diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/BackpressureTests.java b/src/test/java/rx/BackpressureTests.java
index 0760350f67..f54b8b67d5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/rx/BackpressureTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/BackpressureTests.java
@@ -15,28 +15,29 @@
  */
 package rx;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
-import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue;
-import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+import java.util.concurrent.*;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.*;
 
-import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.*;
 
 import rx.Observable.OnSubscribe;
 import rx.exceptions.MissingBackpressureException;
-import rx.functions.Func1;
-import rx.functions.Func2;
+import rx.functions.*;
 import rx.internal.util.RxRingBuffer;
 import rx.observers.TestSubscriber;
 import rx.schedulers.Schedulers;
+import rx.test.TestObstructionDetection;
 
 public class BackpressureTests {
 
+    @After
+    public void doAfterTest() {
+        TestObstructionDetection.checkObstruction();
+    }
+    
     @Test
     public void testObserveOn() {
         int NUM = (int) (RxRingBuffer.SIZE * 2.1);
@@ -163,6 +164,7 @@ public Observable<Integer> call(Integer i) {
     }
 
     @Test
+    @Ignore // the test is non-deterministic and can't be made deterministic
     public void testFlatMapAsync() {
         int NUM = (int) (RxRingBuffer.SIZE * 2.1);
         AtomicInteger c = new AtomicInteger();
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/test/TestObstructionDetection.java b/src/test/java/rx/test/TestObstructionDetection.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..859d138dd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/test/TestObstructionDetection.java
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2014 Netflix, Inc.
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package rx.test;
+
+import java.util.*;
+import java.util.concurrent.*;
+
+import rx.Scheduler;
+import rx.functions.Action0;
+import rx.schedulers.Schedulers;
+
+/**
+ * Check if there is an obstruction in the computation scheduler.
+ * Put the following code into test classes:
+ * <code><pre>
+ * @org.junit.After
+ * public void doAfterTest() {
+ *     rx.test.TestObstructionDetection.checkObstruction();
+ * }
+ * </pre></code>
+ * or
+ * <pre><code>
+ * @org.junit.AfterClass
+ * public static void doAfterClass() {
+ *     rx.test.TestObstructionDetection.checkObstruction();
+ * }
+ * </code></pre>
+ */
+public final class TestObstructionDetection {
+    private TestObstructionDetection() {
+        throw new IllegalStateException("No instances!");
+    }
+    /**
+     * Checks if tasks can be immediately executed on the computation scheduler.
+     * @throws ObstructionExceptio if the schedulers don't respond within 1 second
+     */
+    public static void checkObstruction() {
+        final int ncpu = Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors();
+        
+        final CountDownLatch cdl = new CountDownLatch(ncpu);
+        final List<Scheduler.Worker> workers = new ArrayList<Scheduler.Worker>();
+        final Action0 task = new Action0() {
+            @Override
+            public void call() {
+                cdl.countDown();
+            }
+        };
+        
+        for (int i = 0; i < ncpu; i++) {
+            workers.add(Schedulers.computation().createWorker());
+        }
+        for (Scheduler.Worker w : workers) {
+            w.schedule(task);
+        }
+        try {
+            if (!cdl.await(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+                throw new ObstructionException("Obstruction/Timeout detected!");
+            }
+        } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
+            throw new ObstructionException("Interrupted: " + ex);
+        } finally {
+            for (Scheduler.Worker w : workers) {
+                w.unsubscribe();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    /**
+     * Exception thrown if obstruction was detected.
+     */
+    public static final class ObstructionException extends RuntimeException {
+        /** */
+        private static final long serialVersionUID = -6380717994471291795L;
+        public ObstructionException(String message) {
+            super(message);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/test/TestObstructionDetectionTest.java b/src/test/java/rx/test/TestObstructionDetectionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6db1db597
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/test/TestObstructionDetectionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2014 Netflix, Inc.
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package rx.test;
+
+import org.junit.*;
+
+import rx.*;
+import rx.Scheduler.Worker;
+import rx.functions.Action0;
+import rx.schedulers.Schedulers;
+import rx.test.TestObstructionDetection.ObstructionException;
+
+public class TestObstructionDetectionTest {
+    private static Scheduler.Worker w;
+    @org.junit.After
+    public void doAfterTest() {
+        rx.test.TestObstructionDetection.checkObstruction();
+    }
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void afterClass() {
+        Worker w2 = w;
+        if (w2 != null) {
+            w2.unsubscribe();
+        }
+    }
+    @Test(timeout = 10000, expected = ObstructionException.class)
+    public void testObstruction() {
+        Scheduler.Worker w = Schedulers.computation().createWorker();
+        
+        try {
+            w.schedule(new Action0() {
+                @Override
+                public void call() {
+                    try {
+                        Thread.sleep(5000);
+                    } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
+                        
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+            TestObstructionDetection.checkObstruction();
+        } finally {
+            w.unsubscribe();
+        }
+    }
+    @Test(timeout = 10000)
+    public void testNoObstruction() {
+        w = Schedulers.computation().createWorker();
+        
+        w.schedule(new Action0() {
+            @Override
+            public void call() {
+                try {
+                    Thread.sleep(500);
+                } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
+                    
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
+}