diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index af23eb60dc76..7563df4eaf99 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ libltdl/
 *.hex
 *.pyc
 *.pyo
+# gcov output
+*.gcno
+*.gcda
 
 # autoconf-preprocessed
 Makefile
diff --git a/doc/man1/flux-broker.adoc b/doc/man1/flux-broker.adoc
index e93829b0fb3b..8dca5f3d153f 100644
--- a/doc/man1/flux-broker.adoc
+++ b/doc/man1/flux-broker.adoc
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ Summarize available options.
 *-v, --verbose*::
 Be annoyingly chatty.
 
-*-q, --quiet*::
-Suppress messages intended for interactive users.
-
 *-S, --setattr*='ATTR=VAL'::
 Set initial value for broker attribute.
 
diff --git a/src/broker/broker.c b/src/broker/broker.c
index 994a06a487b2..2acaba209a0a 100644
--- a/src/broker/broker.c
+++ b/src/broker/broker.c
@@ -184,10 +184,9 @@ static const struct flux_handle_ops broker_handle_ops;
 
 static int exit_rc = 0;
 
-#define OPTIONS "+vqM:X:k:s:g:EIS:"
+#define OPTIONS "+vM:X:k:s:g:EIS:"
 static const struct option longopts[] = {
     {"verbose",         no_argument,        0, 'v'},
-    {"quiet",           no_argument,        0, 'q'},
     {"security",        required_argument,  0, 's'},
     {"module-path",     required_argument,  0, 'X'},
     {"k-ary",           required_argument,  0, 'k'},
@@ -202,7 +201,6 @@ static void usage (void)
     fprintf (stderr,
 "Usage: flux-broker OPTIONS [initial-command ...]\n"
 " -v,--verbose                 Be annoyingly verbose\n"
-" -q,--quiet                   Be mysteriously taciturn\n"
 " -X,--module-path PATH        Set module search path (colon separated)\n"
 " -s,--security=plain|curve|none    Select security mode (default: curve)\n"
 " -k,--k-ary K                 Wire up in a k-ary tree\n"
@@ -238,8 +236,6 @@ void parse_command_line_arguments(int argc, char *argv[],
         case 'v':   /* --verbose */
             ctx->verbose = true;
             break;
-        case 'q':   /* --quiet */
-            break;
         case 'X':   /* --module-path PATH */
             if (attr_set (ctx->attrs, "conf.module_path", optarg, true) < 0)
                 log_err_exit ("setting conf.module_path attribute");
diff --git a/src/cmd/flux-start.c b/src/cmd/flux-start.c
index c0496b350e60..a2502d42ec62 100644
--- a/src/cmd/flux-start.c
+++ b/src/cmd/flux-start.c
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ static struct optparse_option opts[] = {
       .usage = "Set number of ranks in new instance", },
     { .name = "broker-opts",.key = 'o', .has_arg = 1, .arginfo = "OPTS",
       .flags = OPTPARSE_OPT_AUTOSPLIT,
-      .usage = "Add comma-separated broker options, e.g. \"-o,-q\"", },
+      .usage = "Add comma-separated broker options, e.g. \"-o,-v\"", },
     { .name = "killer-timeout",.key = 'k', .has_arg = 1, .arginfo = "SECONDS",
       .usage = "After a broker exits, kill other brokers after SECONDS", },
     { .name = "trace-pmi-server", .has_arg = 0, .arginfo = NULL,
diff --git a/t/fluxometer.lua b/t/fluxometer.lua
index 1226db649a82..15e6cf0ffe4c 100644
--- a/t/fluxometer.lua
+++ b/t/fluxometer.lua
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ function fluxTest.init (...)
     end
 
     test.log_file = "lua-"..test.prog..".broker.log"
-    test.start_args = { "-o,-q,-Slog-filename=" .. test.log_file }
+    test.start_args = { "-o,-Slog-filename=" .. test.log_file }
 
