diff --git a/files/debs/general b/files/debs/general
index 20490c6..1dde03b 100644
--- a/files/debs/general
+++ b/files/debs/general
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 libmysqlclient-dev  # MySQL-python
 libpq-dev  # psycopg2
 libssl-dev # for pyOpenSSL
+libsystemd-dev # for systemd-python
 libxml2-dev  # lxml
 libxslt1-dev  # lxml
 libyaml-dev
@@ -26,10 +27,8 @@
 pkg-config
 psmisc
 python2.7
-python3-systemd
 python-dev
 python-gdbm # needed for testr
-python-systemd
 screen
 tar
 tcpdump
diff --git a/files/rpms/general b/files/rpms/general
index 106aa6a..1393d18 100644
--- a/files/rpms/general
+++ b/files/rpms/general
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 python-devel
 redhat-rpm-config # missing dep for gcc hardening flags, see rhbz#1217376
 screen
-systemd-python
+systemd-devel # for systemd-python
 tar
 tcpdump
 unzip
diff --git a/functions-common b/functions-common
index 35b4860..65c38a5 100644
--- a/functions-common
+++ b/functions-common
@@ -1495,22 +1495,6 @@
 
     $SYSTEMCTL enable $systemd_service
     $SYSTEMCTL start $systemd_service
-    _journal_log $service $systemd_service
-}
-
-function _journal_log {
-    local service=$1
-    local unit=$2
-    local logfile="${service}.log.${CURRENT_LOG_TIME}"
-    local real_logfile="${LOGDIR}/${logfile}"
-    if [[ -n ${LOGDIR} ]]; then
-        $JOURNALCTL_F $2 > "$real_logfile" &
-        bash -c "cd '$LOGDIR' && ln -sf '$logfile' ${service}.log"
-        if [[ -n ${SCREEN_LOGDIR} ]]; then
-            # Drop the backward-compat symlink
-            ln -sf "$real_logfile" ${SCREEN_LOGDIR}/screen-${service}.log
-        fi
-    fi
 }
 
 # Helper to remove the ``*.failure`` files under ``$SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME``.
@@ -1700,8 +1684,10 @@
             # Only do this for units which appear enabled, this also
             # catches units that don't really exist for cases like
             # keystone without a failure.
-            $SYSTEMCTL stop devstack@$service.service
-            $SYSTEMCTL disable devstack@$service.service
+            if $SYSTEMCTL is-enabled devstack@$service.service; then
+                $SYSTEMCTL stop devstack@$service.service
+                $SYSTEMCTL disable devstack@$service.service
+            fi
         fi
 
         if [[ -r $SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME/$service.pid ]]; then
diff --git a/stack.sh b/stack.sh
index 31ea2e1..8864a18 100755
--- a/stack.sh
+++ b/stack.sh
@@ -746,6 +746,9 @@
 # Do the ugly hacks for broken packages and distros
 source $TOP_DIR/tools/fixup_stuff.sh
 
+if [[ "$USE_SYSTEMD" == "True" ]]; then
+    pip_install_gr systemd-python
+fi
 
 # Virtual Environment
 # -------------------
diff --git a/stackrc b/stackrc
index ed1cf6e..6ff9585 100644
--- a/stackrc
+++ b/stackrc
@@ -157,6 +157,15 @@
     source $RC_DIR/.localrc.auto
 fi
 
+# if we are forcing off USE_SCREEN (as we do in the gate), force on
+# systemd. This allows us to drop one of 3 paths through the code.
+if [[ "$USE_SCREEN" == "False" ]]; then
+    # Remove in Pike: this gets us through grenade upgrade
+    if [[ "$GRENADE_PHASE" != "target" ]]; then
+        USE_SYSTEMD="True"
+    fi
+fi
+
 # Default for log coloring is based on interactive-or-not.
 # Baseline assumption is that non-interactive invocations are for CI,
 # where logs are to be presented as browsable text files; hence color