diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
index 1431d0f..a027570 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
@@ -149,7 +149,8 @@
         IIndexDataflowHelperFactory dataflowHelperFactory = new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory();
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, btreeSplitProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true, dataflowHelperFactory,
+                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         JobHelper.createPartitionConstraint(spec, btreeBulkLoad, splitNCs);
 
         // distribute the records from the datagen via hashing to the bulk load
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
index b484f85..805660f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
@@ -141,7 +141,8 @@
         IFileSplitProvider btreeSplitProvider = JobHelper.createFileSplitProvider(splitNCs, options.secondaryBTreeName);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, btreeSplitProvider, secondaryTypeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true, dataflowHelperFactory,
+                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         JobHelper.createPartitionConstraint(spec, btreeBulkLoad, splitNCs);
 
         // connect the ops
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
index a93c199..eec7225 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor primaryBtreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, primarySplitProvider, primaryTypeTraits, primaryComparatorFactories,
-                primaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, dataflowHelperFactory,
+                primaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, true, dataflowHelperFactory,
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, primaryBtreeBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 3, 0 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor secondaryBtreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, secondarySplitProvider, secondaryTypeTraits,
-                secondaryComparatorFactories, secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L,
+                secondaryComparatorFactories, secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, true,
                 dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, secondaryBtreeBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java
index 8bb698a..1bd22d7 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java
@@ -203,8 +203,8 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 0, 1 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor primaryBtreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, primaryFileSplitProvider, primaryTypeTraits,
-                primaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, btreeDataflowHelperFactory,
-                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                primaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, true,
+                btreeDataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, primaryBtreeBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
         return primaryBtreeBulkLoad;
     }
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@
 
     private IOperatorDescriptor createInvertedIndexBulkLoadOp(JobSpecification spec, int[] fieldPermutation) {
         LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor invIndexBulkLoadOp = new LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(
-                spec, fieldPermutation, true, 1000L, storageManager, btreeFileSplitProvider, lcManagerProvider,
+                spec, fieldPermutation, true, 1000L, true, storageManager, btreeFileSplitProvider, lcManagerProvider,
                 tokenTypeTraits, tokenComparatorFactories, invListsTypeTraits, invListsComparatorFactories,
                 tokenizerFactory, invertedIndexDataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, invIndexBulkLoadOp, NC1_ID);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
index 00296a5..d1c682c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor primaryBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, primarySplitProvider, primaryTypeTraits, primaryComparatorFactories,
-                null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, btreeDataflowHelperFactory,
+                null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true, btreeDataflowHelperFactory,
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, primaryBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
@@ -280,8 +280,8 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor secondaryBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, secondarySplitProvider, secondaryTypeTraits,
-                secondaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, rtreeDataflowHelperFactory,
-                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                secondaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true,
+                rtreeDataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, secondaryBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
         spec.connect(new OneToOneConnectorDescriptor(spec), keyProviderOp, 0, primarySearchOp, 0);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java
index 7c29fc9..25d7b22 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java
@@ -934,8 +934,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         try {
             return new BTreeBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java
index 074ae7c..2ee5e75 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java
@@ -119,6 +119,6 @@
      * @param verifyInput
      * @throws IndexException
      */
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException;
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException;
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
index 0504a94..a0f9d8e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
     private final float fillFactor;
     private final boolean verifyInput;
     private final long numElementsHint;
+    private final boolean checkIfEmptyIndex;
     private final IIndexDataflowHelper indexHelper;
     private FrameTupleAccessor accessor;
     private IIndex index;
@@ -43,13 +44,14 @@
 
     public IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable(IIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc, IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition,
             int[] fieldPermutation, float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
-            IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider) {
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex, IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider) {
         this.opDesc = opDesc;
         this.ctx = ctx;
         this.indexHelper = opDesc.getIndexDataflowHelperFactory().createIndexDataflowHelper(opDesc, ctx, partition);
         this.fillFactor = fillFactor;
         this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
         this.numElementsHint = numElementsHint;
+        this.checkIfEmptyIndex = checkIfEmptyIndex;
         this.recDescProvider = recordDescProvider;
         tuple.setFieldPermutation(fieldPermutation);
     }
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@
         indexHelper.open();
         index = indexHelper.getIndexInstance();
         try {
-            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             indexHelper.close();
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
index 09cdd68..a58e9e8 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
@@ -36,12 +36,13 @@
     private final float fillFactor;
     private final boolean verifyInput;
     private final long numElementsHint;
+    private final boolean checkIfEmptyIndex;
 
