diff --git a/src/aiori-DAOS.c b/src/aiori-DAOS.c
index c453b2e..969507c 100644
--- a/src/aiori-DAOS.c
+++ b/src/aiori-DAOS.c
@@ -243,10 +243,8 @@ DAOS_Init(aiori_mod_opt_t * options)
 	if (daos_initialized)
 		return;
 
-	if (o->pool == NULL || o->svcl == NULL || o->cont == NULL) {
-		GERR("Invalid DAOS pool/cont\n");
+	if (o->pool == NULL || o->svcl == NULL || o->cont == NULL)
 		return;
-	}
 
         if (o->oclass) {
                 objectClass = daos_oclass_name2id(o->oclass);
diff --git a/src/aiori-DFS.c b/src/aiori-DFS.c
index 7f8ab7a..86f014c 100755
--- a/src/aiori-DFS.c
+++ b/src/aiori-DFS.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ static daos_handle_t poh, coh;
 static daos_oclass_id_t objectClass = OC_SX;
 static daos_oclass_id_t dir_oclass = OC_SX;
 static struct d_hash_table *dir_hash;
+static bool dfs_init;
 
 struct aiori_dir_hdl {
         d_list_t	entry;
@@ -412,8 +413,16 @@ DFS_Init(aiori_mod_opt_t * options)
         DFS_options_t *o = (DFS_options_t *)options;
 	int rc;
 
+        /** in case we are already initialized, return */
+        if (dfs_init)
+                return;
+
+        /** shouldn't be fatal since it can be called with POSIX backend selection */
         if (o->pool == NULL || o->svcl == NULL || o->cont == NULL)
-                ERR("Invalid pool or container options\n");
+                return;
+
+	rc = daos_init();
+        DCHECK(rc, "Failed to initialize daos");
 
         if (o->oclass) {
                 objectClass = daos_oclass_name2id(o->oclass);
@@ -427,9 +436,6 @@ DFS_Init(aiori_mod_opt_t * options)
 			GERR("Invalid DAOS directory object class %s\n", o->dir_oclass);
 	}
 
-	rc = daos_init();
-        DCHECK(rc, "Failed to initialize daos");
-
         rc = d_hash_table_create(0, 16, NULL, &hdl_hash_ops, &dir_hash);
         DCHECK(rc, "Failed to initialize dir hashtable");
 
@@ -483,6 +489,7 @@ DFS_Init(aiori_mod_opt_t * options)
                 rc = dfs_set_prefix(dfs, o->prefix);
                 DCHECK(rc, "Failed to set DFS Prefix");
         }
+        dfs_init = true;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -537,6 +544,20 @@ DFS_Finalize(aiori_mod_opt_t *options)
 
 	rc = daos_fini();
         DCHECK(rc, "Failed to finalize DAOS");
+
+        /** reset tunables */
+	o->pool		= NULL;
+	o->svcl		= NULL;
+	o->group		= NULL;
+	o->cont		= NULL;
+	o->chunk_size	= 1048576;
+	o->oclass	= NULL;
+	o->dir_oclass	= NULL;
+	o->prefix	= NULL;
+	o->destroy	= 0;
+	objectClass	= OC_SX;
+	dir_oclass	= OC_SX;
+	dfs_init	= false;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/ior.c b/src/ior.c
index 0199f3f..612d602 100755
--- a/src/ior.c
+++ b/src/ior.c
@@ -1637,6 +1637,8 @@ static void ValidateTests(IOR_param_t * test)
             && (strcasecmp(test->api, "MPIIO") != 0)
             && (strcasecmp(test->api, "MMAP") != 0)
             && (strcasecmp(test->api, "HDFS") != 0)
+            && (strcasecmp(test->api, "DFS") != 0)
+            && (strcasecmp(test->api, "DAOS") != 0)
             && (strcasecmp(test->api, "Gfarm") != 0)
             && (strcasecmp(test->api, "RADOS") != 0)
             && (strcasecmp(test->api, "CEPHFS") != 0)) && test->fsync)
diff --git a/src/mdtest.c b/src/mdtest.c
index 3152f33..5488834 100644
--- a/src/mdtest.c
+++ b/src/mdtest.c
@@ -627,8 +627,8 @@ void mdtest_read(int random, int dirs, const long dir_iter, char *path) {
 
     /* allocate read buffer */
     if (read_bytes > 0) {
-        read_buffer = (char *)malloc(read_bytes);
-        if (read_buffer == NULL) {
+        int alloc_res = posix_memalign((void**)&read_buffer, sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE), read_bytes);
+        if (alloc_res) {
             FAIL("out of memory");
         }
 
@@ -2125,8 +2125,8 @@ mdtest_results_t * mdtest_run(int argc, char **argv, MPI_Comm world_com, FILE *
 
     /* allocate and initialize write buffer with # */
     if (write_bytes > 0) {
-        write_buffer = (char *)malloc(write_bytes);
-        if (write_buffer == NULL) {
+        int alloc_res = posix_memalign((void**)&write_buffer, sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE), write_bytes);
+        if (alloc_res) {
             FAIL("out of memory");
         }
         generate_memory_pattern(write_buffer, write_bytes);