diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/KafkaScheduler.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/KafkaScheduler.scala
index 5bab08d473e..641218ed977 100755
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/KafkaScheduler.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/KafkaScheduler.scala
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class KafkaScheduler(val threads: Int,
                      daemon: Boolean = true) extends Scheduler with Logging {
   private var executor: ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor = null
   private val schedulerThreadId = new AtomicInteger(0)
-  
+
   override def startup() {
     debug("Initializing task scheduler.")
     this synchronized {
@@ -88,12 +88,14 @@ class KafkaScheduler(val threads: Int,
   
   override def shutdown() {
     debug("Shutting down task scheduler.")
-    this synchronized {
-      if(isStarted) {
-        executor.shutdown()
-        executor.awaitTermination(1, TimeUnit.DAYS)
+    // We use the local variable to avoid NullPointerException if another thread shuts down scheduler at same time.
+    val cachedExecutor = this.executor
+    if (cachedExecutor != null) {
+      this synchronized {
+        cachedExecutor.shutdown()
         this.executor = null
       }
+      cachedExecutor.awaitTermination(1, TimeUnit.DAYS)
     }
   }
 
@@ -101,10 +103,10 @@ class KafkaScheduler(val threads: Int,
     debug("Scheduling task %s with initial delay %d ms and period %d ms."
         .format(name, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.convert(delay, unit), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.convert(period, unit)))
     this synchronized {
-      ensureStarted
+      ensureRunning
       val runnable = CoreUtils.runnable {
         try {
-          trace("Begining execution of scheduled task '%s'.".format(name))
+          trace("Beginning execution of scheduled task '%s'.".format(name))
           fun()
         } catch {
           case t: Throwable => error("Uncaught exception in scheduled task '" + name +"'", t)
@@ -125,8 +127,8 @@ class KafkaScheduler(val threads: Int,
     }
   }
   
-  private def ensureStarted = {
+  private def ensureRunning = {
     if(!isStarted)
-      throw new IllegalStateException("Kafka scheduler has not been started")
+      throw new IllegalStateException("Kafka scheduler is not running.")
   }
 }