diff --git a/gobblin-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/util/SchedulerUtils.java b/gobblin-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/util/SchedulerUtils.java
index 3fa9c76c4b7..1dd1b3b533d 100644
--- a/gobblin-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/util/SchedulerUtils.java
+++ b/gobblin-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/util/SchedulerUtils.java
@@ -171,15 +171,18 @@ public String apply(String input) {
   }
 
   private static Properties resolveTemplate(Properties jobProps, JobSpecResolver resolver) throws IOException {
+    // If there is no job template, do not spend resources creating a new JobSpec
+    if (!jobProps.containsKey(ConfigurationKeys.JOB_TEMPLATE_PATH)) {
+      return jobProps;
+    }
+
     try {
       JobSpec.Builder jobSpecBuilder = JobSpec.builder().withConfig(ConfigUtils.propertiesToConfig(jobProps));
-      if (jobProps.containsKey(ConfigurationKeys.JOB_TEMPLATE_PATH)) {
         JobTemplate jobTemplate = ResourceBasedJobTemplate
             .forResourcePath(jobProps.getProperty(ConfigurationKeys.JOB_TEMPLATE_PATH),
                 new PackagedTemplatesJobCatalogDecorator());
         jobSpecBuilder.withTemplate(jobTemplate);
-      }
-      return ConfigUtils.configToProperties(resolver.resolveJobSpec(jobSpecBuilder.build()).getConfig());
+      return resolver.resolveJobSpec(jobSpecBuilder.build()).getConfigAsProperties();
     } catch (JobTemplate.TemplateException | SpecNotFoundException | URISyntaxException exc) {
       throw new IOException(exc);
     }
diff --git a/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/restli/FlowConfigUtils.java b/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/restli/FlowConfigUtils.java
index a59fc8546cf..3af1cf25eaa 100644
--- a/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/restli/FlowConfigUtils.java
+++ b/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/restli/FlowConfigUtils.java
@@ -22,12 +22,10 @@
 
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
 import com.linkedin.data.template.StringMap;
-import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory;
 
 import org.apache.gobblin.service.FlowConfig;
 import org.apache.gobblin.service.FlowId;
 import org.apache.gobblin.service.Schedule;
-import org.apache.gobblin.util.ConfigUtils;
 import org.apache.gobblin.util.PropertiesUtils;
 
 
@@ -60,7 +58,8 @@ public static FlowId deserializeFlowId(String serialized) throws IOException {
   }
 
   public static String serializeFlowConfig(FlowConfig flowConfig) throws IOException {
-    Properties properties = ConfigUtils.configToProperties(ConfigFactory.parseMap(flowConfig.getProperties()));
+    Properties properties = new Properties();
+    properties.putAll(flowConfig.getProperties());
     properties.setProperty(FLOWCONFIG_ID_NAME, flowConfig.getId().getFlowName());
     properties.setProperty(FLOWCONFIG_ID_GROUP, flowConfig.getId().getFlowGroup());
 
diff --git a/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/scheduler/GobblinServiceJobScheduler.java b/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/scheduler/GobblinServiceJobScheduler.java
index 1a257f2ac3c..f83bf7d6063 100644
--- a/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/scheduler/GobblinServiceJobScheduler.java
+++ b/gobblin-service/src/main/java/org/apache/gobblin/service/modules/scheduler/GobblinServiceJobScheduler.java
@@ -202,8 +202,9 @@ private void scheduleSpecsFromCatalog() {
     while (specUris.hasNext()) {
       Spec spec = this.flowCatalog.get().getSpecWrapper(specUris.next());
       try {
-        // Disable FLOW_RUN_IMMEDIATELY on service startup or leadership change
-        if (spec instanceof FlowSpec) {
+        // Disable FLOW_RUN_IMMEDIATELY on service startup or leadership change if the property is set to true
+        if (spec instanceof FlowSpec && PropertiesUtils.getPropAsBoolean((
+            (FlowSpec) spec).getConfigAsProperties(), ConfigurationKeys.FLOW_RUN_IMMEDIATELY, "false")) {
           Spec modifiedSpec = disableFlowRunImmediatelyOnStart((FlowSpec) spec);
           onAddSpec(modifiedSpec);
         } else {