diff --git a/orte/mca/grpcomm/direct/grpcomm_direct.c b/orte/mca/grpcomm/direct/grpcomm_direct.c
index c829198700..82c31a53a0 100644
--- a/orte/mca/grpcomm/direct/grpcomm_direct.c
+++ b/orte/mca/grpcomm/direct/grpcomm_direct.c
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2011      Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Los Alamos National Security, LLC. All
  *                         rights reserved.
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2016 Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2017 Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2014-2017 Research Organization for Information Science
  *                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #include "opal/class/opal_list.h"
 
 #include "orte/mca/errmgr/errmgr.h"
-#include "orte/mca/rml/rml.h"
+#include "orte/mca/rml/base/base.h"
 #include "orte/mca/rml/base/rml_contact.h"
 #include "orte/mca/routed/routed.h"
 #include "orte/mca/state/state.h"
@@ -461,15 +461,17 @@ static void xcast_recv(int status, orte_process_name_t* sender,
     /* cleanup */
     OBJ_DESTRUCT(&coll);
 
-    /* now send the relay buffer to myself for processing */
+    /* now pass the relay buffer to myself for processing - don't
+     * inject it into the RML system via send as that will compete
+     * with the relay messages down in the OOB. Instead, pass it
+     * directly to the orted command processor */
     if (ORTE_DAEMON_DVM_NIDMAP_CMD != command) {
-        if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (ret = orte_rml.send_buffer_nb(orte_coll_conduit,
-                                                           ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME, relay, tag,
-                                                           orte_rml_send_callback, NULL))) {
-            ORTE_ERROR_LOG(ret);
-            OBJ_RELEASE(relay);
-        }
+        ORTE_RML_POST_MESSAGE(ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME, tag, 1,
+                              relay->base_ptr, relay->bytes_used);
+        relay->base_ptr = NULL;
+        relay->bytes_used = 0;
     }
+    OBJ_RELEASE(relay);
 }
 
 static void barrier_release(int status, orte_process_name_t* sender,
@@ -515,4 +517,3 @@ static void barrier_release(int status, orte_process_name_t* sender,
     OBJ_RELEASE(coll);
     OBJ_RELEASE(sig);
 }
-
diff --git a/orte/mca/oob/base/oob_base_frame.c b/orte/mca/oob/base/oob_base_frame.c
index cec47c4f96..734819e2db 100644
--- a/orte/mca/oob/base/oob_base_frame.c
+++ b/orte/mca/oob/base/oob_base_frame.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  *                         reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2015-2016 Research Organization for Information Science
  *                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017      Intel, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ OPAL_TIMING_DECLARE(tm_oob)
 
 static int orte_oob_base_register(mca_base_register_flag_t flags)
 {
+    if (ORTE_PROC_IS_APP || ORTE_PROC_IS_TOOL) {
+        orte_oob_base.use_module_threads = false;
+    } else {
+        orte_oob_base.use_module_threads = true;
+    }
     (void)mca_base_var_register("orte", "oob", "base", "enable_module_progress_threads",
                                 "Whether to independently progress OOB messages for each interface",
                                 MCA_BASE_VAR_TYPE_BOOL, NULL, 0, 0,
@@ -155,4 +161,3 @@ static void pr_des(orte_oob_base_peer_t *ptr)
 OBJ_CLASS_INSTANCE(orte_oob_base_peer_t,
                    opal_object_t,
                    pr_cons, pr_des);
-