diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/routing/ClusterRouterConfig.scala b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/routing/ClusterRouterConfig.scala
index e2d8b8b204..c99ae68704 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/routing/ClusterRouterConfig.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/routing/ClusterRouterConfig.scala
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import akka.routing.RemoteRouterConfig
 import akka.actor.RootActorPath
 import akka.actor.ActorCell
 import akka.actor.RelativeActorPath
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
 
 /**
  * [[akka.routing.RouterConfig]] implementation for deployment on cluster nodes.
@@ -168,18 +169,26 @@ private[akka] class ClusterRouteeProvider(
    * to use for cluster routers.
    */
   override def createRoutees(nrOfInstances: Int): Unit = {
-    for (i ← 1 to settings.totalInstances; target ← selectDeploymentTarget) {
-      val ref =
-        if (settings.isRouteesPathDefined) {
-          context.actorFor(RootActorPath(target) / settings.routeesPathElements)
-        } else {
-          val name = "c" + childNameCounter.incrementAndGet
-          val deploy = Deploy("", ConfigFactory.empty(), routeeProps.routerConfig, RemoteScope(target))
-          context.asInstanceOf[ActorCell].attachChild(routeeProps.withDeploy(deploy), name, systemService = false)
-        }
-      // must register each one, since registered routees are used in selectDeploymentTarget
-      registerRoutees(Some(ref))
+    @tailrec
+    def doCreateRoutees(): Unit = selectDeploymentTarget match {
+      case None ⇒ // done
+      case Some(target) ⇒
+        val ref =
+          if (settings.isRouteesPathDefined) {
+            context.actorFor(RootActorPath(target) / settings.routeesPathElements)
+          } else {
+            val name = "c" + childNameCounter.incrementAndGet
+            val deploy = Deploy("", ConfigFactory.empty(), routeeProps.routerConfig, RemoteScope(target))
+            context.asInstanceOf[ActorCell].attachChild(routeeProps.withDeploy(deploy), name, systemService = false)
+          }
+        // must register each one, since registered routees are used in selectDeploymentTarget
+        registerRoutees(Some(ref))
+
+        // recursion until all created
+        doCreateRoutees()
     }
+
+    doCreateRoutees()
   }
 
   private[routing] def createRoutees(): Unit = createRoutees(settings.totalInstances)
@@ -187,14 +196,18 @@ private[akka] class ClusterRouteeProvider(
   private def selectDeploymentTarget: Option[Address] = {
     val currentRoutees = routees
     val currentNodes = availbleNodes
-    if (currentRoutees.size >= settings.totalInstances || currentNodes.isEmpty) {
+    if (currentNodes.isEmpty || currentRoutees.size >= settings.totalInstances) {
       None
     } else {
+      // find the node with least routees
       val numberOfRouteesPerNode: Map[Address, Int] =
-        Map.empty[Address, Int] ++ currentNodes.toSeq.map(_ -> 0) ++
-          currentRoutees.groupBy(fullAddress).map {
-            case (address, refs) ⇒ address -> refs.size
+        currentRoutees.foldLeft(currentNodes.map(_ -> 0).toMap) { (acc, x) ⇒
+          val address = fullAddress(x)
+          acc.get(address) match {
+            case Some(count) ⇒ acc + (address -> (count + 1))
+            case None        ⇒ acc + (address -> 1)
           }
+        }
 
       val (address, count) = numberOfRouteesPerNode.minBy(_._2)
       if (count < settings.maxInstancesPerNode) Some(address) else None