diff --git a/nomad/leader.go b/nomad/leader.go
index d69478a80..b3964cf8f 100644
--- a/nomad/leader.go
+++ b/nomad/leader.go
@@ -254,17 +254,9 @@ func (s *Server) schedulePeriodic(stopCh chan struct{}) {
 	// getLatest grabs the latest index from the state store. It returns true if
 	// the index was retrieved successfully.
 	getLatest := func() (uint64, bool) {
-		// Snapshot the current state
-		snap, err := s.fsm.State().Snapshot()
+		snapshotIndex, err := s.fsm.State().LatestIndex()
 		if err != nil {
-			s.logger.Printf("[ERR] nomad: failed to snapshot state for periodic GC: %v", err)
-			return 0, false
-		}
-
-		// Store the snapshot's index
-		snapshotIndex, err := snap.LatestIndex()
-		if err != nil {
-			s.logger.Printf("[ERR] nomad: failed to determine snapshot's index for periodic GC: %v", err)
+			s.logger.Printf("[ERR] nomad: failed to determine state store's index: %v", err)
 			return 0, false
 		}
 
diff --git a/nomad/system_endpoint.go b/nomad/system_endpoint.go
index 46ca15053..3c3e4529d 100644
--- a/nomad/system_endpoint.go
+++ b/nomad/system_endpoint.go
@@ -18,16 +18,10 @@ func (s *System) GarbageCollect(args *structs.GenericRequest, reply *structs.Gen
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Snapshot the current state
-	snap, err := s.srv.fsm.State().Snapshot()
+	// Get the states current index
+	snapshotIndex, err := s.srv.fsm.State().LatestIndex()
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to snapshot state: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Store the snapshot's index
-	snapshotIndex, err := snap.LatestIndex()
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine snapshot's index: %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine state store's index: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	s.srv.evalBroker.Enqueue(s.srv.coreJobEval(structs.CoreJobForceGC, snapshotIndex))
diff --git a/nomad/worker.go b/nomad/worker.go
index 7717600ec..0c414fc90 100644
--- a/nomad/worker.go
+++ b/nomad/worker.go
@@ -212,19 +212,17 @@ func (w *Worker) sendAck(evalID, token string, ack bool) {
 // state (attempt to allocate to a failed/dead node), we may need
 // to sync our state again and do the planning with more recent data.
 func (w *Worker) waitForIndex(index uint64, timeout time.Duration) error {
+	// XXX: Potential optimization is to set up a watch on the state stores
+	// index table and only unblock via a trigger rather than timing out and
+	// checking.
+
 	start := time.Now()
 	defer metrics.MeasureSince([]string{"nomad", "worker", "wait_for_index"}, start)
 CHECK:
-	// Snapshot the current state
-	snap, err := w.srv.fsm.State().Snapshot()
+	// Get the states current index
+	snapshotIndex, err := w.srv.fsm.State().LatestIndex()
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to snapshot state: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Store the snapshot's index
-	snapshotIndex, err := snap.LatestIndex()
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine snapshot's index: %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine state store's index: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	// We only need the FSM state to be as recent as the given index