diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/pom.xml b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/pom.xml
index a0d25cc..94bda18 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/pom.xml
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/pom.xml
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@
 				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
 				<version>2.0.2</version>
 				<configuration>
-					<source>1.6</source>
-					<target>1.6</target>
+					<source>1.7</source>
+					<target>1.7</target>
+					<fork>true</fork>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 			<plugin>
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/ComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/ComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java
index a0dca3d..f7958d9 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/ComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/ComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@
                 /**
                  * this partition should not terminate
                  */
-                if (terminate && (!vertex.isHalted() || vertex.hasMessage()))
+                if (terminate && (!vertex.isHalted() || vertex.hasMessage() || vertex.createdNewLiveVertex()))
                     terminate = false;
 
                 aggregator.step(vertex);
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/StartComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/StartComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java
index 3d8a355..0cf64a0 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/StartComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/function/StartComputeUpdateFunctionFactory.java
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
                 /**
                  * this partition should not terminate
                  */
-                if (terminate && (!vertex.isHalted() || vertex.hasMessage()))
+                if (terminate && (!vertex.isHalted() || vertex.hasMessage() || vertex.createdNewLiveVertex()))
                     terminate = false;
 
                 /**
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/touchpoint/RuntimeHookFactory.java b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/touchpoint/RuntimeHookFactory.java
index d968262..c025f85 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/touchpoint/RuntimeHookFactory.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/runtime/touchpoint/RuntimeHookFactory.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.TaskAttemptContext;
+import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.TaskAttemptID;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@
             public void configure(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
                 Configuration conf = confFactory.createConfiguration();
                 try {
-                    TaskAttemptContext mapperContext = ctxFactory.createContext(conf, null);
+                    TaskAttemptContext mapperContext = ctxFactory.createContext(conf, new TaskAttemptID());
                     Vertex.setContext(mapperContext);
                     BspUtils.setDefaultConfiguration(conf);
                 } catch (Exception e) {