diff --git a/tests/cunit/test_simple.c b/tests/cunit/test_simple.c
index 92425f0521a..ea332ef936e 100644
--- a/tests/cunit/test_simple.c
+++ b/tests/cunit/test_simple.c
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Tests for PIOc_Intercomm. This tests basic asynch I/O capability.
- *
- * This very simple test runs on 4 ranks.
+ * This very simple test for PIO runs on 4 ranks.
  *
  * @author Ed Hartnett
  */
@@ -9,44 +7,15 @@
 #include <pio.h>
 #include <pio_tests.h>
 
-/* The number of tasks this test should run on. */
-#define TARGET_NTASKS 4
-
-/* The number of IO tasks. */
-#define NUM_IO_TASKS 1
-
-/* The number of computational tasks. */
-#define NUM_COMP_TASKS 3
-
 /* The name of this test. */
-#define TEST_NAME "test_async_1d"
-
-/* The name of the output of the test. */
-#define FILE_NAME "test_async_1d.nc"
+#define TEST_NAME "test_simple"
 
-/* Number of different combonations of IO and computation processor
- * numbers we will try in this test. */
-#define NUM_COMBOS 3
-
-/* Number of computational components to create. */
-#define COMPONENT_COUNT 1
-
-#define NDIM1 1
-#define NDIM2 2
-#define DIM_NAME_0 "unlim"
-#define DIM_NAME_1 "dim_1"
-#define DIM_LEN_1 3
-#define VAR_NAME "async_var"
-#define MAPLEN 1
-
-/* Run async tests. */
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
-#ifdef USE_NETCDF4
     int my_rank; /* Zero-based rank of processor. */
     int ntasks; /* Number of processors involved in current execution. */
+    int num_iotasks = 1;
     int iosysid; /* The ID for the parallel I/O system. */
-    int num_procs_per_comp[COMPONENT_COUNT] = {3};
     /* int num_flavors; /\* Number of PIO netCDF flavors in this build. *\/ */
     /* int flavor[NUM_FLAVORS]; /\* iotypes for the supported netCDF IO flavors. *\/ */
     int ret; /* Return code. */
@@ -61,95 +30,22 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     if ((ret = MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &ntasks)))
         MPIERR(ret);
 
-    /* Make sure we have 4 tasks. */
-    if (ntasks != TARGET_NTASKS) ERR(ERR_WRONG);
-
     /* PIOc_set_log_level(4); */
 
     /* Change error handling so we can test inval parameters. */
     if ((ret = PIOc_set_iosystem_error_handling(PIO_DEFAULT, PIO_RETURN_ERROR, NULL)))
-        return ret;
-
-    /* Set up IO system. Task 0 will do IO, tasks 1-3 will be a single
-     * computational unit. Task 0 will stay in this function until the
-     * computational component calls PIOc_finalize(). */
-    if ((ret = PIOc_init_async(MPI_COMM_WORLD, NUM_IO_TASKS, NULL, COMPONENT_COUNT,
-                               num_procs_per_comp, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-                               PIO_REARR_BOX, &iosysid)))
         ERR(ret);
 
-    /* Only computational processors run this code. */
-    if (my_rank)
-    {
-        int ncid;
-        int iotype = PIO_IOTYPE_NETCDF4C;
-        int dimid[NDIM2];
-        int gdimlen[NDIM1] = {DIM_LEN_1};
-        PIO_Offset compmap[MAPLEN];
-        int varid;
-        int data;
-        int data_in;
-        int ioid;
-
-        /* Create a file. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_createfile(iosysid, &ncid, &iotype, FILE_NAME, 0)))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_def_dim(ncid, DIM_NAME_0, PIO_UNLIMITED, &dimid[0])))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_def_dim(ncid, DIM_NAME_1, DIM_LEN_1, &dimid[1])))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_def_var(ncid, VAR_NAME, PIO_INT, NDIM2, dimid, &varid)))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_def_var_fill(ncid, varid, PIO_NOFILL, NULL)))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_enddef(ncid)))
-            ERR(ret);
-
-        /* Set up a decomposition. Each of the 3 computational procs
-         * will write one value, to get the 3-values of each
-         * record. */
-        compmap[0] = my_rank - 1;
-        if ((ret = PIOc_init_decomp(iosysid, PIO_INT, NDIM1, gdimlen, MAPLEN,
-                                    compmap, &ioid, PIO_REARR_BOX, NULL, NULL)))
-            ERR(ret);
-
-        /* Write a record of data. */
-        data = my_rank;
-        if ((ret = PIOc_setframe(ncid, 0, 0)))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_write_darray(ncid, 0, ioid, MAPLEN, &data, NULL)))
-            ERR(ret);
-
-        /* Close the file. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_closefile(ncid)))
-            ERR(ret);
-
-        /* Reopen the file and check. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_openfile(iosysid, &ncid, &iotype, FILE_NAME, 0)))
-            ERR(ret);
-
-        /* Read the data. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_setframe(ncid, 0, 0)))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if ((ret = PIOc_read_darray(ncid, 0, ioid, MAPLEN, &data_in)))
-            ERR(ret);
-        if (data_in != data) ERR(ERR_WRONG);
-
-        /* Close the file. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_closefile(ncid)))
-            ERR(ret);
-
-        /* Free the decomposition. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_freedecomp(iosysid, ioid)))
-            ERR(ret);
+    /* Initialize the IOsystem. */
+    if ((ret = PIOc_Init_Intracomm(MPI_COMM_WORLD, num_iotasks, 1, 0, PIO_REARR_BOX,
+				   &iosysid)))
+	ERR(ret);
 
-        /* Shut down the IO system. */
-        if ((ret = PIOc_finalize(iosysid)))
-            ERR(ret);
-    }
+    /* Finalize the IOsystem. */
+    if ((ret = PIOc_finalize(iosysid)))
+	ERR(ret);
 
     printf("%d %s SUCCESS!!\n", my_rank, TEST_NAME);
-#endif /* USE_NETCDF4 */
 
     return 0;
 }