diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/kahadb/KahaDBStore.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/kahadb/KahaDBStore.java
index f30bb986bc..70676a7400 100644
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/kahadb/KahaDBStore.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/kahadb/KahaDBStore.java
@@ -205,7 +205,9 @@ public class KahaDBStore extends MessageDatabase implements PersistenceAdapter{
     public void doStop(ServiceStopper stopper) throws Exception {
         //drain down async jobs
         LOG.info("Stopping async queue tasks");
-        this.globalQueueSemaphore.tryAcquire(this.maxAsyncJobs, 60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        if (this.globalQueueSemaphore != null) {
+            this.globalQueueSemaphore.tryAcquire(this.maxAsyncJobs, 60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        }
         synchronized (this.asyncQueueMap) {
             for (StoreQueueTask task : this.asyncQueueMap.values()) {
                 task.cancel();
@@ -213,7 +215,9 @@ public class KahaDBStore extends MessageDatabase implements PersistenceAdapter{
             this.asyncQueueMap.clear();
         }
         LOG.info("Stopping async topic tasks");
-        this.globalTopicSemaphore.tryAcquire(this.maxAsyncJobs, 60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        if (this.globalTopicSemaphore != null) {
+            this.globalTopicSemaphore.tryAcquire(this.maxAsyncJobs, 60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        }
         synchronized (this.asyncTopicMap) {
             for (StoreTopicTask task : this.asyncTopicMap.values()) {
                 task.cancel();
diff --git a/activemq-ra/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/ra/FailoverManagedClusterTest.java b/activemq-ra/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/ra/FailoverManagedClusterTest.java
index 5e6b434e29..e4beed7ec3 100644
--- a/activemq-ra/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/ra/FailoverManagedClusterTest.java
+++ b/activemq-ra/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/ra/FailoverManagedClusterTest.java
@@ -49,9 +49,12 @@ import junit.framework.TestCase;
 import org.apache.activemq.ActiveMQConnectionFactory;
 import org.apache.activemq.broker.BrokerService;
 import org.apache.activemq.command.ActiveMQQueue;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 public class FailoverManagedClusterTest extends TestCase {
-
+    private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(FailoverManagedClusterTest.class);
+    
     long txGenerator = System.currentTimeMillis();
     
     private static final String MASTER_BIND_ADDRESS = "tcp://0.0.0.0:61616";
@@ -61,12 +64,25 @@ public class FailoverManagedClusterTest extends TestCase {
     
     private BrokerService master;
     private BrokerService slave;
+    private CountDownLatch slaveThreadStarted = new CountDownLatch(1);
 
+    @Override
     protected void setUp() throws Exception {
         createAndStartMaster();
         createAndStartSlave();    
     }
     
+    @Override
+    protected void tearDown() throws Exception {
+        if (slave != null) {
+            slave.stop();
+        }
+        if (master != null) {
+            master.stop();
+        }
+    }
+
+
 
     private void createAndStartMaster() throws Exception {
         master = new BrokerService();
@@ -88,8 +104,9 @@ public class FailoverManagedClusterTest extends TestCase {
         new Thread(new Runnable() {
             public void run() {
                 try {
+                    slaveThreadStarted.countDown();
                     slave.start();
-                    System.out.println("slave has started");
+                    LOG.info("slave has started");
                 } catch (Exception e) {
                     e.printStackTrace();
                 }
@@ -112,7 +129,7 @@ public class FailoverManagedClusterTest extends TestCase {
 
         final StubMessageEndpoint endpoint = new StubMessageEndpoint() {
             public void onMessage(Message message) {
-                System.out.println("Received message " + message);
+                LOG.info("Received message " + message);
                 super.onMessage(message);
                 messageDelivered.countDown();
             };
@@ -144,18 +161,14 @@ public class FailoverManagedClusterTest extends TestCase {
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
         }
 
-        // Send the broker a message to that endpoint
         MessageProducer producer = session.createProducer(new ActiveMQQueue("TEST"));
-
-        // force a failover
+        slaveThreadStarted.await(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        
+        // force a failover before send
+        LOG.info("Stopping master to force failover..");
         master.stop();
-        slave.waitUntilStarted();
-
-        try {
-            Thread.sleep(2000);
-        } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
-            // ignore
-        }
+        master = null;
+        assertTrue("slave started ok", slave.waitUntilStarted());
 
         producer.send(session.createTextMessage("Hello, again!"));
 
diff --git a/kahadb/src/main/java/org/apache/kahadb/util/LockFile.java b/kahadb/src/main/java/org/apache/kahadb/util/LockFile.java
index 36848325d9..70a8f8b847 100644
--- a/kahadb/src/main/java/org/apache/kahadb/util/LockFile.java
+++ b/kahadb/src/main/java/org/apache/kahadb/util/LockFile.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.RandomAccessFile;
 import java.nio.channels.FileLock;
 import java.nio.channels.OverlappingFileLockException;
+import java.util.Date;
 
 /**
  * Used to lock a File.
@@ -55,7 +56,9 @@ public class LockFile {
         }
         
         IOHelper.mkdirs(file.getParentFile());
-        
+        if (System.getProperty(getVmLockKey()) != null) {
+            throw new IOException("File '" + file + "' could not be locked as lock is already held for this jvm.");
+        }
         if (lock == null) {
             readFile = new RandomAccessFile(file, "rw");
             IOException reason = null;
@@ -66,6 +69,7 @@ public class LockFile {
             }
             if (lock != null) {
                 lockCounter++;
+                System.setProperty(getVmLockKey(), new Date().toString());
             } else {
                 // new read file for next attempt
                 closeReadFile();
@@ -94,6 +98,7 @@ public class LockFile {
         if (lock != null) {
             try {
                 lock.release();
+                System.getProperties().remove(getVmLockKey());
             } catch (Throwable ignore) {
             }
             lock = null;
@@ -105,6 +110,10 @@ public class LockFile {
         }
     }
 
+    private String getVmLockKey() throws IOException {
+        return getClass().getName() + ".lock." + file.getCanonicalPath();
+    }
+
     private void closeReadFile() {
         // close the file.
         if (readFile != null) {