diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c63874bc803b1..83dba147052e9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ java/client/src/org/openqa/selenium/ie/IeReturnTypes.java
 .idea/misc.xml
 .idea/workspace.xml
 .idea/projectCodeStyle.xml
+.idea/*
 out
 cpp/IEDriver/sizzle.h
 third_party/gecko-2/linux
diff --git a/java/server/src/org/openqa/grid/selenium/proxy/WebRemoteProxy.java b/java/server/src/org/openqa/grid/selenium/proxy/WebRemoteProxy.java
index 0c10794446e26..1e326d727b98f 100644
--- a/java/server/src/org/openqa/grid/selenium/proxy/WebRemoteProxy.java
+++ b/java/server/src/org/openqa/grid/selenium/proxy/WebRemoteProxy.java
@@ -86,9 +86,8 @@ public HtmlRenderer getHtmlRender() {
   /*
    * Self Healing part.Polls the remote, and marks it down if it cannot be reached twice in a row.
    */
-  private boolean down = false;
-  private boolean poll = true;
-  int nbFailedPoll = 0;
+  private volatile boolean down = false;
+  private volatile boolean poll = true;
   // TODO freynaud
   private List<RemoteException> errors = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<RemoteException>();
   private Thread pollingThread = null;
@@ -113,6 +112,8 @@ public boolean isAlive() {
 
   public void startPolling() {
     pollingThread = new Thread(new Runnable() {
+      int nbFailedPoll = 0;
+
       public void run() {
         while (poll) {
           try {
diff --git a/java/server/test/org/openqa/grid/e2e/wd/WebDriverPriorityDemo.java b/java/server/test/org/openqa/grid/e2e/wd/WebDriverPriorityDemo.java
index f98ee294980c4..6a06c4a50cb6f 100644
--- a/java/server/test/org/openqa/grid/e2e/wd/WebDriverPriorityDemo.java
+++ b/java/server/test/org/openqa/grid/e2e/wd/WebDriverPriorityDemo.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public void test() throws MalformedURLException, InterruptedException {
   @Test(dependsOnMethods = "test")
   public void sendMoreRequests() throws MalformedURLException {
     for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
-      new Thread(new Runnable() {
+      new Thread(new Runnable() { // Thread safety reviewed
         public void run() {
           DesiredCapabilities ff = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();
           try {
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ public void run() {
     }
   }
 
-  WebDriver importantOne;
-  boolean importantOneStarted = false;
+  volatile WebDriver importantOne;
+  volatile boolean importantOneStarted = false;
 
   // adding a request with high priority at the end of the queue
   @Test(dependsOnMethods = "sendMoreRequests", timeOut = 30000)
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ public void sendTheImportantOne() throws MalformedURLException, InterruptedExcep
     final DesiredCapabilities ff = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();
     ff.setCapability("_important", true);
 
-    new Thread(new Runnable() {
+    new Thread(new Runnable() { // Thread safety reviewed
       public void run() {
         try {
           importantOne = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(hubURL + "/grid/driver"), ff);
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ public void run() {
   @Test(dependsOnMethods = "sendTheImportantOne")
   public void sendMoreRequests2() throws MalformedURLException {
     for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
-      new Thread(new Runnable() {
+      new Thread(new Runnable() { // Thread safety reviewed
         public void run() {
           DesiredCapabilities ff = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();
           try {