diff --git a/simulator/submitsrv.c b/simulator/submitsrv.c
index 3376d2685..25f7307a6 100644
--- a/simulator/submitsrv.c
+++ b/simulator/submitsrv.c
@@ -220,11 +220,10 @@ int parse_job_csv (flux_t *h, char *filename, zlist_t *jobs)
 // Finally, updated the submit event timer with the next submit time
 int schedule_next_job (flux_t *h, sim_state_t *sim_state)
 {
-    flux_future_t *f = NULL;
-    flux_msg_t *msg = NULL;
+    flux_future_t *create_f = NULL, *submit_f = NULL;
     flux_kvsdir_t *dir = NULL;
     job_t *job = NULL;
-    char *kvs_path = NULL;
+    const char *kvs_path = NULL;
     int64_t new_jobid = -1;
     double *new_sched_mod_time = NULL, *new_submit_mod_time = NULL;
 
@@ -240,23 +239,26 @@ int schedule_next_job (flux_t *h, sim_state_t *sim_state)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    f = flux_rpc_pack (h, "job.create", FLUX_NODEID_ANY, 0,
-                     "{ s:i s:i s:I }",
-                     "nnodes", job->nnodes,
-                     "ntasks", job->ncpus,
-                     "walltime", (int64_t)job->time_limit);
-    if (f == NULL) {
+    create_f = flux_rpc_pack (h, "job.create", FLUX_NODEID_ANY, 0,
+                       "{ s:i s:i s:i s:i }",
+                       "ntasks", job->ncpus,
+                       "nnodes", job->nnodes,
+                       "ncores", job->ncpus,
+                       "walltime", (int)job->time_limit);
+    if (create_f == NULL) {
         flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "%s: %s", __FUNCTION__, strerror (errno));
         return -1;
     }
-    if (flux_rpc_get_unpack (f, "{ s:I s:s }",
+    if (flux_rpc_get_unpack (create_f, "{ s:I s:s }",
                             "jobid", &new_jobid,
-                            "kvs_path", &kvs_path) < 0) {
+                             "kvs_path", &kvs_path) < 0) {
         flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "%s: %s", __FUNCTION__, strerror (errno));
-        flux_future_destroy (f);
+        flux_future_destroy (create_f);
         return -1;
     }
-    flux_future_destroy (f);
+
+    flux_log (h, LOG_DEBUG, "%s: created job %"PRId64" at %s",
+              __FUNCTION__, new_jobid, kvs_path);
 
     // Update lwj.%jobid%'s state in the kvs to "submitted"
     if (!(dir = job_kvsdir (h, new_jobid)))
@@ -266,36 +268,56 @@ int schedule_next_job (flux_t *h, sim_state_t *sim_state)
         log_err_exit ("put_job_in_kvs");
 
     // Send "submitted" event
-    if (!(msg = flux_event_pack ("wreck.state.submitted",
-                                 "{ s:I s:s s:i s:i s:i}",
-                                 "lwj", new_jobid,
-                                 "kvs_path", kvs_path,
-                                 "nnodes", (int)job->nnodes,
-                                 "ntasks", (int)job->ncpus,
-                                 "walltime", (int)job->time_limit))
-        || flux_send (h, msg, 0) < 0) {
+    submit_f = flux_rpc_pack (h, "job.submit-nocreate", FLUX_NODEID_ANY, 0,
+                              "{ s:I s:s s:i s:i s:i s:i }",
+                              "jobid", new_jobid,
+                              "kvs_path", kvs_path,
+                              "nnodes", job->nnodes,
+                              "ntasks", job->ncpus,
+                              "ncores", job->ncpus,
+                              "walltime", (int)job->time_limit);
+    if (submit_f == NULL) {
+        flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "%s: failed to pack job.submit-nocreate: %s",
+                  __FUNCTION__, strerror (errno));
+        flux_future_destroy (submit_f);
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if (flux_rpc_get (submit_f, NULL) < 0) {
+        flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "%s: failed to get response for job.submit-nocreate",
+                  __FUNCTION__);
+        flux_future_destroy (submit_f);
         return -1;
     }
-    flux_msg_destroy (msg);
+    flux_future_destroy (submit_f);
+
+    // Must delay the destruction until we are done using the unpacked values
+    flux_future_destroy (create_f);
+
+    flux_log (h, LOG_INFO, "submitted job %"PRId64" (%d in csv)", new_jobid, job->id);
 
