diff --git a/tasks/mds_auto_repair.py b/tasks/mds_auto_repair.py
index e7580613b2a..a95b3683186 100644
--- a/tasks/mds_auto_repair.py
+++ b/tasks/mds_auto_repair.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class TestMDSAutoRepair(CephFSTestCase):
         # trim log segment as fast as possible
         self.set_conf('mds', 'mds cache size', 100)
         self.set_conf('mds', 'mds verify backtrace', 1)
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_daemons()
 
         create_script = "mkdir {0}; for i in `seq 0 500`; do touch {0}/file$i; done"
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class TestMDSAutoRepair(CephFSTestCase):
         self.assertTrue(writer.finished)
 
         # restart mds to make it writable
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_daemons()
 
 
diff --git a/tasks/mds_client_limits.py b/tasks/mds_client_limits.py
index ae722886753..ff91d98236a 100644
--- a/tasks/mds_client_limits.py
+++ b/tasks/mds_client_limits.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class TestClientLimits(CephFSTestCase):
         open_files = 250
 
         self.set_conf('mds', 'mds cache size', cache_size)
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_daemons()
 
         mount_a_client_id = self.mount_a.get_global_id()
diff --git a/tasks/mds_client_recovery.py b/tasks/mds_client_recovery.py
index 0b986f4d4da..4873b7f77c3 100644
--- a/tasks/mds_client_recovery.py
+++ b/tasks/mds_client_recovery.py
@@ -57,9 +57,7 @@ class TestClientRecovery(CephFSTestCase):
         # Check that after an MDS restart both clients reconnect and continue
         # to handle I/O
         # =====================================================
-        self.fs.mds_stop()
-        self.fs.mds_fail()
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_state('up:active', timeout=MDS_RESTART_GRACE)
 
         self.mount_a.create_destroy()
@@ -254,9 +252,7 @@ class TestClientRecovery(CephFSTestCase):
         self.assertGreaterEqual(num_caps, count)
 
         # Restart MDS. client should trim its cache when reconnecting to the MDS
-        self.fs.mds_stop()
-        self.fs.mds_fail()
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_state('up:active', timeout=MDS_RESTART_GRACE)
 
         num_caps = self._session_num_caps(client_id)
@@ -320,9 +316,7 @@ class TestClientRecovery(CephFSTestCase):
         self.mount_b.wait_for_visible("background_file-2")
         self.mount_b.check_filelock()
 
-        self.fs.mds_stop()
-        self.fs.mds_fail()
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_state('up:active', timeout=MDS_RESTART_GRACE)
 
         self.mount_b.check_filelock()
diff --git a/tasks/mds_journal_repair.py b/tasks/mds_journal_repair.py
index 62ed0534d89..f08f464e186 100644
--- a/tasks/mds_journal_repair.py
+++ b/tasks/mds_journal_repair.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class TestJournalRepair(CephFSTestCase):
         # Now check the MDS can read what we wrote: truncate the journal
         # and start the mds.
         self.fs.journal_tool(['journal', 'reset'])
-        self.fs.mds_restart()
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart()
         self.fs.wait_for_daemons()
 
         # List files
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ class TestJournalRepair(CephFSTestCase):
 
         # Bring an MDS back online, mount a client, and see that we can walk the full
         # filesystem tree again
-        self.fs.mds_restart(active_mds_names[0])
+        self.fs.mds_fail_restart(active_mds_names[0])
         self.wait_until_equal(lambda: self.fs.get_active_names(), [active_mds_names[0]], 30,
                               reject_fn=lambda v: len(v) > 1)
         self.mount_a.mount()