diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/LocalSparkCluster.scala b/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/LocalSparkCluster.scala
index 5c535ed502..6723523d5b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/LocalSparkCluster.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/LocalSparkCluster.scala
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ class LocalSparkCluster(numSlaves : Int, coresPerSlave : Int,
     logInfo("Starting a local Spark cluster with " + numSlaves + " slaves.")
 
     /* Start the Master */
-    val (actorSystem, masterPort) = AkkaUtils.createActorSystem("sparkMaster", localIpAddress, 0)
+    val (masterActorSystem, masterPort) = AkkaUtils.createActorSystem("sparkMaster", localIpAddress, 0)
     masterUrl = "spark://" + localIpAddress + ":" + masterPort
     threadPool.execute(new Runnable {
       def run() {
-        val actor = actorSystem.actorOf(
+        val actor = masterActorSystem.actorOf(
           Props(new Master(localIpAddress, masterPort, 8080)), name = "Master")
         masterActor = actor
-        actorSystem.awaitTermination()
+        masterActorSystem.awaitTermination()
       }
     })
 
@@ -52,6 +52,20 @@ class LocalSparkCluster(numSlaves : Int, coresPerSlave : Int,
       })
     }
 
+
+    // Shutdown hook that kills actors on shutdown.
+    Runtime.getRuntime.addShutdownHook(
+      new Thread() { 
+        override def run() {
+          masterActorSystem.stop(masterActor)
+          masterActorSystem.shutdown()
+          // Since above is asynchronous wait for the master actor to shut down
+          while(!masterActor.isTerminated) {
+            Thread.sleep(10)
+          }
+        }
+      })
+
     return masterUrl
   }
   
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/worker/ExecutorRunner.scala b/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/worker/ExecutorRunner.scala
index 3e24380810..7ad216f90e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/worker/ExecutorRunner.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/spark/deploy/worker/ExecutorRunner.scala
@@ -131,6 +131,9 @@ class ExecutorRunner(
       }
       env.put("SPARK_CORES", cores.toString)
       env.put("SPARK_MEMORY", memory.toString)
+      // In case we are running this from within the Spark Shell
+      // so we are not creating a parent process.
+      env.put("SPARK_LAUNCH_WITH_SCALA", "0")
       process = builder.start()
 
       // Redirect its stdout and stderr to files