka.testkit.TestEventListener"]
     akka.test {
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/java/logging.rst b/akka-docs/rst/java/logging.rst
index ec78a9242a..3ef905c120 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/java/logging.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/java/logging.rst
@@ -51,6 +51,27 @@ treatment of this case, e.g. in the SLF4J event listener which will then use
 the string instead of the class’ name for looking up the logger instance to
 use.
 
+Logging of Dead Letters
+-----------------------
+
+By default messages sent to dead letters are logged at info level. Existence of dead letters
+does not necessarily indicate a problem, but it might be, and therefore they are logged by default.
+After a few messages this logging is turned off, to avoid flooding the logs.
+You can disable this logging completely or adjust how many dead letters that are
+logged. During system shutdown it is likely that you see dead letters, since pending
+messages in the actor mailboxes are sent to dead letters. You can also disable logging
+of dead letters during shutdown.
+
+.. code-block:: ruby
+
+    akka {
+      log-dead-letters = 10
+      log-dead-letters-during-shutdown = on
+    }
+
+To customize the logging further or take other actions for dead letters you can subscribe
+to the :ref:`event-stream-java`.
+
 Auxiliary logging options
 -------------------------
 
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/scala/logging.rst b/akka-docs/rst/scala/logging.rst
index 1d204b4cc8..ddb8faf110 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/scala/logging.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/scala/logging.rst
@@ -52,6 +52,27 @@ treatment of this case, e.g. in the SLF4J event listener which will then use
 the string instead of the class’ name for looking up the logger instance to
 use.
 
+Logging of Dead Letters
+-----------------------
+
+By default messages sent to dead letters are logged at info level. Existence of dead letters
+does not necessarily indicate a problem, but it might be, and therefore they are logged by default.
+After a few messages this logging is turned off, to avoid flooding the logs.
+You can disable this logging completely or adjust how many dead letters that are
+logged. During system shutdown it is likely that you see dead letters, since pending
+messages in the actor mailboxes are sent to dead letters. You can also disable logging
+of dead letters during shutdown.
+
+.. code-block:: ruby
+
+    akka {
+      log-dead-letters = 10
+      log-dead-letters-during-shutdown = on
+    }
+
+To customize the logging further or take other actions for dead letters you can subscribe
+to the :ref:`event-stream-scala`.
+
 Auxiliary logging options
 -------------------------