diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
index 6012c48f45..10bcd9ee6a 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala
@@ -155,8 +155,8 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterDaemon(settings: ClusterSettings) extends Ac
     withDispatcher(context.props.dispatcher), name = "publisher")
   val core = context.actorOf(Props(new ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher)).
     withDispatcher(context.props.dispatcher), name = "core")
-  context.actorOf(Props[ClusterHeartbeatDaemon].
-    withDispatcher(context.props.dispatcher), name = "heartbeat")
+  context.actorOf(Props[ClusterHeartbeatReceiver].
+    withDispatcher(context.props.dispatcher), name = "heartbeatReceiver")
   if (settings.MetricsEnabled) context.actorOf(Props(new ClusterMetricsCollector(publisher)).
     withDispatcher(context.props.dispatcher), name = "metrics")
 
@@ -172,26 +172,24 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterDaemon(settings: ClusterSettings) extends Ac
 private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Actor with ActorLogging {
   import ClusterLeaderAction._
   import InternalClusterAction._
-  import ClusterHeartbeatSender._
+  import ClusterHeartbeatSender.JoinInProgress
 
   val cluster = Cluster(context.system)
   import cluster.{ selfAddress, scheduler, failureDetector }
   import cluster.settings._
 
   val vclockNode = VectorClock.Node(selfAddress.toString)
-  val selfHeartbeat = Heartbeat(selfAddress)
 
   // note that self is not initially member,
   // and the Gossip is not versioned for this 'Node' yet
   var latestGossip: Gossip = Gossip()
-  var joinInProgress: Map[Address, Deadline] = Map.empty
 
   var stats = ClusterStats()
 
-  val heartbeatSender = context.actorOf(Props[ClusterHeartbeatSender].
-    withDispatcher(UseDispatcher), name = "heartbeatSender")
   val coreSender = context.actorOf(Props[ClusterCoreSender].
     withDispatcher(UseDispatcher), name = "coreSender")
+  val heartbeatSender = context.actorOf(Props[ClusterHeartbeatSender].
+    withDispatcher(UseDispatcher), name = "heartbeatSender")
 
   import context.dispatcher
 
@@ -201,12 +199,6 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
       self ! GossipTick
     }
 
-  // start periodic heartbeat to all nodes in cluster
-  val heartbeatTask =
-    FixedRateTask(scheduler, PeriodicTasksInitialDelay.max(HeartbeatInterval).asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration], HeartbeatInterval) {
-      self ! HeartbeatTick
-    }
-
   // start periodic cluster failure detector reaping (moving nodes condemned by the failure detector to unreachable list)
   val failureDetectorReaperTask =
     FixedRateTask(scheduler, PeriodicTasksInitialDelay.max(UnreachableNodesReaperInterval).asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration], UnreachableNodesReaperInterval) {
@@ -232,7 +224,6 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
 
   override def postStop(): Unit = {
     gossipTask.cancel()
-    heartbeatTask.cancel()
     failureDetectorReaperTask.cancel()
     leaderActionsTask.cancel()
     publishStatsTask foreach { _.cancel() }
@@ -250,7 +241,6 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
     case msg: GossipEnvelope              ⇒ receiveGossip(msg)
     case msg: GossipMergeConflict         ⇒ receiveGossipMerge(msg)
     case GossipTick                       ⇒ gossip()
-    case HeartbeatTick                    ⇒ heartbeat()
     case ReapUnreachableTick              ⇒ reapUnreachableMembers()
     case LeaderActionsTick                ⇒ leaderActions()
     case PublishStatsTick                 ⇒ publishInternalStats()
@@ -293,11 +283,11 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
       val localGossip = latestGossip
       // wipe our state since a node that joins a cluster must be empty
       latestGossip = Gossip()
-      joinInProgress = Map(address -> (Deadline.now + JoinTimeout))
 
       // wipe the failure detector since we are starting fresh and shouldn't care about the past
       failureDetector.reset()
 
+      heartbeatSender ! JoinInProgress(address, Deadline.now + JoinTimeout)
       publish(localGossip)
 
       context.become(initialized)
@@ -517,12 +507,7 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
           else if (remoteGossip.version < localGossip.version) localGossip // local gossip is newer
           else remoteGossip // remote gossip is newer
 
-        val newJoinInProgress =
-          if (joinInProgress.isEmpty) joinInProgress
-          else joinInProgress -- winningGossip.members.map(_.address) -- winningGossip.overview.unreachable.map(_.address)
-
         latestGossip = winningGossip seen selfAddress
-        joinInProgress = newJoinInProgress
 
         // for all new joining nodes we remove them from the failure detector
         (latestGossip.members -- localGossip.members).foreach {
@@ -744,27 +729,10 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
     }
   }
 
-  def heartbeat(): Unit = {
-    removeOverdueJoinInProgress()
-
-    val beatTo = latestGossip.members.toSeq.map(_.address) ++ joinInProgress.keys
-
-    val deadline = Deadline.now + HeartbeatInterval
-    beatTo.foreach { address ⇒ if (address != selfAddress) heartbeatSender ! SendHeartbeat(selfHeartbeat, address, deadline) }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Removes overdue joinInProgress from State.
-   */
-  def removeOverdueJoinInProgress(): Unit = {
-    joinInProgress --= joinInProgress collect { case (address, deadline) if deadline.isOverdue ⇒ address }
-  }
-
   /**
    * Reaps the unreachable members (moves them to the 'unreachable' list in the cluster overview) according to the failure detector's verdict.
    */
   def reapUnreachableMembers(): Unit = {
-
     if (!isSingletonCluster && isAvailable) {
       // only scrutinize if we are a non-singleton cluster and available
 
