Abstract: A technique for automatically priming and recirculating sterile fluid through an extracorporeal circuit of a dialysis machine having a blood pump, a dialyzer, and a blood tubing set including an arterial line for drawing blood from a patient and a venous line for returning the blood to the patient. The dialysis machine selectively opens and closes clamps on the arterial and venous lines and further operates a waste valve for selectively opening and closing a waste line leading to a waste drain. A connector attaches both the arterial and venous lines to the waste line downstream of the arterial and venous clamps and upstream of the waste valve. The dialysis machine automatically operating the blood pump, the clamps and the waste valve to flush the dialyzer and the blood tubing set with the sterile fluid and direct the used fluid down the waste drain.