diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/DurableTopicSubscription.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/DurableTopicSubscription.java
index 527066aed0..9504aca71f 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/DurableTopicSubscription.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/DurableTopicSubscription.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.apache.activemq.broker.region;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
 import javax.jms.InvalidSelectorException;
 import javax.jms.JMSException;
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
     private final ConcurrentHashMap<ActiveMQDestination, Destination> destinations = new ConcurrentHashMap<ActiveMQDestination, Destination>();
     private final SubscriptionKey subscriptionKey;
     private final boolean keepDurableSubsActive;
-    private boolean active;
+    private AtomicBoolean active = new AtomicBoolean();
 
     public DurableTopicSubscription(Broker broker, SystemUsage usageManager, ConnectionContext context, ConsumerInfo info, boolean keepDurableSubsActive)
         throws JMSException {
@@ -62,11 +63,11 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
     }
 
     public boolean isActive() {
-        return active;
+        return active.get();
     }
 
     public boolean isFull() {
-        return !active || super.isFull();
+        return !active.get() || super.isFull();
     }
 
     public void gc() {
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
                 throw jmsEx;
             }
         }
-        if (active || keepDurableSubsActive) {
+        if (active.get() || keepDurableSubsActive) {
             Topic topic = (Topic)destination;
             topic.activate(context, this);
             if (pending.isEmpty(topic)) {
@@ -112,8 +113,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
 
     public void activate(SystemUsage memoryManager, ConnectionContext context,
             ConsumerInfo info) throws Exception {
-        if (!active) {
-            this.active = true;
+        if (!active.get()) {
             this.context = context;
             this.info = info;
             LOG.debug("Activating " + this);
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
                     }
                 }
             }
+            this.active.set(true);
             dispatchPending();
             this.usageManager.getMemoryUsage().addUsageListener(this);
         }
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
 
     public void deactivate(boolean keepDurableSubsActive) throws Exception {
         LOG.debug("Deactivating " + this);
-        active = false;
+        active.set(false);
         this.usageManager.getMemoryUsage().removeUsageListener(this);
         synchronized (pending) {
             pending.stop();
@@ -211,7 +212,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
     }
 
     public void add(MessageReference node) throws Exception {
-        if (!active && !keepDurableSubsActive) {
+        if (!active.get() && !keepDurableSubsActive) {
             return;
         }
         super.add(node);
@@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
     }
 
     public int getPendingQueueSize() {
-        if (active || keepDurableSubsActive) {
+        if (active.get() || keepDurableSubsActive) {
             return super.getPendingQueueSize();
         }
         // TODO: need to get from store
@@ -236,7 +237,7 @@ public class DurableTopicSubscription extends PrefetchSubscription implements Us
     }
 
     protected boolean canDispatch(MessageReference node) {
-        return active;
+        return active.get();
     }
 
     protected void acknowledge(ConnectionContext context, MessageAck ack, MessageReference node) throws IOException {
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/store/jdbc/JDBCMessagePriorityTest.java b/activemq-core/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/store/jdbc/JDBCMessagePriorityTest.java
index 2d6a683942..1327bb38d1 100644
--- a/activemq-core/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/store/jdbc/JDBCMessagePriorityTest.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/store/jdbc/JDBCMessagePriorityTest.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public class JDBCMessagePriorityTest extends MessagePriorityTest {
         sub = sess.createDurableSubscriber(topic, subName);
         for (int i = 0; i < MSG_NUM * 4; i++) {
             Message msg = sub.receive(10000);
-            LOG.info("received i=" + i + ", m=" + (msg!=null?
+            LOG.debug("received i=" + i + ", m=" + (msg!=null?
                     msg.getJMSMessageID() + ", priority: " + msg.getJMSPriority()
                     : null) );
             assertNotNull("Message " + i + " was null", msg);
@@ -129,10 +129,10 @@ public class JDBCMessagePriorityTest extends MessagePriorityTest {
         sub = consumerSession.createDurableSubscriber(topic, subName);
         for (int i=0; i < MSG_NUM * maxPriority; i++) {
             Message msg = sub.receive(10000);
-            assertNull("no duplicate message", dups.put(msg.getJMSMessageID(), subName));
-            LOG.info("received i=" + i + ", m=" + (msg!=null?
+            LOG.debug("received i=" + i + ", m=" + (msg!=null?
                     msg.getJMSMessageID() + ", priority: " + msg.getJMSPriority()
                     : null) );
+            assertNull("no duplicate message failed on : " + msg.getJMSMessageID(), dups.put(msg.getJMSMessageID(), subName));            
             assertNotNull("Message " + i + " was null", msg);
             messageCounts[msg.getJMSPriority()].incrementAndGet();
             if (i > 0 && i % closeFrequency == 0) {