diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala
index 4a60ccc710..fbbd5cf9c0 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala
@@ -311,6 +311,11 @@ final class ClusterShardingSettings(
   private[akka] def shouldHostShard(cluster: Cluster): Boolean =
     role.forall(cluster.selfMember.roles.contains)
 
+  /** If true, idle entities should be passivated if they have not received any message by this interval, otherwise it is not enabled. */
+  @InternalApi
+  private[akka] val shouldPassivateIdleEntities: Boolean =
+    passivateIdleEntityAfter > Duration.Zero && !rememberEntities
+
   def withRole(role: String): ClusterShardingSettings = copy(role = ClusterShardingSettings.roleOption(role))
 
   def withRole(role: Option[String]): ClusterShardingSettings = copy(role = role)
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
index 5be4791513..553a4bda31 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ private[akka] class Shard(
   private var handOffStopper: Option[ActorRef] = None
 
   import context.dispatcher
-  val passivateIdleTask = if (settings.passivateIdleEntityAfter > Duration.Zero && !settings.rememberEntities) {
+  val passivateIdleTask = if (settings.shouldPassivateIdleEntities) {
     val idleInterval = settings.passivateIdleEntityAfter / 2
     Some(context.system.scheduler.scheduleWithFixedDelay(idleInterval, idleInterval, self, PassivateIdleTick))
   } else {
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardRegion.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardRegion.scala
index d30ed877e5..118a69b6c3 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardRegion.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardRegion.scala
@@ -535,11 +535,7 @@ private[akka] class ShardRegion(
     cluster.subscribe(self, classOf[MemberEvent])
     timers.startTimerWithFixedDelay(Retry, Retry, retryInterval)
     startRegistration()
-    if (settings.passivateIdleEntityAfter > Duration.Zero && !settings.rememberEntities)
-      log.info(
-        "{}: Idle entities will be passivated after [{}]",
-        typeName,
-        PrettyDuration.format(settings.passivateIdleEntityAfter))
+    logPassivateIdleEntities()
   }
 
   override def postStop(): Unit = {
@@ -548,6 +544,17 @@ private[akka] class ShardRegion(
     gracefulShutdownProgress.trySuccess(Done)
   }
 
+  private def logPassivateIdleEntities(): Unit = {
+    if (settings.shouldPassivateIdleEntities)
+      log.info(
+        "{}: Idle entities will be passivated after [{}]",
+        typeName,
+        PrettyDuration.format(settings.passivateIdleEntityAfter))
+
+    if (settings.rememberEntities)
+      log.debug("Idle entities will not be passivated because 'rememberEntities' is enabled.")
+  }
+
   // when using proxy the data center can be different from the own data center
   private val targetDcRole = dataCenter match {
     case Some(t) => ClusterSettings.DcRolePrefix + t
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingInternalsSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingInternalsSpec.scala
index b60838ba59..232aa80585 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingInternalsSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingInternalsSpec.scala
@@ -32,16 +32,13 @@ class ClusterShardingInternalsSpec extends AkkaSpec("""
     |akka.actor.provider = cluster
     |akka.remote.classic.netty.tcp.port = 0
     |akka.remote.artery.canonical.port = 0
-    |akka.cluster.sharding.shard-region-query-timeout = 10 s
     |""".stripMargin) with MockitoSugar {
   import ClusterShardingInternalsSpec._
 
   val clusterSharding = spy(new ClusterSharding(system.asInstanceOf[ExtendedActorSystem]))
 
   "ClusterSharding" must {
-    "have a configurable shard region query timeout" in {
-      ClusterShardingSettings(system).shardRegionQueryTimeout shouldEqual 10.seconds
-    }
+
     "start a region in proxy mode in case of node role mismatch" in {
 
       val settingsWithRole = ClusterShardingSettings(system).withRole("nonExistingRole")
@@ -66,7 +63,7 @@ class ClusterShardingInternalsSpec extends AkkaSpec("""
         ArgumentMatchers.eq(extractShardId))
     }
 
-    "HandOffStopper must stop the entity even if the entity doesn't handle handOffStopMessage" in {
+    "stop entities from HandOffStopper even if the entity doesn't handle handOffStopMessage" in {
       val probe = TestProbe()
       val shardName = "test"
       val emptyHandlerActor = system.actorOf(Props(new EmptyHandlerActor))
@@ -77,6 +74,7 @@ class ClusterShardingInternalsSpec extends AkkaSpec("""
       expectTerminated(emptyHandlerActor, 1.seconds)
 
       probe.expectMsg(1.seconds, ShardStopped(shardName))
+      probe.lastSender shouldEqual handOffStopper
 
       watch(handOffStopper)
       expectTerminated(handOffStopper, 1.seconds)
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettingsSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettingsSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..73de46811d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettingsSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019 Lightbend Inc. <https://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.cluster.sharding
+
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+
+import akka.testkit.AkkaSpec
+
+class ClusterShardingSettingsSpec extends AkkaSpec(s"""
+       akka.actor.provider = cluster
+       akka.remote.classic.netty.tcp.port = 0
+       akka.remote.artery.canonical.port = 0
+       """) {
+
+  "ClusterShardingSettings" must {
+
+    "passivate idle entities if `remember-entities` and `passivate-idle-entity-after` are the defaults" in {
+      ClusterShardingSettings(system).shouldPassivateIdleEntities shouldEqual true
+    }
+
+    "disable passivation if `remember-entities` is enabled" in {
+      ClusterShardingSettings(system).withRememberEntities(true).shouldPassivateIdleEntities shouldEqual false
+    }
+
+    "disable passivation if `remember-entities` is enabled and `passivate-idle-entity-after` is 0 or 'off'" in {
+      ClusterShardingSettings(system)
+        .withRememberEntities(true)
+        .withPassivateIdleAfter(Duration.Zero)
+        .shouldPassivateIdleEntities shouldEqual false
+    }
+
+    "disable passivation if `remember-entities` is the default and `passivate-idle-entity-after` is 0 or 'off'" in {
+      ClusterShardingSettings(system)
+        .withPassivateIdleAfter(Duration.Zero)
+        .shouldPassivateIdleEntities shouldEqual false
+    }
+
+  }
+
+}