--- a/openide.util/src/org/openide/util/RequestProcessor.java	
+++ a/openide.util/src/org/openide/util/RequestProcessor.java	
@@ -1980,7 +1980,7 @@ 
         public void run() {
             for (;;) {
                 RequestProcessor current = null;
-
+                try {
                 synchronized (lock) {
                     try {
                         if (source == null) {
@@ -1991,7 +1991,6 @@ 
                      // not interesting
 
                     current = source;
-                    source = null;
 
                     if (current == null) { // We've timeouted
 
@@ -2081,6 +2080,13 @@ 
                         procesing = null;
                     }
                 }
+            } finally {
+                synchronized(lock) {
+                    if (source == current) {
+                        source = null;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
             }
         }
         
--- a/openide.util/test/unit/src/org/openide/util/RequestProcessor226051Test.java	
+++ a/openide.util/test/unit/src/org/openide/util/RequestProcessor226051Test.java	
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@ 
+/*
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS HEADER.
+ *
+ * Copyright 2013 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
+ * Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
+ *
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the terms of either the GNU
+ * General Public License Version 2 only ("GPL") or the Common
+ * Development and Distribution License("CDDL") (collectively, the
+ * "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the
+ * License. You can obtain a copy of the License at
+ * http://www.netbeans.org/cddl-gplv2.html
+ * or nbbuild/licenses/CDDL-GPL-2-CP. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations under the
+ * License.  When distributing the software, include this License Header
+ * Notice in each file and include the License file at
+ * nbbuild/licenses/CDDL-GPL-2-CP.  Oracle designates this
+ * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
+ * by Oracle in the GPL Version 2 section of the License file that
+ * accompanied this code. If applicable, add the following below the
+ * License Header, with the fields enclosed by brackets [] replaced by
+ * your own identifying information:
+ * "Portions Copyrighted [year] [name of copyright owner]"
+ *
+ * If you wish your version of this file to be governed by only the CDDL
+ * or only the GPL Version 2, indicate your decision by adding
+ * "[Contributor] elects to include this software in this distribution
+ * under the [CDDL or GPL Version 2] license." If you do not indicate a
+ * single choice of license, a recipient has the option to distribute
+ * your version of this file under either the CDDL, the GPL Version 2 or
+ * to extend the choice of license to its licensees as provided above.
+ * However, if you add GPL Version 2 code and therefore, elected the GPL
+ * Version 2 license, then the option applies only if the new code is
+ * made subject to such option by the copyright holder.
+ *
+ * Contributor(s):
+ *
+ * Portions Copyrighted 2013 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
+ */
+package org.openide.util;
+
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import static junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Tim Boudreau
+ */
+public class RequestProcessor226051Test {
+
+    private static final long DELAY = 2000;
+
+    @Test
+    public void testAwaitTermination() throws InterruptedException {
+        int count = 5;
+        RequestProcessor rp = new RequestProcessor(getClass().getSimpleName(), count+1, false);
+        CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(count);
+        List<R> rs = new LinkedList<R>();
+        for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+            R r = new R(latch);
+            rs.add(r);
+            rp.post(r);
+        }
+        rp.shutdown();
+        boolean res = rp.awaitTermination(DELAY * (count + 1), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+        for (R r : rs) {
+            assertTrue(r.ran.get());
+        }
+        assertTrue(res);
+    }
+
+    static class R implements Runnable {
+
+        private final CountDownLatch exitLatch;
+        private final AtomicBoolean ran = new AtomicBoolean();
+
+        R(CountDownLatch exitLatch) {
+            this.exitLatch = exitLatch;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run() {
+            try {
+                boolean done = false;
+                while (!done) {
+                    try {
+                        Thread.sleep(DELAY);
+                    } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
+                        Exceptions.printStackTrace(ex);
+                    } finally {
+                        done = true;
+                    }
+                }
+            } finally {
+                ran.set(true);
+            }
+            exitLatch.countDown();
+        }
+    }
+}