email notification to reporter not working

As per logged issue JRA-6368, I am concerned that incoming emails do not always create issues. So, I would like to advise users to make sure they get a confirmation email, and I have set up notification scheme for the project to send an email to the reporter on issue creation. The problem is that it appears JIRA won't send that email if the user's preference "Email me when I make changes" is unchecked. And none of our users have this turned on (at my suggestion). The reason is because they were complaining that every action they themselves initiated (e.g. assign an issue etc.) generated an e-mail. Am I missing something, or is this a 'feature' in JIRA? I would think the 'when I make changes' should not be interpreted to include issue creation.

Suggestions?