diff --git a/tokio-reactor/src/lib.rs b/tokio-reactor/src/lib.rs
index 0b7cf77d2..1a1b8b3f1 100644
--- a/tokio-reactor/src/lib.rs
+++ b/tokio-reactor/src/lib.rs
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@ pub struct Reactor {
 /// and will instead use the default reactor for the execution context.
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct Handle {
+    inner: Option<HandlePriv>,
+}
+
+/// Like `Handle`, but never `None`.
+#[derive(Clone)]
+struct HandlePriv {
     inner: Weak<Inner>,
 }
 
@@ -116,6 +122,12 @@ pub struct SetFallbackError(());
 #[doc(hidden)]
 pub type SetDefaultError = SetFallbackError;
 
+#[test]
+fn test_handle_size() {
+    use std::mem;
+    assert_eq!(mem::size_of::<Handle>(), mem::size_of::<HandlePriv>());
+}
+
 struct Inner {
     /// The underlying system event queue.
     io: mio::Poll,
@@ -147,7 +159,7 @@ pub(crate) enum Direction {
 static HANDLE_FALLBACK: AtomicUsize = ATOMIC_USIZE_INIT;
 
 /// Tracks the reactor for the current execution context.
-thread_local!(static CURRENT_REACTOR: RefCell<Option<Handle>> = RefCell::new(None));
+thread_local!(static CURRENT_REACTOR: RefCell<Option<HandlePriv>> = RefCell::new(None));
 
 const TOKEN_SHIFT: usize = 22;
 
@@ -199,8 +211,17 @@ where F: FnOnce(&mut Enter) -> R
     CURRENT_REACTOR.with(|current| {
         {
             let mut current = current.borrow_mut();
+
             assert!(current.is_none(), "default Tokio reactor already set \
                     for execution context");
+
+            let handle = match handle.as_priv() {
+                Some(handle) => handle,
+                None => {
+                    panic!("`handle` does not reference a reactor");
+                }
+            };
+
             *current = Some(handle.clone());
         }
 
@@ -240,7 +261,9 @@ impl Reactor {
     /// to bind them to this event loop.
     pub fn handle(&self) -> Handle {
         Handle {
-            inner: Arc::downgrade(&self.inner),
+            inner: Some(HandlePriv {
+                inner: Arc::downgrade(&self.inner),
+            }),
         }
     }
 
@@ -268,7 +291,7 @@ impl Reactor {
     /// then this function will also return an error. (aka if `Handle::default`
     /// has been called previously in this program).
     pub fn set_fallback(&self) -> Result<(), SetFallbackError> {
-        set_fallback(self.handle())
+        set_fallback(self.handle().into_priv().unwrap())
     }
 
     /// Performs one iteration of the event loop, blocking on waiting for events
@@ -416,24 +439,83 @@ impl fmt::Debug for Reactor {
 impl Handle {
     /// Returns a handle to the current reactor.
     pub fn current() -> Handle {
-        Handle::try_current()
-            .unwrap_or(Handle { inner: Weak::new() })
+        // TODO: Should this panic on error?
+        HandlePriv::try_current()
+            .map(|handle| Handle {
+                inner: Some(handle),
+            })
+            .unwrap_or(Handle {
+                inner: Some(HandlePriv {
+                    inner: Weak::new(),
+                })
+            })
     }
 
+    fn as_priv(&self) -> Option<&HandlePriv> {
+        self.inner.as_ref()
+    }
+
+    fn into_priv(self) -> Option<HandlePriv> {
+        self.inner
+    }
+
+    fn wakeup(&self) {
+        if let Some(handle) = self.as_priv() {
+            handle.wakeup();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Unpark for Handle {
+    fn unpark(&self) {
+        if let Some(ref h) = self.inner {
+            h.wakeup();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Default for Handle {
+    fn default() -> Handle {
+        Handle { inner: None }
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Debug for Handle {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "Handle")
+    }
+}
+
+fn set_fallback(handle: HandlePriv) -> Result<(), SetFallbackError> {
+    unsafe {
+        let val = handle.into_usize();
+        match HANDLE_FALLBACK.compare_exchange(0, val, SeqCst, SeqCst) {
+            Ok(_) => Ok(()),
+            Err(_) => {
+                drop(HandlePriv::from_usize(val));
+                Err(SetFallbackError(()))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// ===== impl HandlePriv =====
+
+impl HandlePriv {
     /// Try to get a handle to the current reactor.
     ///
     /// Returns `Err` if no handle is found.
-    pub(crate) fn try_current() -> io::Result<Handle> {
+    pub(crate) fn try_current() -> io::Result<HandlePriv> {
         CURRENT_REACTOR.with(|current| {
             match *current.borrow() {
                 Some(ref handle) => Ok(handle.clone()),
-                None => Handle::fallback(),
+                None => HandlePriv::fallback(),
             }
         })
     }
 
     /// Returns a handle to the fallback reactor.
-    fn fallback() -> io::Result<Handle> {
+    fn fallback() -> io::Result<HandlePriv> {
         let mut fallback = HANDLE_FALLBACK.load(SeqCst);
 
