diff --git a/scheduler/service_sched.go b/scheduler/service_sched.go
index 3ad8d8ce3..35b24ce17 100644
--- a/scheduler/service_sched.go
+++ b/scheduler/service_sched.go
@@ -45,32 +45,26 @@ func (s *ServiceScheduler) Process(eval *structs.Evaluation) error {
 	// Store the evaluation
 	s.eval = eval
 
-	// Use the evaluation trigger reason to determine what we need to do
+	// Verify the evaluation trigger reason is understood
 	switch eval.TriggeredBy {
-	case structs.EvalTriggerJobRegister, structs.EvalTriggerNodeUpdate:
-		return s.process(s.computeJobAllocs)
-	case structs.EvalTriggerJobDeregister:
-		return s.process(s.evictJobAllocs)
+	case structs.EvalTriggerJobRegister, structs.EvalTriggerNodeUpdate,
+		structs.EvalTriggerJobDeregister:
 	default:
 		return fmt.Errorf("service scheduler cannot handle '%s' evaluation reason",
 			eval.TriggeredBy)
 	}
+
+	// Retry up to the maxScheduleAttempts
+	return retryMax(maxScheduleAttempts, s.process)
 }
 
-// process is used to iteratively run the handler until we have no
+// process is wrapped in retryMax to iteratively run the handler until we have no
 // further work or we've made the maximum number of attempts.
-func (s *ServiceScheduler) process(handler func() error) error {
-START:
-	// Check the attempt count
-	if s.attempts == maxScheduleAttempts {
-		return fmt.Errorf("maximum schedule attempts reached (%d)", s.attempts)
-	}
-	s.attempts += 1
-
+func (s *ServiceScheduler) process() (bool, error) {
 	// Lookup the Job by ID
 	job, err := s.state.GetJobByID(s.eval.JobID)
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get job '%s': %v",
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to get job '%s': %v",
 			s.eval.JobID, err)
 	}
 	s.job = job
@@ -78,23 +72,23 @@ START:
 	// Create a plan
 	s.plan = s.eval.MakePlan(job)
 
-	// Invoke the handler to setup the plan
-	if err := handler(); err != nil {
+	// Compute the target job allocations
+	if err := s.computeJobAllocs(); err != nil {
 		s.logger.Printf("[ERR] sched: %#v: %v", s.eval, err)
-		return err
+		return false, err
 	}
 
 	// Submit the plan
 	result, newState, err := s.planner.SubmitPlan(s.plan)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return false, err
 	}
 
 	// If we got a state refresh, try again since we have stale data
 	if newState != nil {
 		s.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] sched: %#v: refresh forced", s.eval)
 		s.state = newState
-		goto START
+		return false, nil
 	}
 
 	// Try again if the plan was not fully committed, potential conflict
@@ -102,23 +96,22 @@ START:
 	if !fullCommit {
 		s.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] sched: %#v: attempted %d placements, %d placed",
 			s.eval, expected, actual)
-		goto START
+		return false, nil
 	}
-	return nil
+
+	// Success!
+	return true, nil
 }
 
 // computeJobAllocs is used to reconcile differences between the job,
 // existing allocations and node status to update the allocations.
 func (s *ServiceScheduler) computeJobAllocs() error {
-	// If the job is missing, maybe a concurrent deregister
-	if s.job == nil {
-		s.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] sched: %#v: job not found, skipping", s.eval)
-		return nil
+	// Materialize all the task groups, job could be missing if deregistered
+	var groups map[string]*structs.TaskGroup
+	if s.job != nil {
+		groups = materializeTaskGroups(s.job)
 	}
 
-	// Materialize all the task groups
-	groups := materializeTaskGroups(s.job)
-
 	// If there is nothing required for this job, treat like a deregister
 	if len(groups) == 0 {
 		return s.evictJobAllocs()
@@ -170,9 +163,27 @@ func (s *ServiceScheduler) computeJobAllocs() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create iter stack: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Attempt to place all the allocations
-	if err := s.planAllocations(stack, place, groups); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to plan allocations: %v", err)
+	for _, missing := range place {
+		stack.SetTaskGroup(groups[missing.Name])
+		option := stack.Select()
+		if option == nil {
+			s.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] sched: %#v: failed to place alloc %s",
+				s.eval, missing)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Create an allocation for this
+		alloc := &structs.Allocation{
+			ID:        mock.GenerateUUID(),
+			Name:      missing.Name,
+			NodeID:    option.Node.ID,
+			JobID:     s.job.ID,
+			Job:       s.job,
+			Resources: nil, // TODO: size
+			Metrics:   nil,
+			Status:    structs.AllocStatusPending,
+		}
+		s.plan.AppendAlloc(alloc)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -196,28 +207,10 @@ func (s *ServiceScheduler) taintedNodes(allocs []*structs.Allocation) (map[strin
 	return out, nil
 }
 
