diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 052f43e3b26..4512ea3a985 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ akka {
       # (I) Reuse inbound connections for outbound messages
       use-passive-connections = on
 
-      # (I) If "on" then the default dispatcher will be used to accept inbound connections,
-      # and IO. If "off" then dedicated threads will be used.
-      use-default-dispatcher-for-io = off
+      # (I) EXPERIMENTAL If "<id.of.dispatcher>" then the specified dispatcher will be used to accept inbound connections,
+      # and perform IO. If "" then dedicated threads will be used.
+      use-dispatcher-for-io = ""
 
       # (I) The hostname or ip to bind the remoting to,
       # InetAddress.getLocalHost.getHostAddress is used if empty
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Server.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Server.scala
index c20c1cba355..3de1556bb38 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Server.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Server.scala
@@ -26,10 +26,14 @@ class NettyRemoteServer(val netty: NettyRemoteTransport) {
 
   val ip = InetAddress.getByName(settings.Hostname)
 
-  private val factory = {
-    val boss, worker = if (settings.UseDefaultDispatcherForIO) netty.system.dispatcher else Executors.newCachedThreadPool()
-    new NioServerSocketChannelFactory(boss, worker)
-  }
+  private val factory =
+    settings.UseDispatcherForIO match {
+      case Some(id) ⇒
+        val d = netty.system.dispatchers.lookup(id)
+        new NioServerSocketChannelFactory(d, d)
+      case None ⇒
+        new NioServerSocketChannelFactory(Executors.newCachedThreadPool(), Executors.newCachedThreadPool())
+    }
 
   private val executionHandler = new ExecutionHandler(netty.executor)
 
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Settings.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Settings.scala
index e12da190bc8..e2f69d77b57 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Settings.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/netty/Settings.scala
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ class NettySettings(config: Config, val systemName: String) {
   }
 
   val UsePassiveConnections = getBoolean("use-passive-connections")
-  val UseDefaultDispatcherForIO = getBoolean("use-default-dispatcher-for-io")
+  val UseDispatcherForIO = getString("use-dispatcher-for-io") match {
+    case "" | null  ⇒ None
+    case dispatcher ⇒ Some(dispatcher)
+  }
 
   val ReconnectionTimeWindow = Duration(getMilliseconds("reconnection-time-window"), MILLISECONDS)
   val ReadTimeout = Duration(getMilliseconds("read-timeout"), MILLISECONDS)