diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 723347ce98..df89284993 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -46,7 +46,14 @@ akka {
 
   actor {
 
+    # FQCN of the ActorRefProvider to be used; the below is the built-in default,
+    # another one is akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider in the akka-remote bundle.
     provider = "akka.actor.LocalActorRefProvider"
+    
+    # The guardian "/user" will use this subclass of akka.actor.SupervisorStrategyConfigurator
+    # to obtain its supervisorstrategy. Besides the default there is
+    # akka.actor.StoppingSupervisorStrategy
+    guardian-supervisor-strategy = "akka.actor.DefaultSupervisorStrategy"
 
     # Timeout for ActorSystem.actorOf
     creation-timeout = 20s
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
index 830826381a..ae2955e11e 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
@@ -294,16 +294,6 @@ trait ActorRefFactory {
   def stop(actor: ActorRef): Unit
 }
 
-/**
- * Internal Akka use only, used in implementation of system.actorOf.
- */
-private[akka] case class CreateChild(props: Props, name: String)
-
-/**
- * Internal Akka use only, used in implementation of system.actorOf.
- */
-private[akka] case class CreateRandomNameChild(props: Props)
-
 /**
  * Internal Akka use only, used in implementation of system.stop(child).
  */
@@ -317,6 +307,7 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
   override val settings: ActorSystem.Settings,
   val eventStream: EventStream,
   override val scheduler: Scheduler,
+  val dynamicAccess: DynamicAccess,
   override val deployer: Deployer) extends ActorRefProvider {
 
   // this is the constructor needed for reflectively instantiating the provider
@@ -329,6 +320,7 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
       settings,
       eventStream,
       scheduler,
+      dynamicAccess,
       new Deployer(settings, dynamicAccess))
 
   override val rootPath: ActorPath = RootActorPath(Address("akka", _systemName))
@@ -380,65 +372,12 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
     }
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Overridable supervision strategy to be used by the “/user” guardian.
-   */
-  protected def guardianSupervisionStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = {
-    import akka.actor.SupervisorStrategy._
-    OneForOneStrategy() {
-      case _: ActorKilledException         ⇒ Stop
-      case _: ActorInitializationException ⇒ Stop
-      case _: Exception                    ⇒ Restart
-    }
-  }
-
-  /*
-   * Guardians can be asked by ActorSystem to create children, i.e. top-level
-   * actors. Therefore these need to answer to these requests, forwarding any
-   * exceptions which might have occurred.
-   */
-  private class Guardian extends Actor {
-
-    override val supervisorStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = guardianSupervisionStrategy
+  private class Guardian(override val supervisorStrategy: SupervisorStrategy) extends Actor {
 
     def receive = {
-      case Terminated(_)                ⇒ context.stop(self)
-      case CreateChild(child, name)     ⇒ sender ! (try context.actorOf(child, name) catch { case NonFatal(e) ⇒ Status.Failure(e) })
-      case CreateRandomNameChild(child) ⇒ sender ! (try context.actorOf(child) catch { case NonFatal(e) ⇒ Status.Failure(e) })
-      case StopChild(child)             ⇒ context.stop(child)
-      case m                            ⇒ deadLetters ! DeadLetter(m, sender, self)
-    }
-
-    // guardian MUST NOT lose its children during restart
-    override def preRestart(cause: Throwable, msg: Option[Any]) {}
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Overridable supervision strategy to be used by the “/system” guardian.
-   */
-  protected def systemGuardianSupervisionStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = {
-    import akka.actor.SupervisorStrategy._
-    OneForOneStrategy() {
-      case _: ActorKilledException | _: ActorInitializationException ⇒ Stop
-      case _: Exception ⇒ Restart
-    }
-  }
-
-  /*
-   * Guardians can be asked by ActorSystem to create children, i.e. top-level
-   * actors. Therefore these need to answer to these requests, forwarding any
-   * exceptions which might have occurred.
-   */
-  private class SystemGuardian extends Actor {
-
-    override val supervisorStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = systemGuardianSupervisionStrategy
-
-    def receive = {
-      case Terminated(_)                ⇒ eventStream.stopDefaultLoggers(); context.stop(self)
-      case CreateChild(child, name)     ⇒ sender ! (try context.actorOf(child, name) catch { case NonFatal(e) ⇒ Status.Failure(e) })
-      case CreateRandomNameChild(child) ⇒ sender ! (try context.actorOf(child) catch { case NonFatal(e) ⇒ Status.Failure(e) })
-      case StopChild(child)             ⇒ context.stop(child); sender ! "ok"
-      case m                            ⇒ deadLetters ! DeadLetter(m, sender, self)
+      case Terminated(_)    ⇒ if (context.self.path.name == "system") eventStream.stopDefaultLoggers(); context.stop(self)
+      case StopChild(child) ⇒ context.stop(child)
+      case m                ⇒ deadLetters ! DeadLetter(m, sender, self)
     }
 
     // guardian MUST NOT lose its children during restart
@@ -472,10 +411,26 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
    */
   def registerExtraNames(_extras: Map[String, InternalActorRef]): Unit = extraNames ++= _extras
 
