diff --git a/src/modules/job-exec/job-exec.c b/src/modules/job-exec/job-exec.c
index e71a5f4393ff..646acd13ef4e 100644
--- a/src/modules/job-exec/job-exec.c
+++ b/src/modules/job-exec/job-exec.c
@@ -438,13 +438,21 @@ static void kill_shell_timer_cb (flux_reactor_t  *r,
 {
     struct jobinfo *job = arg;
     struct idset *active_ranks;
+    int actual_kill_signal = kill_signal;
+
+    /* RFC 15 states that the IMP handles SIGUSR1 by sending SIGKILL to
+     * the entire cgroup.  Sending SIGKILL to the IMP is not productive.
+     */
+    if (job->multiuser)
+        actual_kill_signal = SIGUSR1;
 
     flux_log (job->h,
               LOG_DEBUG,
-              "Sending %s to job shell for job %s",
-              sigutil_signame (kill_signal),
+              "Sending %s to %s for job %s",
+              sigutil_signame (actual_kill_signal),
+              job->multiuser ? "IMP" : "job shell",
               idf58 (job->id));
-    (*job->impl->kill) (job, kill_signal);
+    (*job->impl->kill) (job, actual_kill_signal);
     job->kill_shell_count++;
 
     /* Since we've transitioned to killing the shell directly, stop the
diff --git a/t/job-exec/imp-fail.sh b/t/job-exec/imp-fail.sh
index 4ab0fc921aeb..c29dcbdfef57 100755
--- a/t/job-exec/imp-fail.sh
+++ b/t/job-exec/imp-fail.sh
@@ -14,16 +14,6 @@ case "$cmd" in
         printf "test-imp: Going to fail on rank 1\n" >&2
         if test $(flux getattr rank) = 1; then exit 0; fi
         exec "$@" ;;
-    kill)
-        #  Note: kill must be implemented in test since job-exec
-        #  module will run `flux-imp kill PID`.
-        #
-        signal=$2;
-        pid=$3;
-        printf "test-imp: kill -$signal $pid\n" >&2
-        shift 3;
-        printf "test-imp: Kill pid $pid signal $signal\n" >&2
-        kill -$signal $pid ;;
     *)
         printf "test-imp: Fatal: Unknown cmd=$cmd\n" >&2; exit 1 ;;
 esac
diff --git a/t/t2404-job-exec-multiuser.t b/t/t2404-job-exec-multiuser.t
index 7a7ee1c1d524..aeea73dfb546 100755
--- a/t/t2404-job-exec-multiuser.t
+++ b/t/t2404-job-exec-multiuser.t
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ test_expect_success 'job-exec: reconfig and reload module' '
 	flux config reload &&
 	flux module reload -f job-exec
 '
-test_expect_success NO_ASAN 'job-exec: kill multiuser job uses the IMP' '
+test_expect_success NO_ASAN 'job-exec: kill multiuser job works' '
 	FAKE_USERID=42 &&
 	flux run --dry-run -n2 -N2 sleep 1000 | \
 		flux python ${SIGN_AS} ${FAKE_USERID} > sleep-job.signed &&
@@ -91,8 +91,7 @@ test_expect_success NO_ASAN 'job-exec: kill multiuser job uses the IMP' '
 	jq -e ".userid == 42" < ${id}.json &&
 	flux job wait-event -p exec -vt 30 ${id} shell.start &&
 	flux cancel ${id} &&
-	test_expect_code 143 run_timeout 30 flux job status -v ${id} &&
-	flux dmesg | grep "test-imp: Kill .*signal 15"
+	test_expect_code 143 run_timeout 30 flux job status -v ${id}
 '
 
 #  Configure failing IMP