diff --git a/autoload/go/job.vim b/autoload/go/job.vim
index af139d3907..abcd6bdb70 100644
--- a/autoload/go/job.vim
+++ b/autoload/go/job.vim
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ endfunction
 " logic.
 "
 " args is a dictionary with the these keys:
-"   'cmd':
-"     The value to pass to job_start().
 "   'bang':
 "     Set to 0 to jump to the first error in the error list.
 "     Defaults to 0.
@@ -32,9 +30,9 @@ endfunction
 "   'complete':
 "     A function to call after the job exits and the channel is closed. The
 "     function will be passed three arguments: the job, its exit code, and the
-"     list of messages received from the channel. The default value will
-"     process the messages and manage the error list after the job exits and
-"     the channel is closed.
+"     list of messages received from the channel. The default is a no-op. A
+"     custom value can modify the messages before they are processed by the
+"     returned exit_cb and close_cb callbacks.
 
 " The return value is a dictionary with these keys:
 "   'callback':
@@ -47,7 +45,9 @@ endfunction
 "     A function suitable to be passed as a job close_cb handler. See
 "     job-close_cb.
 "   'cwd':
-"     The path to the directory which contains the current buffer.
+"     The path to the directory which contains the current buffer. The
+"     callbacks are configured to expect this directory is the working
+"     directory for the job; it should not be modified by callers.
 function! go#job#Options(args)
   let cbs = {}
   let state = {
@@ -185,6 +185,10 @@ function! go#job#Options(args)
 
   function state.show_errors(job, exit_status, data)
     let l:winid = win_getid(winnr())
+    " Always set the active window to the window that was active when the job
+    " was started. Among other things, this makes sure that the correct
+    " window's location list will be populated when the list type is
+    " 'location' and the user has moved windows since starting the job.
     call win_gotoid(self.winid)
 
     let l:listtype = go#list#Type(self.for)
@@ -229,17 +233,20 @@ function! go#job#Options(args)
     endif
   endfunction
 
-  if has('nvim')
-    return s:neooptions(cbs)
-  endif
-
   return cbs
 endfunction
 
+" go#job#Start runs a job. The options are expected to be the options
+" suitable for Vim8 jobs. When called from Neovim, Vim8 options will be
+" transformed to their Neovim equivalents.
 function! go#job#Start(cmd, options)
   let l:cd = exists('*haslocaldir') && haslocaldir() ? 'lcd' : 'cd'
   let l:options = copy(a:options)
 
+  if has('nvim')
+    let l:options = s:neooptions(l:options)
+  endif
+
   if !has_key(l:options, 'cwd')
     " pre start
     let dir = getcwd()
@@ -249,10 +256,11 @@ function! go#job#Start(cmd, options)
   if has_key(l:options, '_start')
     call l:options._start()
     " remove _start to play nicely with vim (when vim encounters an unexpected
-    " job option it reports an "E475: invalid argument" error.
+    " job option it reports an "E475: invalid argument" error).
     unlet l:options._start
   endif
 
+
   if has('nvim')
     let l:input = []
     if has_key(l:options, 'in_io') && l:options.in_io ==# 'file' && !empty(l:options.in_name)
@@ -286,6 +294,11 @@ function! s:neooptions(options)
   let l:options['stderr_buf'] = ''
 
   for key in keys(a:options)
+      if key == 'cwd'
+        let l:options['cwd'] = a:options['cwd']
+        continue
+      endif
+
       if key == 'callback'
         let l:options['callback'] = a:options['callback']
 
@@ -402,5 +415,4 @@ function! s:neooptions(options)
   return l:options
 endfunction
 
-
 " vim: sw=2 ts=2 et
diff --git a/autoload/go/lint.vim b/autoload/go/lint.vim
index ee15905006..7714b07636 100644
--- a/autoload/go/lint.vim
+++ b/autoload/go/lint.vim
@@ -41,7 +41,11 @@ function! go#lint#Gometa(autosave, ...) abort
     redraw
 
