diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStore.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStore.java
index b8f91d37ad6..fe84ef8345f 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStore.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStore.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
  * David McKnight   (IBM) - [367096] [dstore] DataElement.isSpirit() may return true for newly created DStore objects
  * David McKnight   (IBM) - [370260] [dstore] log the RSE version in server traces
  * David McKnight   (IBM) - [373507] [dstore][multithread] reduce heap memory on disconnect for server
+ * David McKnight   (IBM) - [385097] [dstore] DataStore spirit mechanism is not enabled
  *******************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.dstore.core.model;
@@ -161,6 +162,8 @@ public final class DataStore
 	private RandomAccessFile _traceFile;
 	private boolean _tracingOn;
 
+	private boolean _queriedSpiritState = false; // for the client - so we don't keep sending down the same query
+
 	private boolean _spiritModeOn = false;
 	private boolean _spiritCommandReceived = false;
 	private File _memLoggingFileHandle;
@@ -2295,17 +2298,26 @@ public final class DataStore
 		return synchronizedCommand(cmd, _dummy);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Client calls this to start the spiriting mechanism on the server.  The return value shouldn't be reliable here.  
+	 * Originally this was a synchronized command but that can slow connect time.  Since no one should use the return value here,
+	 * 
+	 * @return whether the server spirit state has been queried
+	 */
 	public boolean queryServerSpiritState()
 	{
-		DataElement spirittype = findObjectDescriptor(IDataStoreConstants.DATASTORE_SPIRIT_DESCRIPTOR);
-		if (spirittype == null) return false;
-		DataElement cmd = localDescriptorQuery(spirittype, IDataStoreConstants.C_START_SPIRIT, 2);
-		if (cmd == null) return false;
-
-		DataElement status = synchronizedCommand(cmd, _dummy);
-		if ((status != null) && status.getName().equals(DataStoreResources.model_done))
-			return true;
-		else return false;
+		if (!_queriedSpiritState){
+			DataElement spirittype = findObjectDescriptor(IDataStoreConstants.DATASTORE_SPIRIT_DESCRIPTOR);
+			if (spirittype != null){		
+				DataElement cmd = localDescriptorQuery(spirittype, IDataStoreConstants.C_START_SPIRIT, 2);
+			
+				if (cmd != null){
+					command(cmd, _dummy); // start 
+					_queriedSpiritState = true;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return _queriedSpiritState;
 	}
 
 	public DataElement queryHostJVM()
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStoreSchema.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStoreSchema.java
index 711aa463ed7..6ebaa25e8f7 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStoreSchema.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/model/DataStoreSchema.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /********************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2002, 2008 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2002, 2012 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms
  * of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 which accompanies this distribution, and is 
  * available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  * 
  * Contributors:
  * David McKnight   (IBM) - [226561] [apidoc] Add API markup to RSE Javadocs where extend / implement is allowed
+ * David McKnight   (IBM)  - [385097] [dstore] DataStore spirit mechanism is not enabled
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.dstore.core.model;
@@ -332,7 +333,11 @@ public class DataStoreSchema
 		
 		_dataStore.createCommandDescriptor(rootD, "Notification", "*", C_NOTIFICATION, false); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
 		_dataStore.createCommandDescriptor(rootD, "Send Input", "*", C_SEND_INPUT, false); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
-		
+				
+		// spirit stuff
+		DataElement spiritnode = _dataStore.createObjectDescriptor(_dataStore.getDescriptorRoot(), IDataStoreConstants.DATASTORE_SPIRIT_DESCRIPTOR);
+		_dataStore.createCommandDescriptor(spiritnode, "StartSpirit", "DataElementRemover", IDataStoreConstants.C_START_SPIRIT); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
+
 		
 		// both ends have this base schema, so mark each descriptor as updated
 		for (int i = 0; i < schemaRoot.getNestedSize(); i++)
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/DataElementRemover.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/DataElementRemover.java
index b740a69fa4b..77ce1e19997 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/DataElementRemover.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/DataElementRemover.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
  *  David McKnight   (IBM) - [331922] [dstore] enable DataElement recycling
  *  David McKnight   (IBM) - [371401] [dstore][multithread] avoid use of static variables - causes memory leak after disconnect
  *  David McKnight   (IBM)  - [373507] [dstore][multithread] reduce heap memory on disconnect for server
+ *  David McKnight   (IBM)  - [385097] [dstore] DataStore spirit mechanism is not enabled
  *******************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.dstore.internal.core.util;
@@ -60,9 +61,6 @@ public class DataElementRemover extends Handler
 		_queue = new LinkedList();
 		getTimes();
 		setWaitTime(_intervalTime);
-		DataElement spiritnode = _dataStore.createObjectDescriptor(_dataStore.getDescriptorRoot(), IDataStoreConstants.DATASTORE_SPIRIT_DESCRIPTOR);
-		_dataStore.createCommandDescriptor(spiritnode, "StartSpirit", "DataElementRemover", IDataStoreConstants.C_START_SPIRIT); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
-		_dataStore.refresh(_dataStore.getDescriptorRoot());
 	}
 	
 	protected void getTimes()