diff --git a/doc/release/notes/task-active-notification.rst b/doc/release/notes/task-active-notification.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8ff1f8ed53ad34bf74e1f4c8e1fc0e64a8709232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release/notes/task-active-notification.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Task System
+===========
+
+Active task notifications
+-------------------------
+
+Observers of the :smtk:`smtk::task::Active` are now invoked after
+(rather than before) the active task has been changed.
+This means that responders can fetch the active task inside the
+observer and it will match the "next" task rather than the current task.
diff --git a/smtk/graph/Component.h b/smtk/graph/Component.h
index 63bdc3cb6c654a3d08be1f8dd5e7982e2bb620b5..3d57e7b37f59088a32485a204b89eabec68726d9 100644
--- a/smtk/graph/Component.h
+++ b/smtk/graph/Component.h
@@ -121,9 +121,8 @@ public:
     else
     {
       std::ostringstream msg;
-      msg << "This component is not the proper type (" << this->typeName()
-          << ") for the arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::FromType>()
-          << ").";
+      msg << "This component is not the proper type for the "
+          << "arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::FromType>() << ").";
       throw std::logic_error(
         msg.str()); // "This component is not the proper type for the arc's endpoint.");
     }
@@ -156,9 +155,8 @@ public:
     else
     {
       std::ostringstream msg;
-      msg << "This component is not the proper type (" << this->typeName()
-          << ") for the arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::FromType>()
-          << ").";
+      msg << "This component is not the proper type for the "
+          << "arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::FromType>() << ").";
       throw std::logic_error(
         msg.str()); // "This component is not the proper type for the arc's endpoint.");
     }
@@ -203,9 +201,8 @@ public:
     else
     {
       std::ostringstream msg;
-      msg << "This component is not the proper type (" << this->typeName()
-          << ") for the arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::ToType>()
-          << ").";
+      msg << "This component is not the proper type for the "
+          << "arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::ToType>() << ").";
       throw std::logic_error(
         msg.str()); // "This component is not the proper type for the arc's endpoint.");
     }
@@ -239,9 +236,8 @@ public:
     else
     {
       std::ostringstream msg;
-      msg << "This component is not the proper type (" << this->typeName()
-          << ") for the arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::ToType>()
-          << ").";
+      msg << "This component is not the proper type for the "
+          << "arc's endpoint (" << smtk::common::typeName<typename ArcType::ToType>() << ").";
       throw std::logic_error(
         msg.str()); // "This component is not the proper type for the arc's endpoint.");
     }
diff --git a/smtk/task/Active.cxx b/smtk/task/Active.cxx
index 9c7ac8e65127f23379c7c48e2bd3e94ece494b19..947e156392d853048249065c4cc8059e9a026ec5 100644
--- a/smtk/task/Active.cxx
+++ b/smtk/task/Active.cxx
@@ -82,9 +82,9 @@ bool Active::switchTo(smtk::task::Task* task)
   {
     if (current)
     {
-      m_p->m_observers(current.get(), nullptr);
       m_p->m_active.reset();
       m_p->m_activeObserver.release();
+      m_p->m_observers(current.get(), nullptr);
       return true;
     }
     return false;
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ bool Active::switchTo(smtk::task::Task* task)
     // Only managed tasks can be active if we have instances tracked.
     return false;
   }
-  m_p->m_observers(current.get(), task);
   m_p->m_active = sharedTask;
+  m_p->m_observers(current.get(), task);
   m_p->m_activeObserver = task->observers().insert([this](Task&, State, State next) {
     if (next == State::Unavailable)
     {