diff --git a/src/vault/gear/activity-term.hpp b/src/vault/gear/activity-term.hpp
index e472bd7a4..20130cce4 100644
--- a/src/vault/gear/activity-term.hpp
+++ b/src/vault/gear/activity-term.hpp
@@ -207,6 +207,12 @@ namespace gear {
          *         notification is inserted at a point executed holding the `GroomingToken`,
          *         the `dispatch()` actually happens synchronous and immediately processes
          *         the activated tail-chain in a nested call.
+         * @deprecated 12/23 this feature seemed necessary in the first implementation,
+         *         yet after integration and follow-up refactorings (NOTIFY-handling) it
+         *         turned out both superfluous and potentially dangerous, since it creates
+         *         additional management work and possible contention on the Grooming-Token.
+         *         The way NOTIFY-activities are handled now already ensures that they are
+         *         activated only after their target's start time.
          */
         Term&
         requireDirectActivation()
diff --git a/src/vault/gear/scheduler.hpp b/src/vault/gear/scheduler.hpp
index 8f48cbb63..1beeb2412 100644
--- a/src/vault/gear/scheduler.hpp
+++ b/src/vault/gear/scheduler.hpp
@@ -205,12 +205,6 @@ namespace gear {
       /** build Activity chain and hand-over to the Scheduler. */
       ScheduleSpec post();
       
-      ScheduleSpec
-      requireSchedule ()
-        {
-          term_->requireDirectActivation();
-          return move(*this);
-        }
       
       ScheduleSpec
       linkToSuccessor (ScheduleSpec& succSpec)
diff --git a/tests/vault/gear/test-chain-load.hpp b/tests/vault/gear/test-chain-load.hpp
index 758806a60..35c5be81a 100644
--- a/tests/vault/gear/test-chain-load.hpp
+++ b/tests/vault/gear/test-chain-load.hpp
@@ -1575,7 +1575,6 @@ namespace test {
 
       FrameRate  levelSpeed_{1, Duration{_uTicks(1ms)}};
       uint  blockLoadFactor_{2};
-      bool  requireSchedule_{false};
       size_t      chunkSize_{DEFAULT_CHUNKSIZE};
       TimeVar     startTime_{Time::ANYTIME};
       microseconds deadline_{STANDARD_DEADLINE};
@@ -1600,8 +1599,6 @@ namespace test {
                                      .startTime (calcStartTime(level))
                                      .lifeWindow (deadline_)
                                      .post();
-          if (requireSchedule_)
-            schedule_[idx].requireSchedule();
         }
       
       /** Callback: define a dependency between scheduled jobs */
@@ -1708,13 +1705,6 @@ namespace test {
           return move(*this);
         }
       
-      ScheduleCtx&&
-      requireSchedule (bool indeed =true)
-        {
-          requireSchedule_ = indeed;
-          return move(*this);
-        }
-      
       ScheduleCtx&&
       withJobDeadline (microseconds deadline_after_start)
         {