         // If the fallback hasn't been previously initialized then let's spin
@@ -454,8 +536,8 @@ impl Handle {
             // that someone was racing with this call to `Handle::default`.
             // They ended up winning so we'll destroy our helper thread (which
             // shuts down the thread) and reload the fallback.
-            if set_fallback(reactor.handle().clone()).is_ok() {
-                let ret = reactor.handle().clone();
+            if set_fallback(reactor.handle().into_priv().unwrap()).is_ok() {
+                let ret = reactor.handle().into_priv().unwrap();
 
                 match reactor.background() {
                     Ok(bg) => bg.forget(),
@@ -476,9 +558,13 @@ impl Handle {
         assert!(fallback != 0);
 
         let ret = unsafe {
-            let handle = Handle::from_usize(fallback);
+            let handle = HandlePriv::from_usize(fallback);
             let ret = handle.clone();
+
+            // This prevents `handle` from being dropped and having the ref
+            // count decremented.
             drop(handle.into_usize());
+
             ret
         };
 
@@ -506,9 +592,9 @@ impl Handle {
         }
     }
 
-    unsafe fn from_usize(val: usize) -> Handle {
+    unsafe fn from_usize(val: usize) -> HandlePriv {
         let inner = mem::transmute::<usize, Weak<Inner>>(val);;
-        Handle { inner }
+        HandlePriv { inner }
     }
 
     fn inner(&self) -> Option<Arc<Inner>> {
@@ -516,34 +602,9 @@ impl Handle {
     }
 }
 
-impl Unpark for Handle {
-    fn unpark(&self) {
-        self.wakeup();
-    }
-}
-
-impl Default for Handle {
-    fn default() -> Handle {
-        Handle::current()
-    }
-}
-
-impl fmt::Debug for Handle {
+impl fmt::Debug for HandlePriv {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, "Handle")
-    }
-}
-
-fn set_fallback(handle: Handle) -> Result<(), SetFallbackError> {
-    unsafe {
-        let val = handle.into_usize();
-        match HANDLE_FALLBACK.compare_exchange(0, val, SeqCst, SeqCst) {
-            Ok(_) => Ok(()),
-            Err(_) => {
-                drop(Handle::from_usize(val));
-                Err(SetFallbackError(()))
-            }
-        }
+        write!(f, "HandlePriv")
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tokio-reactor/src/poll_evented.rs b/tokio-reactor/src/poll_evented.rs
index 6082df949..23b250bf6 100644
--- a/tokio-reactor/src/poll_evented.rs
+++ b/tokio-reactor/src/poll_evented.rs
@@ -160,7 +160,12 @@ where E: Evented
     /// Creates a new `PollEvented` associated with the specified reactor.
     pub fn new_with_handle(io: E, handle: &Handle) -> io::Result<Self> {
         let ret = PollEvented::new(io);
-        ret.inner.registration.register_with(ret.io.as_ref().unwrap(), handle)?;
+
+        if let Some(handle) = handle.as_priv() {
+            ret.inner.registration
+                .register_with_priv(ret.io.as_ref().unwrap(), handle)?;
+        }
+
         Ok(ret)
     }
 
diff --git a/tokio-reactor/src/registration.rs b/tokio-reactor/src/registration.rs
index 73298f9a4..278b57680 100644
--- a/tokio-reactor/src/registration.rs
+++ b/tokio-reactor/src/registration.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use {Handle, Direction, Task};
+use {Handle, HandlePriv, Direction, Task};
 
 use futures::{Async, Poll, task};
 use mio::{self, Evented};
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ pub struct Registration {
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 struct Inner {
-    handle: Handle,
+    handle: HandlePriv,
     token: usize,
 }
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ impl Registration {
     pub fn register<T>(&self, io: &T) -> io::Result<bool>
     where T: Evented,
     {
-        self.register2(io, || Handle::try_current())
+        self.register2(io, || HandlePriv::try_current())
     }
 
     /// Deregister the I/O resource from the reactor it is associated with.
@@ -163,13 +163,24 @@ impl Registration {
     /// If an error is encountered during registration, `Err` is returned.
     pub fn register_with<T>(&self, io: &T, handle: &Handle) -> io::Result<bool>
     where T: Evented,
+    {
+        self.register2(io, || {
+            match handle.as_priv() {
+                Some(handle) => Ok(handle.clone()),
+                None => HandlePriv::try_current(),
+            }
+        })
+    }
+
+    pub(crate) fn register_with_priv<T>(&self, io: &T, handle: &HandlePriv) -> io::Result<bool>
+    where T: Evented,
     {
         self.register2(io, || Ok(handle.clone()))
     }
 
     fn register2<T, F>(&self, io: &T, f: F) -> io::Result<bool>
     where T: Evented,
-          F: Fn() -> io::Result<Handle>,
+          F: Fn() -> io::Result<HandlePriv>,
     {
         let mut state = self.state.load(SeqCst);
 
@@ -434,7 +445,7 @@ unsafe impl Sync for Registration {}
 // ===== impl Inner =====
 
 impl Inner {
-    fn new<T>(io: &T, handle: Handle) -> (Self, io::Result<()>)
+    fn new<T>(io: &T, handle: HandlePriv) -> (Self, io::Result<()>)
     where T: Evented,
     {
         let mut res = Ok(());