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterHeartbeat.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterHeartbeat.scala
index b48c9f066b..b28542bf24 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterHeartbeat.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterHeartbeat.scala
@@ -4,12 +4,14 @@
 package akka.cluster
 
 import language.postfixOps
-
+import scala.collection.immutable.SortedSet
 import akka.actor.{ ReceiveTimeout, ActorLogging, ActorRef, Address, Actor, RootActorPath, Props }
 import java.security.MessageDigest
 import akka.pattern.{ CircuitBreaker, CircuitBreakerOpenException }
 import scala.concurrent.util.duration._
 import scala.concurrent.util.Deadline
+import scala.concurrent.util.FiniteDuration
+import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent._
 
 /**
  * Sent at regular intervals for failure detection.
@@ -19,11 +21,11 @@ case class Heartbeat(from: Address) extends ClusterMessage
 /**
  * INTERNAL API.
  *
- * Receives Heartbeat messages and delegates to Cluster.
+ * Receives Heartbeat messages and updates failure detector.
  * Instantiated as a single instance for each Cluster - e.g. heartbeats are serialized
  * to Cluster message after message, but concurrent with other types of messages.
  */
-private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatDaemon extends Actor with ActorLogging {
+private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatReceiver extends Actor with ActorLogging {
 
   val failureDetector = Cluster(context.system).failureDetector
 
@@ -38,12 +40,18 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatDaemon extends Actor with ActorLogg
  */
 private[cluster] object ClusterHeartbeatSender {
   /**
-   *
-   * Command to [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSender]], which will send [[akka.cluster.Heartbeat]]
+   * Command to [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSenderWorker]], which will send [[akka.cluster.Heartbeat]]
    * to the other node.
    * Local only, no need to serialize.
    */
   case class SendHeartbeat(heartbeatMsg: Heartbeat, to: Address, deadline: Deadline)
+
+  /**
+   * Tell [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSender]] that this node has started joining of
+   * another node and heartbeats should be sent until it becomes member or deadline is overdue.
+   * Local only, no need to serialize.
+   */
+  case class JoinInProgress(address: Address, deadline: Deadline)
 }
 
 /*
@@ -57,12 +65,39 @@ private[cluster] object ClusterHeartbeatSender {
  */
 private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSender extends Actor with ActorLogging {
   import ClusterHeartbeatSender._
+  import Member.addressOrdering
+  import InternalClusterAction.HeartbeatTick
+
+  val cluster = Cluster(context.system)
+  import cluster.{ selfAddress, scheduler }
+  import cluster.settings._
+  import context.dispatcher
+
+  val selfHeartbeat = Heartbeat(selfAddress)
+
+  var nodes: SortedSet[Address] = SortedSet.empty
+  var joinInProgress: Map[Address, Deadline] = Map.empty
+
+  // start periodic heartbeat to other nodes in cluster
+  val heartbeatTask =
+    FixedRateTask(scheduler, PeriodicTasksInitialDelay.max(HeartbeatInterval).asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration], HeartbeatInterval) {
+      self ! HeartbeatTick
+    }
+
+  override def preStart(): Unit = {
+    cluster.subscribe(self, classOf[MemberEvent])
+  }
+
+  override def postStop(): Unit = {
+    heartbeatTask.cancel()
+    cluster.unsubscribe(self)
+  }
 
   /**
    * Looks up and returns the remote cluster heartbeat connection for the specific address.
    */
   def clusterHeartbeatConnectionFor(address: Address): ActorRef =
-    context.actorFor(RootActorPath(address) / "system" / "cluster" / "heartbeat")
+    context.actorFor(RootActorPath(address) / "system" / "cluster" / "heartbeatReceiver")
 
   val digester = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5")
 
@@ -76,14 +111,51 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSender extends Actor with ActorLogg
   }
 
   def receive = {
-    case msg @ SendHeartbeat(from, to, deadline) ⇒
+    case state: CurrentClusterState ⇒ init(state)
+    case MemberUnreachable(m)       ⇒ removeMember(m)
+    case MemberRemoved(m)           ⇒ removeMember(m)
+    case e: MemberEvent             ⇒ addMember(e.member)
+    case JoinInProgress(a, d)       ⇒ joinInProgress += (a -> d)
+    case HeartbeatTick              ⇒ heartbeat()
+  }
+
+  def init(state: CurrentClusterState): Unit = {
+    nodes = state.members.map(_.address)
+    joinInProgress --= nodes
+  }
+
+  def addMember(m: Member): Unit = {
+    nodes += m.address
+    joinInProgress -= m.address
+  }
+
+  def removeMember(m: Member): Unit = {
+    nodes -= m.address
+    joinInProgress -= m.address
+  }
+
+  def heartbeat(): Unit = {
+    removeOverdueJoinInProgress()
+
+    val beatTo = nodes ++ joinInProgress.keys
+
+    val deadline = Deadline.now + HeartbeatInterval
+    for (to ← beatTo; if to != selfAddress) {
       val workerName = encodeChildName(to.toString)
       val worker = context.actorFor(workerName) match {
         case notFound if notFound.isTerminated ⇒
           context.actorOf(Props(new ClusterHeartbeatSenderWorker(clusterHeartbeatConnectionFor(to))), workerName)
         case child ⇒ child
       }
-      worker ! msg
+      worker ! SendHeartbeat(selfHeartbeat, to, deadline)
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Removes overdue joinInProgress from State.
+   */
+  def removeOverdueJoinInProgress(): Unit = {
+    joinInProgress --= joinInProgress collect { case (address, deadline) if (nodes contains address) || deadline.isOverdue ⇒ address }
   }
 
 }