diff --git a/sched/plan_class_spec.cpp b/sched/plan_class_spec.cpp
index 456787f4b7..d4a751fdfb 100644
--- a/sched/plan_class_spec.cpp
+++ b/sched/plan_class_spec.cpp
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ int main() {
 
     HOST_USAGE hu;
 
-    strcpy(sreq.host.p_features, "sse3");
+    strcpy(sreq.host.p_features, "pni");
     sreq.host.p_fpops =5e9;
     g_wreq->effective_ncpus = 4;
     if (1) {
diff --git a/sched/plan_class_spec.xml.sample b/sched/plan_class_spec.xml.sample
index a5a8337ee7..98279887a4 100644
--- a/sched/plan_class_spec.xml.sample
+++ b/sched/plan_class_spec.xml.sample
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     </plan_class>
     <plan_class>
         <name>                  sse3        </name>
-        <cpu_feature>           sse3        </cpu_feature>
+        <cpu_feature>           pni         </cpu_feature>
         <projected_flops_scale> 1.1         </projected_flops_scale>
     </plan_class>
     <plan_class>
diff --git a/sched/sched_customize.cpp b/sched/sched_customize.cpp
index 84c1d2760d..304713002c 100644
--- a/sched/sched_customize.cpp
+++ b/sched/sched_customize.cpp
@@ -664,15 +664,16 @@ static inline bool app_plan_nci(SCHEDULER_REQUEST&, HOST_USAGE& hu) {
 
 // the following is for an app version that requires a processor with SSE3,
 // and will run 10% faster than the non-SSE3 version
+// NOTE: clients return "pni" instead of "sse3"
 //
 static inline bool app_plan_sse3(
     SCHEDULER_REQUEST& sreq, HOST_USAGE& hu
 ) {
     downcase_string(sreq.host.p_features);
-    if (!strstr(sreq.host.p_features, "sse3")) {
+    if (!strstr(sreq.host.p_features, "pni")) {
         // Pre-6.x clients report CPU features in p_model
         //
-        if (!strstr(sreq.host.p_model, "sse3")) {
+        if (!strstr(sreq.host.p_model, "pni")) {
             //add_no_work_message("Your CPU lacks SSE3");
             return false;
         }