diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Future.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Future.scala
index 96c8f5e252..11e64e2683 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Future.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/dispatch/Future.scala
@@ -377,6 +377,37 @@ sealed trait Future[+T] extends japi.Future[T] {
    */
   def await(atMost: Duration): Future[T]
 
+  /**
+   * Await completion of this Future and return its value if it conforms to A's
+   * erased type. Will throw a ClassCastException if the value does not
+   * conform, or any exception the Future was completed with. Will return None
+   * in case of a timeout.
+   */
+  def as[A](implicit m: Manifest[A]): Option[A] = {
+    try await catch { case _: FutureTimeoutException ⇒ }
+    value match {
+      case None           ⇒ None
+      case Some(Left(ex)) ⇒ throw ex
+      case Some(Right(v)) ⇒ Some(BoxedType(m.erasure).cast(v).asInstanceOf[A])
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Await completion of this Future and return its value if it conforms to A's
+   * erased type, None otherwise. Will throw any exception the Future was
+   * completed with. Will return None in case of a timeout.
+   */
+  def asSilently[A](implicit m: Manifest[A]): Option[A] = {
+    try await catch { case _: FutureTimeoutException ⇒ }
+    value match {
+      case None           ⇒ None
+      case Some(Left(ex)) ⇒ throw ex
+      case Some(Right(v)) ⇒
+        try Some(BoxedType(m.erasure).cast(v).asInstanceOf[A])
+        catch { case _: ClassCastException ⇒ None }
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Tests whether this Future has been completed.
    */
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/package.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/package.scala
index e96a1eddbf..b122d9297b 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/package.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/package.scala
@@ -12,17 +12,6 @@ package object akka {
    */
   implicit def toAnyOptionAsTypedOption(anyOption: Option[Any]) = new AnyOptionAsTypedOption(anyOption)
 
-  /**
-   * Implicitly converts the given Future[_] to a AnyOptionAsTypedOption which offers the method <code>as[T]</code>
-   * to convert an Option[Any] to an Option[T].
-   * This means that the following code is equivalent:
-   *   (actor ? "foo").as[Int] (Recommended)
-   */
-  implicit def futureToAnyOptionAsTypedOption(anyFuture: Future[_]) = new AnyOptionAsTypedOption({
-    try { anyFuture.await } catch { case t: FutureTimeoutException ⇒ }
-    anyFuture.resultOrException
-  })
-
   private[akka] class AnyOptionAsTypedOption(anyOption: Option[Any]) {
     /**
      * Convenience helper to cast the given Option of Any to an Option of the given type. Will throw a ClassCastException
diff --git a/akka-docs/scala/actors.rst b/akka-docs/scala/actors.rst
index 69ebc4edbc..068575a04a 100644
--- a/akka-docs/scala/actors.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/scala/actors.rst
@@ -287,8 +287,11 @@ processing another message on this actor).
 For this purpose, there is the method :meth:`Future.as[T]` which waits until
 either the future is completed or its timeout expires, whichever comes first.
 The result is then inspected and returned as :class:`Some[T]` if it was
-normally completed and the answer’s runtime type matches the desired type; in
-all other cases :class:`None` is returned.
+normally completed and the answer’s runtime type matches the desired type; if
+the future contains an exception or the value cannot be cast to the desired
+type, it will throw the exception or a :class:`ClassCastException` (if you want
+to get :obj:`None` in the latter case, use :meth:`Future.asSilently[T]`). In
+case of a timeout, :obj:`None` is returned.
 
 .. code-block:: scala