--- a/src/objstore/posix/obj_create.c	Mon Apr 06 22:17:21 2020 -0400
+++ b/src/objstore/posix/obj_create.c	Mon Apr 06 22:22:49 2020 -0400
@@ -90,22 +90,45 @@
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int create_obj_with_data(int rootfd, uint64_t host, uint64_t uniq,
+static int create_obj_with_data(int rootfd,
+				uint64_t this_host, uint64_t this_uniq,
+				uint64_t parent_host, uint64_t parent_uniq,
 				const struct nvclock *clock,
-				const struct nattr *attrs,
-				struct buffer *contents)
+				const struct nattr *_attrs)
 {
+	struct buffer contents;
+	struct nattr attrs;
 	char objname[34];
 	int ret;
 	int fd;
 
+	attrs = *_attrs;
+
+	/* create empty directory contents for new directories */
+	if (NATTR_ISDIR(attrs.mode)) {
+		ret = buffer_init_heap(&contents, BLOCK_SIZE); /* size guess */
+		if (ret)
+			return ret;
+
+		ret = obj_make_dir_buffer(this_host, this_uniq, parent_host,
+					  parent_uniq, &contents);
+		if (ret)
+			goto err;
+
+		/* overwrite the requested size */
+		attrs.size = buffer_size(&contents);
+	} else {
+		/* initialize the buffer to make buffer_free work */
+		buffer_init_sink(&contents);
+	}
+
 	snprintf(objname, sizeof(objname), "%016"PRIx64"-%016"PRIx64,
-		 host, uniq);
+		 this_host, this_uniq);
 
 	/* create the object directory */
 	ret = xmkdirat(rootfd, objname, 0700);
 	if (ret)
-		return ret;
+		goto err;
 
 	/* open the object directory */
 	fd = xopenat(rootfd, objname, O_RDONLY, 0);
@@ -115,12 +138,15 @@
 	}
 
 	/* create the object version file */
-	ret = create_objver(fd, clock, attrs, contents);
+	ret = create_objver(fd, clock, &attrs,
+			    NATTR_ISDIR(attrs.mode) ? &contents : NULL);
 	if (ret)
 		goto err_close;
 
 	xclose(fd);
 
+	buffer_free(&contents);
+
 	return ret;
 
 err_close:
@@ -129,14 +155,18 @@
 err_unlink:
 	xunlinkat(rootfd, objname, 0);
 
+err:
+	buffer_free(&contents);
+
 	return ret;
 }
 
-/* create any object - its contents will be empty */
 int create_obj(int rootfd, uint64_t host, uint64_t uniq,
+	       uint64_t parent_host, uint64_t parent_uniq,
 	       const struct nvclock *clock, const struct nattr *attrs)
 {
-	return create_obj_with_data(rootfd, host, uniq, clock, attrs, NULL);
+	return create_obj_with_data(rootfd, host, uniq, parent_host,
+				    parent_uniq, clock, attrs);
 }
 
 /* create a root directory */
@@ -146,7 +176,7 @@
 	struct nattr attrs = {
 		.mode  = NATTR_DIR | 0700,
 		.nlink = 1, /* even new dirs have a link count of 1 */
-		.size  = 0, /* overwritten below */
+		.size  = 0, /* overwritten in create_obj */
 		.atime = now,
 		.btime = now,
 		.ctime = now,
@@ -154,27 +184,10 @@
 		.owner = 0,
 		.group = 0,
 	};
-	struct buffer *contents;
 	struct nvclock clock;
-	int ret;
 
 	nvclock_reset(&clock);
 	VERIFY0(nvclock_inc(&clock));
 
-	contents = buffer_alloc(BLOCK_SIZE); /* guessing the size */
-	if (IS_ERR(contents))
-		return PTR_ERR(contents);
-
-	ret = obj_make_dir_buffer(host, uniq, host, uniq, contents);
-	if (ret)
-		goto err;
-
-	attrs.size = buffer_size(contents);
-
-	ret = create_obj_with_data(rootfd, host, uniq, &clock, &attrs, contents);
-
-err:
-	buffer_free(contents);
-
-	return ret;
+	return create_obj(rootfd, host, uniq, host, uniq, &clock, &attrs);
 }

--- a/src/objstore/posix/posix.h	Mon Apr 06 22:17:21 2020 -0400
+++ b/src/objstore/posix/posix.h	Mon Apr 06 22:22:49 2020 -0400
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@
 extern const struct clone_ops posix_clone_ops;
 
 extern int create_obj(int rootfd, uint64_t host, uint64_t uniq,
+		      uint64_t parent_host, uint64_t parent_uniq,
 		      const struct nvclock *clock, const struct nattr *attrs);
 extern int create_rootdir(int rootfd, uint64_t host, uint64_t uniq);
 

--- a/src/objstore/posix/vol.c	Mon Apr 06 22:17:21 2020 -0400
+++ b/src/objstore/posix/vol.c	Mon Apr 06 22:22:49 2020 -0400
@@ -103,8 +103,10 @@
 {
 	struct posix_vol *pvol = clone->private;
 
-	return create_obj(pvol->rootfd, noid_get_allocator(oid),
-			  noid_get_uniq(oid), clock, attrs);
+	return create_obj(pvol->rootfd,
+			  noid_get_allocator(oid), noid_get_uniq(oid),
+			  noid_get_allocator(parent), noid_get_uniq(parent),
+			  clock, attrs);
 }
 
 const struct clone_ops posix_clone_ops = {