-  private val guardianProps = Props(new Guardian)
+  private lazy val guardianSupervisorStrategyConfigurator =
+    dynamicAccess.createInstanceFor[SupervisorStrategyConfigurator](settings.SupervisorStrategyClass, Seq()).fold(throw _, x ⇒ x)
+
+  /**
+   * Overridable supervision strategy to be used by the “/user” guardian.
+   */
+  protected def rootGuardianStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = SupervisorStrategy.stoppingStrategy
+
+  /**
+   * Overridable supervision strategy to be used by the “/user” guardian.
+   */
+  protected def guardianStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = guardianSupervisorStrategyConfigurator.create()
+
+  /**
+   * Overridable supervision strategy to be used by the “/user” guardian.
+   */
+  protected def systemGuardianStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = SupervisorStrategy.defaultStrategy
 
   lazy val rootGuardian: InternalActorRef =
-    new LocalActorRef(system, guardianProps, theOneWhoWalksTheBubblesOfSpaceTime, rootPath) {
+    new LocalActorRef(system, Props(new Guardian(rootGuardianStrategy)), theOneWhoWalksTheBubblesOfSpaceTime, rootPath) {
       override def getParent: InternalActorRef = this
       override def getSingleChild(name: String): InternalActorRef = name match {
         case "temp" ⇒ tempContainer
@@ -483,10 +438,11 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
       }
     }
 
-  lazy val guardian: LocalActorRef = new LocalActorRef(system, guardianProps, rootGuardian, rootPath / "user")
+  lazy val guardian: LocalActorRef =
+    new LocalActorRef(system, Props(new Guardian(guardianStrategy)), rootGuardian, rootPath / "user")
 
   lazy val systemGuardian: LocalActorRef =
-    new LocalActorRef(system, guardianProps.withCreator(new SystemGuardian), rootGuardian, rootPath / "system")
+    new LocalActorRef(system, Props(new Guardian(systemGuardianStrategy)), rootGuardian, rootPath / "system")
 
   lazy val tempContainer = new VirtualPathContainer(system.provider, tempNode, rootGuardian, log)
 
@@ -559,4 +515,3 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
 
   def getExternalAddressFor(addr: Address): Option[Address] = if (addr == rootPath.address) Some(addr) else None
 }
-
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index d10f7ba29c..146602ada0 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ object ActorSystem {
 
     final val ConfigVersion = getString("akka.version")
     final val ProviderClass = getString("akka.actor.provider")
+    final val SupervisorStrategyClass = getString("akka.actor.guardian-supervisor-strategy")
     final val CreationTimeout = Timeout(Duration(getMilliseconds("akka.actor.creation-timeout"), MILLISECONDS))
 
     final val SerializeAllMessages = getBoolean("akka.actor.serialize-messages")
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/FaultHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/FaultHandling.scala
index 863c4f9721..4d1bf7f046 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/FaultHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/FaultHandling.scala
@@ -61,6 +61,23 @@ case class ChildRestartStats(child: ActorRef, var uid: Int = 0, var maxNrOfRetri
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Implement this interface in order to configure the supervisorStrategy for
+ * the top-level guardian actor (`/user`). An instance of this class must be
+ * instantiable using a no-arg constructor.
+ */
+trait SupervisorStrategyConfigurator {
+  def create(): SupervisorStrategy
+}
+
+class DefaultSupervisorStrategy extends SupervisorStrategyConfigurator {
+  override def create(): SupervisorStrategy = SupervisorStrategy.defaultStrategy
+}
+
+class StoppingSupervisorStrategy extends SupervisorStrategyConfigurator {
+  override def create(): SupervisorStrategy = SupervisorStrategy.stoppingStrategy
+}
+
 trait SupervisorStrategyLowPriorityImplicits { this: SupervisorStrategy.type ⇒
 
   /**
@@ -133,11 +150,21 @@ object SupervisorStrategy extends SupervisorStrategyLowPriorityImplicits {
       case _: ActorInitializationException ⇒ Stop
       case _: ActorKilledException         ⇒ Stop
       case _: Exception                    ⇒ Restart
-      case _                               ⇒ Escalate
     }
     OneForOneStrategy()(defaultDecider)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * This strategy resembles Erlang in that failing children are always
+   * terminated.
+   */
+  final val stoppingStrategy: SupervisorStrategy = {
+    def stoppingDecider: Decider = {
+      case _: Exception ⇒ Stop
+    }
+    OneForOneStrategy()(stoppingDecider)
+  }
+
   /**
    * Implicit conversion from `Seq` of Throwables to a `Decider`.
    * This maps the given Throwables to restarts, otherwise escalates.
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala
index 131b5d76be..be029881ed 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ private[akka] class RemoteActorRefProvider(
 
   val deployer: RemoteDeployer = new RemoteDeployer(settings, dynamicAccess)
 
-  private val local = new LocalActorRefProvider(systemName, settings, eventStream, scheduler, deployer)
+  private val local = new LocalActorRefProvider(systemName, settings, eventStream, scheduler, dynamicAccess, deployer)
 
   @volatile
   private var _log = local.log