The Bacillus subtilis intergenic suppressor mutations crsA and rvtA, previously shown to restore sporulation competence to a variety of strains containing stage 0 sporulation defects, also suppress lesions in the stage II sporulation genes spoIIF, spoIIN and spoIIJ. They do not rescue sporulation in other stage II through stage V sporulation mutations. Cells containing spoIIN, spoIIF96 and spoIIJ::Tn917 mutations fail to transcribe spoIID, a late stage II gene. Introduction of crsA47 into spoIINts279, spoIIF96, or spoIIJ::Tn917 mutant backgrounds circumvents the need for the spoIIF, IIN, and IIJ products, restoring both expression of spoIID, and sporulation competence.