     " Include only messages for the active buffer for autosave.
-    let cmd += [printf('--include=^%s:.*$', fnamemodify(expand('%:p'), ":."))]
+    let include = [printf('--include=^%s:.*$', fnamemodify(expand('%:p'), ":."))]
+    if go#util#has_job() || has('nvim')
+      let include = [printf('--include=^%s:.*$', expand('%:p:t'))]
+    endif
+    let cmd += include
   endif
 
   " Call gometalinter asynchronously.
@@ -52,7 +56,7 @@ function! go#lint#Gometa(autosave, ...) abort
 
   let cmd += goargs
 
-  if go#util#has_job() && has('lambda')
+  if go#util#has_job() || has('nvim')
     call s:lint_job({'cmd': cmd}, a:autosave)
     return
   endif
@@ -193,113 +197,46 @@ function! go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave() abort
 endfunction
 
 function! s:lint_job(args, autosave)
-  let state = {
-        \ 'status_dir': expand('%:p:h'),
-        \ 'started_at': reltime(),
-        \ 'messages': [],
-        \ 'exited': 0,
-        \ 'closed': 0,
-        \ 'exit_status': 0,
-        \ 'winid': win_getid(winnr()),
-        \ 'autosave': a:autosave
-      \ }
-
-  call go#statusline#Update(state.status_dir, {
-        \ 'desc': "current status",
-        \ 'type': "gometalinter",
-        \ 'state': "analysing",
-        \})
-
-  " autowrite is not enabled for jobs
-  call go#cmd#autowrite()
+  let l:opts = {
+        \ 'statustype': "gometalinter",
+        \ 'errorformat': '%f:%l:%c:%t%*[^:]:\ %m,%f:%l::%t%*[^:]:\ %m',
+        \ 'for': "GoMetaLinter",
+        \ }
 
   if a:autosave
-    let state.listtype = go#list#Type("GoMetaLinterAutoSave")
-  else
-    let state.listtype = go#list#Type("GoMetaLinter")
+    let l:opts.for = "GoMetaLinterAutoSave"
   endif
 
-  function! s:callback(chan, msg) dict closure
-    call add(self.messages, a:msg)
-  endfunction
-
-  function! s:exit_cb(job, exitval) dict
-    let self.exited = 1
-    let self.exit_status = a:exitval
-
-    let status = {
-          \ 'desc': 'last status',
-          \ 'type': "gometaliner",
-          \ 'state': "finished",
-          \ }
-
-    if a:exitval
-      let status.state = "failed"
-    endif
-
-    let elapsed_time = reltimestr(reltime(self.started_at))
-    " strip whitespace
-    let elapsed_time = substitute(elapsed_time, '^\s*\(.\{-}\)\s*$', '\1', '')
-    let status.state .= printf(" (%ss)", elapsed_time)
-
-    call go#statusline#Update(self.status_dir, status)
-
-    if self.closed
-      call self.show_errors()
-    endif
-  endfunction
-
-  function! s:close_cb(ch) dict
-    let self.closed = 1
-
-    if self.exited
-      call self.show_errors()
-    endif
-  endfunction
-
-  function state.show_errors()
-    let l:winid = win_getid(winnr())
-
-    " make sure the current window is the window from which gometalinter was
-    " run when the listtype is locationlist so that the location list for the
-    " correct window will be populated.
-    if self.listtype == 'locationlist'
-      call win_gotoid(self.winid)
-    endif
-
-    let l:errorformat = '%f:%l:%c:%t%*[^:]:\ %m,%f:%l::%t%*[^:]:\ %m'
-    call go#list#ParseFormat(self.listtype, l:errorformat, self.messages, 'GoMetaLinter')
-
-    let errors = go#list#Get(self.listtype)
-    call go#list#Window(self.listtype, len(errors))
+  let l:cbs = go#job#Options(l:opts)
 
+  if a:autosave
     " move to the window that was active before processing the errors, because
     " the user may have moved around within the window or even moved to a
     " different window since saving. Moving back to current window as of the
     " start of this function avoids the perception that the quickfix window
     " steals focus when linting takes a while.
-    if self.autosave
-      call win_gotoid(self.winid)
-    endif
 
