diff --git a/src/srun/allocate.c b/src/srun/allocate.c
index 2cbb78979c206a90cad1599a124d6ae6879155f4..3eeb0115d6f2b70e4e84511158993158fcdda169 100644
--- a/src/srun/allocate.c
+++ b/src/srun/allocate.c
@@ -302,10 +302,10 @@ create_job_step(job_t *job)
 	job_step_create_response_msg_t *resp = NULL;
 
 	if (!(req = _step_req_create(job))) 
-		job_fatal (job, "Unable to allocate step request message");
+		fatal ("Unable to allocate step request message");
 
 	if ((slurm_job_step_create(req, &resp) < 0) || (resp == NULL)) 
-		job_fatal (job, "Unable to create job step: %m");
+		fatal ("Unable to create job step: %m");
 
 	job->stepid  = resp->job_step_id;
 	job->cred    = resp->cred;