diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/state/metadata/MetadataState.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/state/metadata/MetadataState.kt
index 33ded649e..4c39569e7 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/state/metadata/MetadataState.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/state/metadata/MetadataState.kt
@@ -417,9 +417,15 @@ class MetadataUtils {
 
 			return N5TreeNode.flattenN5Tree(metadataRoot)
 				.asSequence()
-				.filter { node: N5TreeNode -> (node.path == dataset || node.nodeName == dataset) && metadataIsValid(node.metadata) }
+				.filter { node: N5TreeNode ->
+					println("\t\tdataset:$dataset path:${node.path} name:${node.nodeName} ${metadataIsValid(node.metadata)}")
+					(node.path == dataset || node.nodeName == dataset) && metadataIsValid(node.metadata)
+				}
 				.map { obj: N5TreeNode -> obj.metadata }
-				.map { md: N5Metadata -> createMetadataState(n5ContainerState, md) }
+				.map { md: N5Metadata -> createMetadataState(n5ContainerState, md) ?: let{
+					println("null metadatastate: $md")
+					null
+				}}
 				.firstOrNull()
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/data/n5/CommitCanvasN5Test.kt b/src/test/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/data/n5/CommitCanvasN5Test.kt
index 391c27912..21a7a65c2 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/data/n5/CommitCanvasN5Test.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/paintera/data/n5/CommitCanvasN5Test.kt
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class CommitCanvasN5Test {
 		"single-scale-uint64",
 		DataType.UINT64,
 		{ n5, dataset -> N5Utils.open(n5, dataset) },
-		{ c: UnsignedLongType, l: UnsignedLongType -> assertEquals(if (isInvalid(c)) 0 else c.integerLong, l.integerLong) }, HashMap()
+		{ c: UnsignedLongType, l: UnsignedLongType -> assertEquals(if (isInvalid(c)) 0 else c.integerLong, l.integerLong) }
 	)
 
 	@Test
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class CommitCanvasN5Test {
 		"multi-scale-uint64",
 		DataType.UINT64,
 		{ n5, dataset -> N5Utils.open(n5, dataset) },
-		{ c: UnsignedLongType, l: UnsignedLongType -> assertEquals(if (isInvalid(c)) 0 else c.integerLong, l.integerLong) }, HashMap()
+		{ c: UnsignedLongType, l: UnsignedLongType -> assertEquals(if (isInvalid(c)) 0 else c.integerLong, l.integerLong) }
 	)
 
 	@Test
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class CommitCanvasN5Test {
 			dataType: DataType,
 			openLabels: (N5Reader, String) -> RandomAccessibleInterval<T>,
 			asserts: (UnsignedLongType, T) -> Unit,
-			additionalAttributes: Map<String, Any>,
+			additionalAttributes: Map<String, Any> = emptyMap(),
 			vararg scaleFactors: IntArray
 		) {
 			val (canvas, container) = canvasAndContainer
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ class CommitCanvasN5Test {
 			dataType: DataType,
 			openLabels: (N5Reader, String) -> RandomAccessibleInterval<T>,
 			asserts: (UnsignedLongType, T) -> Unit,
-			additionalAttributes: Map<String, Any>
+			additionalAttributes: Map<String, Any> = emptyMap()
 		) {
 			val (canvas, container) = canvasAndContainer
 			val s0 = container.writer!!.run {