diff --git a/akka-stm/src/test/scala/config/ConfigSpec.scala b/akka-stm/src/test/scala/config/ConfigSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a50b64f0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-stm/src/test/scala/config/ConfigSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2011 Scalable Solutions AB <http://scalablesolutions.se>
+ */
+
+package akka.config
+
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith
+import org.scalatest.WordSpec
+import org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner
+import org.scalatest.matchers.MustMatchers
+
+@RunWith(classOf[JUnitRunner])
+class ConfigSpec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers {
+
+  "The default configuration file (i.e. akka-reference.conf)" should {
+    "contain all configuration properties for akka-stm that are used in code with their correct defaults" in {
+      import Config.config._
+
+      getInt("akka.storage.max-retries") must equal(Some(10))
+
+      getBool("akka.stm.blocking-allowed") must equal(Some(false))
+      getBool("akka.stm.fair") must equal(Some(true))
+      getBool("akka.stm.hooks") must equal(Some(true))
+      getBool("akka.stm.interruptible") must equal(Some(false))
+      getBool("akka.stm.jta-aware") must equal(Some(false))
+      getInt("akka.stm.max-retries") must equal(Some(1000))
+      getString("akka.stm.propagation") must equal(Some("requires"))
+      getBool("akka.stm.quick-release") must equal(Some(true))
+      getBool("akka.stm.speculative") must equal(Some(true))
+      getLong("akka.stm.timeout") must equal(Some(10))
+      getString("akka.stm.trace-level") must equal(Some("none"))
+      getBool("akka.stm.write-skew") must equal(Some(true))
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/config/akka-reference.conf b/config/akka-reference.conf
index 5704f48562..114a9918fd 100644
--- a/config/akka-reference.conf
+++ b/config/akka-reference.conf
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ akka {
   stm {
     fair             = on     # Should global transactions be fair or non-fair (non fair yield better performance)
     max-retries      = 1000
-    timeout          = 5      # Default timeout for blocking transactions and transaction set (in unit defined by
+    timeout          = 10     # Default timeout for blocking transactions and transaction set (in unit defined by
                               #     the time-unit property)
     write-skew       = true
     blocking-allowed = false
@@ -156,4 +156,8 @@ akka {
       service = off
     }
   }
+
+  storage {
+    max-retries = 10
+  }
 }