diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index c2cc0a30..0a9b5039 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ matrix:
 os:
   - linux
   - osx
+osx_image: xcode7.1
 env:
   # TODO: 0.8 is enough on Linux, but 2 seems needed for Travis/OSX
   - LISTEN_TESTS_DEFAULT_LAG=2
diff --git a/lib/listen/adapter/darwin.rb b/lib/listen/adapter/darwin.rb
index 8779c227..d4acf966 100644
--- a/lib/listen/adapter/darwin.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/adapter/darwin.rb
@@ -6,17 +6,34 @@ module Adapter
     # Adapter implementation for Mac OS X `FSEvents`.
     #
     class Darwin < Base
-      OS_REGEXP = /darwin(1.+)?$/i
+      OS_REGEXP = /darwin(?<major_version>1\d+)/i
 
       # The default delay between checking for changes.
       DEFAULTS = { latency: 0.1 }
 
+      INCOMPATIBLE_GEM_VERSION = <<-EOS.gsub(/^ {8}/, '')
+        rb-fsevent > 0.9.4 no longer supports OS X 10.6 through 10.8.
+
+        Please add the following to your Gemfile to avoid polling for changes:
+          require 'rbconfig'
+          if RbConfig::CONFIG['target_os'] =~ /darwin(1[0-3])/i
+            gem 'rb-fsevent', '<= 0.9.4'
+          end
+      EOS
+
+      def self.usable?
+        require 'rb-fsevent'
+        darwin_version = RbConfig::CONFIG['target_os'][OS_REGEXP, :major_version] or return false
+        return true if darwin_version.to_i >= 13 # darwin13 is OS X 10.9
+        return true if Gem::Version.new(FSEvent::VERSION) <= Gem::Version.new('0.9.4')
+        Kernel.warn INCOMPATIBLE_GEM_VERSION
+        false
+      end
+
       private
 
       # NOTE: each directory gets a DIFFERENT callback!
       def _configure(dir, &callback)
-        require 'rb-fsevent'
-
         opts = { latency: options.latency }
 
         @workers ||= ::Queue.new
diff --git a/lib/listen/adapter/linux.rb b/lib/listen/adapter/linux.rb
index 54564d5d..4e29caff 100644
--- a/lib/listen/adapter/linux.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/adapter/linux.rb
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ def _configure(directory, &callback)
       end
 
       def _run
+        Thread.current[:listen_blocking_read_thread] = true
         @worker.run
+        Thread.current[:listen_blocking_read_thread] = false
       end
 
       def _process_event(dir, event)
@@ -99,7 +101,7 @@ def _dir_event?(event)
       end
 
       def _stop
-        @worker.close
+        @worker && @worker.close
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/listen/backend.rb b/lib/listen/backend.rb
index 21125407..a98f6031 100644
--- a/lib/listen/backend.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/backend.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 require 'listen/adapter/base'
 require 'listen/adapter/config'
 
+require 'forwardable'
+
 # This class just aggregates configuration object to avoid Listener specs
 # from exploding with huge test setup blocks
 module Listen
diff --git a/lib/listen/directory.rb b/lib/listen/directory.rb
index b61db30f..9f9ecaab 100644
--- a/lib/listen/directory.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/directory.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def self.scan(snapshot, rel_path, options)
 
       # TODO: use children(with_directory: false)
       path = dir + rel_path
-      current = Set.new(path.children)
+      current = Set.new(_children(path))
 
       Listen::Logger.debug do
         format('%s: %s(%s): %s -> %s',
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def self.scan(snapshot, rel_path, options)
         end
       rescue Errno::ENOENT
         # The directory changed meanwhile, so rescan it
-        current = Set.new(path.children)
+        current = Set.new(_children(path))
         retry
       end
 
@@ -72,5 +72,16 @@ def self._change(snapshot, type, path, options)
       opts.delete(:recursive)
       snapshot.invalidate(type, path, opts)
     end
+
+    def self._children(path)
+      return path.children unless RUBY_ENGINE == 'jruby'
+
+      # JRuby inconsistency workaround, see:
+      # https://github.com/jruby/jruby/issues/3840
+      exists = path.exist?
+      directory = path.directory?
+      return path.children unless (exists && !directory)
+      raise Errno::ENOTDIR, path.to_s
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/listen/event/queue.rb b/lib/listen/event/queue.rb
index 553d3ffe..a650720f 100644
--- a/lib/listen/event/queue.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/event/queue.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 require 'thread'
 
