diff --git a/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/observers/SafeSubscriber.java b/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/observers/SafeSubscriber.java
index 1bdbcd8272..828ee41a0e 100644
--- a/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/observers/SafeSubscriber.java
+++ b/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/observers/SafeSubscriber.java
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 package rx.observers;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicIntegerFieldUpdater;
 
 import rx.Subscriber;
 import rx.exceptions.CompositeException;
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@
 public class SafeSubscriber<T> extends Subscriber<T> {
 
     private final Subscriber<? super T> actual;
-    private final AtomicBoolean isFinished = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+    /** Terminal state indication if not zero. */
+    volatile int done;
+    @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+    static final AtomicIntegerFieldUpdater<SafeSubscriber> DONE_UPDATER
+            = AtomicIntegerFieldUpdater.newUpdater(SafeSubscriber.class, "done");
 
     public SafeSubscriber(Subscriber<? super T> actual) {
         super(actual);
@@ -69,7 +73,7 @@ public SafeSubscriber(Subscriber<? super T> actual) {
 
     @Override
     public void onCompleted() {
-        if (isFinished.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
+        if (DONE_UPDATER.getAndSet(this, 1) == 0) {
             try {
                 actual.onCompleted();
             } catch (Throwable e) {
@@ -90,7 +94,7 @@ public void onError(Throwable e) {
         // we handle here instead of another method so we don't add stacks to the frame
         // which can prevent it from being able to handle StackOverflow
         Exceptions.throwIfFatal(e);
-        if (isFinished.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
+        if (DONE_UPDATER.getAndSet(this, 1) == 0) {
             _onError(e);
         }
     }
@@ -98,7 +102,7 @@ public void onError(Throwable e) {
     @Override
     public void onNext(T args) {
         try {
-            if (!isFinished.get()) {
+            if (done == 0) {
                 actual.onNext(args);
             }
         } catch (Throwable e) {