     local path = fluxTest.fluxbindir .. "/flux"
     local mode = posix.stat (path, 'mode')
diff --git a/t/sharness.d/flux-sharness.sh b/t/sharness.d/flux-sharness.sh
index 3f16388cb745..8412a0c51612 100644
--- a/t/sharness.d/flux-sharness.sh
+++ b/t/sharness.d/flux-sharness.sh
@@ -65,15 +65,13 @@ test_under_flux() {
     personality=${2:-full}
     log_file="$TEST_NAME.broker.log"
     if test -n "$TEST_UNDER_FLUX_ACTIVE" ; then
-        cleanup rm "${SHARNESS_TEST_DIRECTORY:-..}/$log_file"
+        test "$debug" = "t" || cleanup rm "${SHARNESS_TEST_DIRECTORY:-..}/$log_file"
         flux_module_list > module-list.initial
         cleanup check_module_list
         return
     fi
-    quiet="-o -q,-Slog-filename=${log_file},-Slog-forward-level=7"
     if test "$verbose" = "t" -o -n "$FLUX_TESTS_DEBUG" ; then
         flags="${flags} --verbose"
-        quiet=""
     fi
     if test "$debug" = "t" -o -n "$FLUX_TESTS_DEBUG" ; then
         flags="${flags} --debug"
@@ -105,9 +103,10 @@ test_under_flux() {
         unset FLUX_RC3_PATH
     fi
 
+    logopts="-o -Slog-filename=${log_file},-Slog-forward-level=7"
     TEST_UNDER_FLUX_ACTIVE=t \
     TERM=${ORIGINAL_TERM} \
-      exec flux start --bootstrap=selfpmi --size=${size} ${quiet} ${timeout} \
+      exec flux start --bootstrap=selfpmi --size=${size} ${logopts} ${timeout} \
                      "sh $0 ${flags}"
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t0001-basic.t b/t/t0001-basic.t
index 7c8ef689ecfc..a991c6035e8c 100755
--- a/t/t0001-basic.t
+++ b/t/t0001-basic.t
@@ -308,8 +308,8 @@ test_expect_success 'builtin test_size_large () works' '
     test -n "$size" &&
     size=$(FLUX_TEST_SIZE_MAX=2 test_size_large) &&
     test "$size" = "2" &&
-    size=$(FLUX_TEST_SIZE_MIN=123 FLUX_TEST_SIZE_MAX=1000 test_size_large) &&
-    test "$size" = "123"
+    size=$(FLUX_TEST_SIZE_MIN=12345 FLUX_TEST_SIZE_MAX=23456 test_size_large) &&
+    test "$size" = "12345"
 '
 
 waitfile=${SHARNESS_TEST_SRCDIR}/scripts/waitfile.lua
diff --git a/t/t2000-wreck.t b/t/t2000-wreck.t
index 4ba374420b42..bac86ac1cb88 100755
--- a/t/t2000-wreck.t
+++ b/t/t2000-wreck.t
@@ -350,14 +350,24 @@ test_expect_success 'flux-wreck: attach --label-io' '
 test_expect_success 'wreck: attach --no-follow works' '
 	flux wreckrun -d -l -n4 sh -c "echo before; sleep 30; echo after" &&
 	test_when_finished flux wreck kill $(last_job_id) &&
-	run_timeout 5 flux wreck attach --no-follow $(last_job_id) >output.attach-n &&
 	cat >expected.attach-n <<-EOF &&
 	before
 	before
 	before
 	before
 	EOF
-	test_cmp expected.attach-n output.attach-n
+	i=0 &&
+	while test $i -lt 3; do
+		run_timeout 5 \
+		flux wreck attach --no-follow $(last_job_id) >output.attach-n
+		test_cmp expected.attach-n output.attach-n
+		rc=$?
+		if test $rc = 0; then break; fi
+                # retry
+		i=$((i+1))
+		sleep 0.1
+	done &&
+	test $rc -eq 0
 '
 test_expect_success 'wreck: dumplog works' '
 	test_must_fail flux wreckrun --input=bad.file hostname &&