I just spoke to Pete, who pointed me to: http://seamframework.org/Community/ApplicationInstabilityInMultiuserEnvir... This talks about SFSB removal, not passivation. The default is now: @org.jboss.ejb3.annotation.CacheConfig (maxSize=100000, idleTimeoutSeconds=300, removalTimeoutSeconds=0) ...where "0" means "don't remove the bean as part of a timeout". So either: 1) The issue is now fixed in EJB3 by nature of us not removing a SFSB 2) EJB3 is applying a removal timeout when it shouldn't. The removals are reaped by a Thread with a name prefix of "SFSB Removal Thread - ", by default as defined by SimpleStatefulCache. Pete and I have agreed to curb this pending further evidence that the issue is still present. S, ALR View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4182474#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...