diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral_pipe b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral_pipe
index 95b4c7ac968100106033a679a07a41732bd5ebd0..27d384fd9d2a247cb71fcc130daecabbb5728d46 100755
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral_pipe
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral_pipe
@@ -236,8 +236,7 @@ def svd_node_gen(svdJob, dag, parent_nodes, psd, bank_cache, options, seg, templ
 				if '%04d' % (i+bin_offset,) not in new_template_mchirp_dict and mchirp_interval != (float("inf"), 0):
 					new_template_mchirp_dict['%04d' % (i+bin_offset,)] = mchirp_interval
 
-				svd_nodes.setdefault(ifo, []).append(
-					inspiral_pipe.generic_node(svdJob, dag,
+				svdnode = inspiral_pipe.generic_node(svdJob, dag,
 					parent_nodes = parent_nodes,
 					opts = {"svd-tolerance":options.tolerance,
 						"flow":options.flow,
@@ -256,7 +255,9 @@ def svd_node_gen(svdJob, dag, parent_nodes, psd, bank_cache, options, seg, templ
 					input_cache_file_name = os.path.basename(svd_bank_name).replace(".xml.gz", ".cache"),
 					output_files = {"write-svd":svd_bank_name}
 					)
-				)
+				# impose a priority to help with depth first submission
+				svdnode.set_priority(99)
+				svd_nodes.setdefault(ifo, []).append(svdnode)
 			bin_offset += i+1
 	#
 	# Plot template/svd bank jobs
@@ -1263,7 +1264,7 @@ else:
 	refPSDJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_reference_psd", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"1GB", "request_cpus":"2", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))
 	medianPSDJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_median_of_psds", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"1GB", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))
 	plotBanksJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_inspiral_plot_banks", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"1GB", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))
-	svdJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_svd_bank", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"7GB", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15", "priority":"99"}))
+	svdJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_svd_bank", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"7GB", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))
 	horizonJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_plot_psd_horizon", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"1GB", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))
 	gstlalInspiralJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job(options.inspiral_executable, condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":options.request_memory, "request_cpus":options.request_cpu, "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))
 	createPriorDistStatsJob = inspiral_pipe.generic_job("gstlal_inspiral_create_prior_diststats", condor_commands = inspiral_pipe.condor_command_dict_from_opts(options.condor_command, {"request_memory":"1GB", "want_graceful_removal":"True", "kill_sig":"15"}))