diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/InfoResource.java b/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/InfoResource.java
index 3bdef858caa..acd94438d84 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/InfoResource.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/InfoResource.java
@@ -376,10 +376,6 @@ public class InfoResource
       @QueryParam("interval") final String interval
   )
   {
-    // TODO: will likely be all rewritten once Guice introduced
-    if (indexingServiceClient == null) {
-      return Response.status(Response.Status.OK).entity(ImmutableMap.of("error", "no indexing service found")).build();
-    }
     if (kill != null && Boolean.valueOf(kill)) {
       indexingServiceClient.killSegments(dataSourceName, new Interval(interval));
     } else {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/MasterMain.java b/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/MasterMain.java
index 19b64b42247..60c4a5043a8 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/MasterMain.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/http/MasterMain.java
@@ -178,15 +178,15 @@ public class MasterMain
         lifecycle
     );
 
-    IndexingServiceClient indexingServiceClient = null;
+    ServiceProvider serviceProvider = null;
     if (druidMasterConfig.getMergerServiceName() != null) {
-      ServiceProvider serviceProvider = Initialization.makeServiceProvider(
+      serviceProvider = Initialization.makeServiceProvider(
           druidMasterConfig.getMergerServiceName(),
           serviceDiscovery,
           lifecycle
       );
-      indexingServiceClient = new IndexingServiceClient(httpClient, jsonMapper, serviceProvider);
     }
+    IndexingServiceClient indexingServiceClient = new IndexingServiceClient(httpClient, jsonMapper, serviceProvider);
 
     final DruidClusterInfo druidClusterInfo = new DruidClusterInfo(
         configFactory.build(DruidClusterInfoConfig.class),
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/master/DruidMasterConfig.java b/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/master/DruidMasterConfig.java
index 88f2a348ed0..4913dab0b59 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/master/DruidMasterConfig.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/metamx/druid/master/DruidMasterConfig.java
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ public abstract class DruidMasterConfig
   @Config("druid.master.merger.on")
   public boolean isMergeSegments()
   {
-    return true;
+    return false;
   }
 
   @Config("druid.master.conversion.on")
   public boolean isConvertSegments()
   {
-    return true;
+    return false;
   }
 
   @Config("druid.master.merger.service")