diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/ticket/Ticket1111Spec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/ticket/Ticket1111Spec.scala
index 6f6d5b0dac..f10093c613 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/ticket/Ticket1111Spec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/ticket/Ticket1111Spec.scala
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import akka.actor.{ ActorRef, Actor }
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
 import collection.mutable.LinkedList
 import akka.routing.Routing.Broadcast
-import java.util.concurrent.{ CountDownLatch, TimeUnit }
+import akka.testkit._
 
 class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
 
     "return response, even if one of the connections has stopped" in {
 
-      val shutdownLatch = new CountDownLatch(1)
+      val shutdownLatch = new TestLatch(1)
 
       val props = RoutedProps()
         .withConnections(List(newActor(0, Some(shutdownLatch)), newActor(1, Some(shutdownLatch))))
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
 
       actor ! Broadcast(Stop(Some(0)))
 
-      shutdownLatch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS) must be(true)
+      shutdownLatch.await
 
       (actor ? Broadcast(0)).get.asInstanceOf[Int] must be(1)
     }
 
     "throw an exception, if all the connections have stopped" in {
 
-      val shutdownLatch = new CountDownLatch(2)
+      val shutdownLatch = new TestLatch(2)
 
       val props = RoutedProps()
         .withConnections(List(newActor(0, Some(shutdownLatch)), newActor(1, Some(shutdownLatch))))
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
 
       actor ! Broadcast(Stop())
 
-      shutdownLatch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS) must be(true)
+      shutdownLatch.await
 
       (intercept[RoutingException] {
         actor ? Broadcast(0)
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
     "deliver one-way messages in a round robin fashion" in {
       val connectionCount = 10
       val iterationCount = 10
-      val doneLatch = new CountDownLatch(connectionCount)
+      val doneLatch = new TestLatch(connectionCount)
 
       var connections = new LinkedList[ActorRef]
       var counters = new LinkedList[AtomicInteger]
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
 
       actor ! Broadcast("end")
 
-      doneLatch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS) must be(true)
+      doneLatch.await
 
       for (i ← 0 until connectionCount) {
         val counter = counters.get(i).get
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
     }
 
     "deliver a broadcast message using the !" in {
-      val doneLatch = new CountDownLatch(2)
+      val doneLatch = new TestLatch(2)
 
       val counter1 = new AtomicInteger
       val connection1 = actorOf(new Actor {
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
       actor ! Broadcast(1)
       actor ! Broadcast("end")
 
-      doneLatch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS) must be(true)
+      doneLatch.await
 
       counter1.get must be(1)
       counter2.get must be(1)
@@ -174,13 +174,17 @@ class Ticket1111Spec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
 
     case class Stop(id: Option[Int] = None)
 
-    def newActor(id: Int, shudownLatch: Option[CountDownLatch] = None) = actorOf(new Actor {
+    def newActor(id: Int, shudownLatch: Option[TestLatch] = None) = actorOf(new Actor {
       def receive = {
-        case Stop(None)                     ⇒ self.stop(); shudownLatch.map(_.countDown())
-        case Stop(Some(_id)) if (_id == id) ⇒ self.stop(); shudownLatch.map(_.countDown())
+        case Stop(None)                     ⇒ self.stop()
+        case Stop(Some(_id)) if (_id == id) ⇒ self.stop()
         case _id: Int if (_id == id)        ⇒
         case _                              ⇒ Thread sleep 100 * id; tryReply(id)
       }
+
+      override def postStop = {
+        shudownLatch foreach (_.countDown())
+      }
     })
 
   }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
index c8a2e2261a..7618883f5b 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
@@ -467,6 +467,7 @@ trait ScatterGatherRouter extends BasicRouter with Serializable {
   private def scatterGather[S, G >: S](message: Any, timeout: Timeout)(implicit sender: Option[ActorRef]): Future[G] = {
     val responses = connections.versionedIterable.iterable.flatMap { actor ⇒
       try {
+        if (actor.isShutdown) throw new ActorInitializationException("For compatability - check death first")
         Some(actor.?(message, timeout)(sender).asInstanceOf[Future[S]])
       } catch {
         case e: Exception ⇒