diff --git a/parsec/include/parsec/execution_stream.h b/parsec/include/parsec/execution_stream.h
index 279f65d81..b0652ad67 100644
--- a/parsec/include/parsec/execution_stream.h
+++ b/parsec/include/parsec/execution_stream.h
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ struct parsec_context_s {
     parsec_hash_table_t  dtd_arena_datatypes_hash_table; /**< Hash table that stores the arena datatypes used by DTD */
     int                  dtd_arena_datatypes_next_id;    /**< Next ID to use for the next Arena Datatype by DTD */
 
+    parsec_lifo_t        activities; /**< list of tasks with outstanding activities, high-priority */
+
 #if defined(PARSEC_SIM)
     int largest_simulation_date;
 #endif
diff --git a/parsec/mca/device/device_gpu.c b/parsec/mca/device/device_gpu.c
index 30e34789f..99ba0369c 100644
--- a/parsec/mca/device/device_gpu.c
+++ b/parsec/mca/device/device_gpu.c
@@ -2623,14 +2623,20 @@ parsec_device_kernel_scheduler( parsec_device_module_t *module,
         gpu_task->ec = NULL;
         goto remove_gpu_task;
     }
+
     parsec_device_kernel_epilog( gpu_device, gpu_task );
-    __parsec_complete_execution( es, gpu_task->ec );
+    __parsec_schedule_activity( es, gpu_task->ec );
     gpu_device->super.executed_tasks++;
+
  remove_gpu_task:
     PARSEC_DEBUG_VERBOSE(10, parsec_gpu_output_stream, "GPU[%d:%s]: gpu_task %p freed",
                          gpu_device->super.device_index, gpu_device->super.name,
                          gpu_task);
+
+    // TODO: this should only be done for internal gpu tasks
+    //       and the DSL should be responsible for freeing the memory it allocated
     free( gpu_task );
+
     rc = parsec_atomic_fetch_dec_int32( &(gpu_device->mutex) );
     if( 1 == rc ) {  /* I was the last one */
 #if defined(PARSEC_PROF_TRACE)
diff --git a/parsec/parsec.c b/parsec/parsec.c
index 095fcad27..d1db9bf9a 100644
--- a/parsec/parsec.c
+++ b/parsec/parsec.c
@@ -618,6 +618,8 @@ parsec_context_t* parsec_init( int nb_cores, int* pargc, char** pargv[] )
     context->comm_th_core        = -1;
 #endif  /* defined(PARSEC_HAVE_HWLOC) */
 
+    PARSEC_OBJ_CONSTRUCT(&context->activities, parsec_lifo_t);
+
     /* TODO: nb_cores should depend on the vp_id */
     nb_total_comp_threads = 0;
     for(p = 0; p < nb_vp; p++) {
@@ -1225,7 +1227,7 @@ int parsec_fini( parsec_context_t** pcontext )
 #endif  /* PARSEC_PROF_TRACE */
 
     /* PAPI SDE needs to process the shutdown before resources exposed to it are freed.
-     * This includes scheduling resources, so SDE needs to be finalized before the 
+     * This includes scheduling resources, so SDE needs to be finalized before the
      * computation threads leave */
     PARSEC_PAPI_SDE_FINI();
 
@@ -1265,6 +1267,11 @@ int parsec_fini( parsec_context_t** pcontext )
     parsec_hwloc_fini();
 #endif  /* PARSEC_HAVE_HWLOC_BITMAP */
 
+    if (!parsec_lifo_is_empty(&context->activities)) {
+        parsec_warning("/!\\ Warning: not all activities were executing before shutdown!\n");
+    }
+    PARSEC_OBJ_DESTRUCT(&context->activities);
+
     if (parsec_app_name != NULL ) {
         free(parsec_app_name);
         parsec_app_name = NULL;
diff --git a/parsec/scheduling.c b/parsec/scheduling.c
index 55657cc36..aac4b43db 100644
--- a/parsec/scheduling.c
+++ b/parsec/scheduling.c
@@ -418,6 +418,11 @@ int __parsec_reschedule(parsec_execution_stream_t* es, parsec_task_t* task)
     return __parsec_schedule(es, task, 0);
 }
 
+int __parsec_schedule_activity(parsec_execution_stream_t *es, parsec_task_t *task) {
+    parsec_lifo_push(&es->virtual_process->parsec_context->activities, &task->super);
+    return PARSEC_SUCCESS;
+}
+
 int __parsec_complete_execution( parsec_execution_stream_t *es,
                                  parsec_task_t *task )
 {
@@ -532,6 +537,13 @@ __parsec_get_next_task( parsec_execution_stream_t *es,
 {
     parsec_task_t* task;
 
+    if (!parsec_list_nolock_is_empty(&es->virtual_process->parsec_context->activities)) {
+        task = (parsec_task_t*)parsec_lifo_pop(&es->virtual_process->parsec_context->activities);
+        if (NULL != task) {
+            return task;
+        }
+    }
+
     if( NULL == (task = es->next_task) ) {
         task = parsec_current_scheduler->module.select(es, distance);
     } else {
diff --git a/parsec/scheduling.h b/parsec/scheduling.h
index fff857d0c..7d83ef262 100644
--- a/parsec/scheduling.h
+++ b/parsec/scheduling.h
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ int __parsec_schedule_vp( parsec_execution_stream_t*,
                           parsec_task_t**,
                           int32_t distance);
 
+int __parsec_schedule_activity( parsec_execution_stream_t *es,
+                                parsec_task_t *task);
+
 /**
  * @brief Reschedule a task on the most appropriate resource.
  *