-// IteratorStack is used to hold pointers to each of the
-// iterators which are chained together to do selection.
-// Half of the stack is used for feasibility checking, while
-// the second half of the stack is used for ranking and selection.
-type IteratorStack struct {
-	Context             *EvalContext
-	BaseNodes           []*structs.Node
-	Source              *StaticIterator
-	JobConstraint       *ConstraintIterator
-	TaskGroupDrivers    *DriverIterator
-	TaskGroupConstraint *ConstraintIterator
-	RankSource          *FeasibleRankIterator
-	BinPack             *BinPackIterator
-	Limit               *LimitIterator
-	MaxScore            *MaxScoreIterator
-}
-
-// iterStack is used to get a set of base nodes and to
-// initialize the entire stack of iterators.
-func (s *ServiceScheduler) iterStack() (*IteratorStack, error) {
+// makeStack is used to setup the ServiceStack used for node placement
+func (s *ServiceScheduler) iterStack() (*ServiceStack, error) {
 	// Create a new stack
-	stack := new(IteratorStack)
+	stack := new(ServiceStack)
 
 	// Create an evaluation context
 	stack.Context = NewEvalContext(s.state, s.plan, s.logger)
@@ -266,55 +259,6 @@ func (s *ServiceScheduler) iterStack() (*IteratorStack, error) {
 	return stack, nil
 }
 
-func (s *ServiceScheduler) planAllocations(stack *IteratorStack,
-	place []allocNameID, groups map[string]*structs.TaskGroup) error {
-
-	// Attempt to place each missing allocation
-	for _, missing := range place {
-		taskGroup := groups[missing.Name]
-
-		// Collect the constraints, drivers and resources required by each
-		// sub-task to aggregate the TaskGroup totals
-		constr := make([]*structs.Constraint, 0, len(taskGroup.Constraints))
-		drivers := make(map[string]struct{})
-		size := new(structs.Resources)
-		constr = append(constr, taskGroup.Constraints...)
-		for _, task := range taskGroup.Tasks {
-			drivers[task.Driver] = struct{}{}
-			constr = append(constr, task.Constraints...)
-			size.Add(task.Resources)
-		}
-
-		// Update the parameters of iterators
-		stack.MaxScore.Reset()
-		stack.TaskGroupDrivers.SetDrivers(drivers)
-		stack.TaskGroupConstraint.SetConstraints(constr)
-		stack.BinPack.SetResources(size)
-
-		// Select the best fit
-		option := stack.MaxScore.Next()
-		if option == nil {
-			s.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] sched: %#v: failed to place alloc %s",
-				s.eval, missing)
-			continue
-		}
-
-		// Create an allocation for this
-		alloc := &structs.Allocation{
-			ID:        mock.GenerateUUID(),
-			Name:      missing.Name,
-			NodeID:    option.Node.ID,
-			JobID:     s.job.ID,
-			Job:       s.job,
-			Resources: size,
-			Metrics:   nil,
-			Status:    structs.AllocStatusPending,
-		}
-		s.plan.AppendAlloc(alloc)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
 // evictJobAllocs is used to evict all job allocations
 func (s *ServiceScheduler) evictJobAllocs() error {
 	// Lookup the allocations by JobID
diff --git a/scheduler/service_sched_test.go b/scheduler/service_sched_test.go
index 5480f6a9d..c3cb29595 100644
--- a/scheduler/service_sched_test.go
+++ b/scheduler/service_sched_test.go
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ func TestServiceSched_JobDeregister(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Generate a fake job with allocations
 	job := mock.Job()
-	noErr(t, h.State.RegisterJob(h.NextIndex(), job))
 
 	var allocs []*structs.Allocation
 	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
diff --git a/scheduler/util.go b/scheduler/util.go
index 6d4fc55e7..aa9b333cf 100644
--- a/scheduler/util.go
+++ b/scheduler/util.go
@@ -123,3 +123,20 @@ func readyNodesInDCs(state State, dcs []string) ([]*structs.Node, error) {
 	}
 	return out, nil
 }
+
+// retryMax is used to retry a callback until it returns success or
+// a maximum number of attempts is reached
+func retryMax(max int, cb func() (bool, error)) error {
+	attempts := 0
+	for attempts < max {
+		done, err := cb()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if done {
+			return nil
+		}
+		attempts += 1
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("maximum attempts reached (%d)", max)
+}
diff --git a/scheduler/util_test.go b/scheduler/util_test.go
index 5b86ec65d..6b9e135fc 100644
--- a/scheduler/util_test.go
+++ b/scheduler/util_test.go
@@ -189,3 +189,31 @@ func TestReadyNodesInDCs(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Bad: %#v", nodes)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestRetryMax(t *testing.T) {
+	calls := 0
+	bad := func() (bool, error) {
+		calls += 1
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	err := retryMax(3, bad)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should fail")
+	}
+	if calls != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("mis match")
+	}
+
+	calls = 0
+	good := func() (bool, error) {
+		calls += 1
+		return true, nil
+	}
+	err = retryMax(3, good)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v")
+	}
+	if calls != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("mis match")
+	}
+}