     // Update event timers in reply (submit and sched)
     new_sched_mod_time = (double *)zhash_lookup (timers, "sched");
-    if (new_sched_mod_time != NULL)
+    if (new_sched_mod_time == NULL) {
+        flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "%s: 'sched' not in timers dictionary",
+                  __FUNCTION__);
+    } else {
         *new_sched_mod_time = sim_state->sim_time + .00001;
-    flux_log (h,
-              LOG_DEBUG,
-              "added a sched timer that will occur at %f",
-              *new_sched_mod_time);
+        flux_log (h, LOG_DEBUG, "added a sched timer that will occur at %f",
+                  *new_sched_mod_time);
+    }
+
     new_submit_mod_time = (double *)zhash_lookup (timers, module_name);
-    if (get_next_submit_time () > *new_sched_mod_time)
-        *new_submit_mod_time = get_next_submit_time ();
-    else
-        *new_submit_mod_time = *new_sched_mod_time + .0001;
-    flux_log (h, LOG_INFO, "submitted job %"PRId64" (%d in csv)", new_jobid, job->id);
-    flux_log (h,
-              LOG_DEBUG,
-              "next submit event will occur at %f",
-              *new_submit_mod_time);
+    if (new_sched_mod_time == NULL) {
+        flux_log (h, LOG_ERR, "%s: '%s' not in timers dictionary",
+                  __FUNCTION__, module_name);
+    } else {
+        if (get_next_submit_time () > *new_sched_mod_time)
+            *new_submit_mod_time = get_next_submit_time ();
+        else
+            *new_submit_mod_time = *new_sched_mod_time + .0001;
+        flux_log (h, LOG_DEBUG, "next submit event will occur at %f",
+                  *new_submit_mod_time);
+    }
 
     // Cleanup
     free_job (job);
diff --git a/t/t2000-fcfs.t b/t/t2000-fcfs.t
index ce0ffbe26..d351a8e2a 100755
--- a/t/t2000-fcfs.t
+++ b/t/t2000-fcfs.t
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@ test_description='Test fcfs scheduler in simulator
 #
 . $(dirname $0)/sharness.sh
 
-if test -z "$FLUX_SCHED_ENABLE_SIM_TESTS"; then
-  skip_all='skipping simulator driven tests temporarily'
-  test_done
-fi
-
 FLUX_MODULE_PATH="${SHARNESS_BUILD_DIRECTORY}/simulator/.libs:${FLUX_MODULE_PATH}"
 
 rdlconf=$(readlink -e "${SHARNESS_TEST_SRCDIR}/../conf/hype-io.lua")
diff --git a/t/t2001-fcfs-aware.t b/t/t2001-fcfs-aware.t
index 3d927089e..5c2a5e070 100755
--- a/t/t2001-fcfs-aware.t
+++ b/t/t2001-fcfs-aware.t
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@ test_description='Test fcfs io-aware scheduler in simulator
 #
 . $(dirname $0)/sharness.sh
 
-if test -z "$FLUX_SCHED_ENABLE_SIM_TESTS"; then
-  skip_all='skipping simulator driven tests temporarily'
-  test_done
-fi
-
 FLUX_MODULE_PATH_PREPEND="$FLUX_MODULE_PATH_PREPEND:$(sched_build_path simulator/.libs)"
 
 rdlconf=$(readlink -e "${SHARNESS_TEST_SRCDIR}/../conf/hype-io.lua")
diff --git a/t/t2002-easy.t b/t/t2002-easy.t
index acaf11b9b..0e8133860 100755
--- a/t/t2002-easy.t
+++ b/t/t2002-easy.t
@@ -8,11 +8,6 @@ test_description='Test easy scheduler in simulator
 #
 . $(dirname $0)/sharness.sh
 
-if test -z "$FLUX_SCHED_ENABLE_SIM_TESTS"; then
-  skip_all='skipping simulator driven tests temporarily'
-  test_done
-fi
-
 rdlconf=$(sched_src_path "conf/hype-io.lua")
 jobdata=$(readlink -e "${SHARNESS_TEST_SRCDIR}/data/job-traces/hype-test.csv")
 expected_order=$(readlink -e "${SHARNESS_TEST_SRCDIR}/data/emulator-data/easy_expected")
diff --git a/t/t2003-fcfs-inorder.t b/t/t2003-fcfs-inorder.t
index 1be27aee6..7d51f2663 100755
--- a/t/t2003-fcfs-inorder.t
+++ b/t/t2003-fcfs-inorder.t
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@ test_description='Test fcfs scheduler with queue-depth=1 in simulator
 #
 . $(dirname $0)/sharness.sh
 
-if test -z "$FLUX_SCHED_ENABLE_SIM_TESTS"; then
-  skip_all='skipping simulator driven tests temporarily'
-  test_done
-fi
-
 FLUX_MODULE_PATH="${SHARNESS_BUILD_DIRECTORY}/simulator/.libs:${FLUX_MODULE_PATH}"
 
 rdlconf=$(readlink -e "${SHARNESS_TEST_SRCDIR}/../conf/hype-io.lua")