-    if go#config#EchoCommandInfo()
-      call go#util#EchoSuccess("linting finished")
-    endif
-  endfunction
-
-  " explicitly bind the callbacks to state so that self within them always
-  " refers to state. See :help Partial for more information.
-  let start_options = {
-        \ 'callback': funcref("s:callback", [], state),
-        \ 'exit_cb': funcref("s:exit_cb", [], state),
-        \ 'close_cb': funcref("s:close_cb", [], state),
-        \ }
+    function! s:exit_cb(next, job, exitval)
+      let l:winid = win_getid(winnr())
+      call call(a:next, [a:job, a:exitval])
+      call win_gotoid(l:winid)
+    endfunction
+    " wrap l:cbs.exit_cb in s:exit_cb.
+    let l:cbs.exit_cb = funcref('s:exit_cb', [l:cbs.exit_cb])
 
-  call job_start(a:args.cmd, start_options)
-
-  if go#config#EchoCommandInfo()
-    call go#util#EchoProgress("linting started ...")
+    function! s:close_cb(next, ch)
+      let l:winid = win_getid(winnr())
+      call call(a:next, [a:ch])
+      call win_gotoid(l:winid)
+    endfunction
+    " wrap l:cbs.close_cb in s:close_cb.
+    let l:cbs.close_cb = funcref('s:close_cb', [l:cbs.close_cb])
   endif
+
+  " autowrite is not enabled for jobs
+  call go#cmd#autowrite()
+
+  call go#job#Start(a:args.cmd, l:cbs)
 endfunction
 
 " vim: sw=2 ts=2 et
diff --git a/autoload/go/lint_test.vim b/autoload/go/lint_test.vim
index 7432e748bd..61a14fd5ab 100644
--- a/autoload/go/lint_test.vim
+++ b/autoload/go/lint_test.vim
@@ -9,13 +9,6 @@ func! Test_Gometa() abort
   " clear the quickfix lists
   call setqflist([], 'r')
 
-  " call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave from lint.vim so that the file will
-  " be autoloaded and the default for g:go_metalinter_enabled will be set so
-  " we can capture it to restore it after the test is run.
-  silent call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave()
-  " And restore it back to its previous value
-  silent call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave()
-
   let g:go_metalinter_enabled = ['golint']
 
   call go#lint#Gometa(0, $GOPATH . '/src/foo')
@@ -42,13 +35,6 @@ func! Test_GometaWithDisabled() abort
   " clear the quickfix lists
   call setqflist([], 'r')
 
-  " call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave from lint.vim so that the file will
-  " be autoloaded and the default for g:go_metalinter_disabled will be set so
-  " we can capture it to restore it after the test is run.
-  silent call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave()
-  " And restore it back to its previous value
-  silent call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave()
-
   let g:go_metalinter_disabled = ['vet']
 
   call go#lint#Gometa(0, $GOPATH . '/src/foo')
@@ -77,13 +63,6 @@ func! Test_GometaAutoSave() abort
   " clear the location lists
   call setloclist(l:winnr, [], 'r')
 
-  " call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave from lint.vim so that the file will
-  " be autoloaded and the default for g:go_metalinter_autosave_enabled will be
-  " set so we can capture it to restore it after the test is run.
-  silent call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave()
-  " And restore it back to its previous value
-  silent call go#lint#ToggleMetaLinterAutoSave()
-
   let g:go_metalinter_autosave_enabled = ['golint']
 
   call go#lint#Gometa(1)
diff --git a/autoload/go/util.vim b/autoload/go/util.vim
index dbe390493b..49eeb87a17 100644
--- a/autoload/go/util.vim
+++ b/autoload/go/util.vim
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ endfunction
 
 " Check if Vim jobs API is supported.
 "
-" The (optional) first paramter can be added to indicate the 'cwd' or 'env'
+" The (optional) first parameter can be added to indicate the 'cwd' or 'env'
 " parameters will be used, which wasn't added until a later version.
 function! go#util#has_job(...) abort
   " cwd and env parameters to job_start was added in this version.