+require 'forwardable'
+
 module Listen
   module Event
     class Queue
diff --git a/lib/listen/internals/thread_pool.rb b/lib/listen/internals/thread_pool.rb
index b1fe7567..e112d90a 100644
--- a/lib/listen/internals/thread_pool.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/internals/thread_pool.rb
@@ -13,8 +13,16 @@ def self.stop
         return if @threads.empty? # return to avoid using possibly stubbed Queue
 
         killed = Queue.new
+        # You can't kill a read on a descriptor in JRuby, so let's just
+        # ignore running threads (listen rb-inotify waiting for disk activity
+        # before closing)  pray threads die faster than they are created...
+        limit = RUBY_ENGINE == 'jruby' ? [1] : []
+
         killed << @threads.pop.kill until @threads.empty?
-        killed.pop.join until killed.empty?
+        until killed.empty?
+          th = killed.pop
+          th.join(*limit) unless th[:listen_blocking_read_thread]
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/listen/listener.rb b/lib/listen/listener.rb
index 6acf4a63..80e61525 100644
--- a/lib/listen/listener.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/listener.rb
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def initialize(*dirs, &block)
 
     default_state :initializing
 
-    state :initializing, to: :backend_started
+    state :initializing, to: [:backend_started, :stopped]
 
     state :backend_started, to: [:frontend_ready, :stopped] do
       backend.start
diff --git a/lib/listen/record/entry.rb b/lib/listen/record/entry.rb
index 1080977c..de37b9ac 100644
--- a/lib/listen/record/entry.rb
+++ b/lib/listen/record/entry.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def initialize(root, relative, name = nil)
 
       def children
         child_relative = _join
-        (Dir.entries(sys_path) - %w(. ..)).map do |name|
+        (_entries(sys_path) - %w(. ..)).map do |name|
           Entry.new(@root, child_relative, name)
         end
       end
@@ -46,6 +46,17 @@ def _join
         args = [@relative, @name].compact
         args.empty? ? nil : ::File.join(*args)
       end
+
+      def _entries(dir)
+        return Dir.entries(dir) unless RUBY_ENGINE == 'jruby'
+
+        # JRuby inconsistency workaround, see:
+        # https://github.com/jruby/jruby/issues/3840
+        exists = ::File.exist?(dir)
+        directory = ::File.directory?(dir)
+        return Dir.entries(dir) unless (exists && !directory)
+        raise Errno::ENOTDIR, dir
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/listen.gemspec b/listen.gemspec
index 43f55698..ee1316ec 100644
--- a/listen.gemspec
+++ b/listen.gemspec
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 
   s.required_ruby_version = '>= 1.9.3'
 
-  s.add_dependency 'rb-fsevent', '>= 0.9.3'
-  s.add_dependency 'rb-inotify', '>= 0.9.7'
+  s.add_dependency 'rb-fsevent', '~> 0.9', '>= 0.9.4'
+  s.add_dependency 'rb-inotify', '~> 0.9', '>= 0.9.7'
 
   s.add_development_dependency 'bundler', '>= 1.3.5'
 end
diff --git a/spec/lib/listen/adapter/linux_spec.rb b/spec/lib/listen/adapter/linux_spec.rb
index 148c6849..d77f0c0b 100644
--- a/spec/lib/listen/adapter/linux_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/listen/adapter/linux_spec.rb
@@ -131,24 +131,37 @@
       let(:adapter_options) { { events: [:recursive, :close_write] } }
 
       before do
-        events = [:recursive, :close_write]
-        allow(fake_worker).to receive(:watch).with('/foo/dir1', *events)
-
-        fake_notifier = double(:fake_notifier, new: fake_worker)
-        stub_const('INotify::Notifier', fake_notifier)
-
         allow(config).to receive(:directories).and_return(directories)
         allow(config).to receive(:adapter_options).and_return(adapter_options)
-        allow(config).to receive(:queue).and_return(queue)
-        allow(config).to receive(:silencer).and_return(silencer)
+      end
 
-        allow(subject).to receive(:require).with('rb-inotify')
-        subject.configure
+      context 'when configured' do
+        before do
+          events = [:recursive, :close_write]
+          allow(fake_worker).to receive(:watch).with('/foo/dir1', *events)
+
+          fake_notifier = double(:fake_notifier, new: fake_worker)
+          stub_const('INotify::Notifier', fake_notifier)
+
+          allow(config).to receive(:queue).and_return(queue)
+          allow(config).to receive(:silencer).and_return(silencer)
+
+          allow(subject).to receive(:require).with('rb-inotify')
+          subject.configure
+        end
+
+        it 'stops the worker' do
+          expect(fake_worker).to receive(:close)
+          subject.stop
+        end
       end
 
-      it 'stops the worker' do
-        expect(fake_worker).to receive(:close)
-        subject.stop
+      context 'when not even initialized' do
+        it 'does not crash' do
+          expect do
+            subject.stop
+          end.to_not raise_error
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/lib/listen/listener_spec.rb b/spec/lib/listen/listener_spec.rb
index 98e34c93..05b4a92c 100644
--- a/spec/lib/listen/listener_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/listen/listener_spec.rb
@@ -85,8 +85,8 @@
 
     context 'with a block' do
       let(:myblock) { instance_double(Proc) }
-      let(:block) { proc { myblock.call }  }
-      subject { described_class.new('dir1', &block) }
+      let(:real_block) { proc { myblock.call }  }
+      subject { described_class.new('dir1', &real_block) }
 
       it 'passes the block to the event processor' do
         allow(Event::Config).to receive(:new) do |*_args, &some_block|
@@ -175,6 +175,18 @@
         subject.stop
       end
     end
+
+    context 'when only initialized' do
+      before do
+        subject
+      end
+
+      it 'terminates' do
+        allow(backend).to receive(:stop)
+        allow(processor).to receive(:teardown)
+        subject.stop
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe '#pause' do