diff --git a/data.c b/data.c
index 2989b2a..66cef9f 100644
--- a/data.c
+++ b/data.c
@@ -1396,20 +1396,16 @@ void enqueue_email(snac *snac, xs_str *msg, int retries)
 }
 
 
-void enqueue_message(snac *snac, char *msg)
+void enqueue_message(snac *snac, xs_dict *msg)
 /* enqueues an output message */
 {
-    char *id = xs_dict_get(msg, "id");
-    xs *ntid = tid(0);
-    xs *fn   = xs_fmt("%s/queue/%s.json", snac->basedir, ntid);
-    xs *qmsg = xs_dict_new();
-
-    qmsg = xs_dict_append(qmsg, "type",    "message");
-    qmsg = xs_dict_append(qmsg, "message", msg);
+    xs *qmsg   = _new_qmsg("message", msg, 0);
+    char *ntid = xs_dict_get(qmsg, "ntid");
+    xs *fn     = xs_fmt("%s/queue/%s.json", snac->basedir, ntid);
 
     qmsg = _enqueue_put(fn, qmsg);
 
-    snac_debug(snac, 0, xs_fmt("enqueue_message %s", id));
+    snac_debug(snac, 0, xs_fmt("enqueue_message %s", xs_dict_get(msg, "id")));
 }