     public TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(IOperatorDescriptorRegistry spec,
             IStorageManagerInterface storageManager, IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider,
             IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, int[] fieldPermutation,
-            float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex,
             IIndexDataflowHelperFactory dataflowHelperFactory,
             IModificationOperationCallbackFactory modificationOpCallbackFactory) {
         super(spec, 1, 0, null, storageManager, lifecycleManagerProvider, fileSplitProvider, typeTraits,
@@ -52,12 +53,13 @@
         this.fillFactor = fillFactor;
         this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
         this.numElementsHint = numElementsHint;
+        this.checkIfEmptyIndex = checkIfEmptyIndex;
     }
 
     @Override
     public IOperatorNodePushable createPushRuntime(IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
             IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, int partition, int nPartitions) {
         return new IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable(this, ctx, partition, fieldPermutation, fillFactor, verifyInput,
-                numElementsHint, recordDescProvider);
+                numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex, recordDescProvider);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
index 49fe35d..6808b39 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@
 
         LSMBTreeImmutableComponent component = createDiskComponent(componentFactory, flushOp.getBTreeFlushTarget(),
                 flushOp.getBloomFilterFlushTarget(), true);
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = component.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = component.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements, false);
         IIndexBulkLoader builder = component.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numElements,
                 bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
 
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@
         LSMBTreeImmutableComponent mergedComponent = createDiskComponent(componentFactory,
                 mergeOp.getBTreeMergeTarget(), mergeOp.getBloomFilterMergeTarget(), true);
 
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements, false);
         IIndexBulkLoader builder = mergedComponent.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numElements,
                 bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
         try {
@@ -465,10 +465,10 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         try {
-            return new LSMBTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            return new LSMBTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new TreeIndexException(e);
         }
@@ -501,9 +501,9 @@
         private final IIndexBulkLoader builder;
         private boolean endHasBeenCalled = false;
 
-        public LSMBTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
+        public LSMBTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex)
                 throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
-            if (!isEmptyIndex()) {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
                 throw new TreeIndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
             }
             try {
@@ -514,7 +514,7 @@
                 throw new TreeIndexException(e);
             }
             bulkLoader = (BTreeBulkLoader) ((LSMBTreeImmutableComponent) component).getBTree().createBulkLoader(
-                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, false);
 
             int maxBucketsPerElement = BloomCalculations.maxBucketsPerElement(numElementsHint);
             BloomFilterSpecification bloomFilterSpec = BloomCalculations.computeBloomSpec(maxBucketsPerElement,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
index 425af8d..1c4235c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
@@ -38,13 +38,15 @@
     private final int[] fieldPermutation;
     private final boolean verifyInput;
     private final long numElementsHint;
+    private final boolean checkIfEmptyIndex;
 
     public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(IOperatorDescriptorRegistry spec, int[] fieldPermutation,
-            boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, IStorageManagerInterface storageManager,
-            IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider, IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenComparatorFactories,
-            ITypeTraits[] invListsTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListComparatorFactories,
-            IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, IIndexDataflowHelperFactory invertedIndexDataflowHelperFactory,
+            boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex,
+            IStorageManagerInterface storageManager, IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider,
+            IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenComparatorFactories, ITypeTraits[] invListsTypeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListComparatorFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
+            IIndexDataflowHelperFactory invertedIndexDataflowHelperFactory,
             IModificationOperationCallbackFactory modificationOpCallbackFactory) {
         super(spec, 1, 0, null, storageManager, fileSplitProvider, lifecycleManagerProvider, tokenTypeTraits,
                 tokenComparatorFactories, invListsTypeTraits, invListComparatorFactories, tokenizerFactory,
@@ -53,12 +55,13 @@
         this.fieldPermutation = fieldPermutation;
         this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
         this.numElementsHint = numElementsHint;
+        this.checkIfEmptyIndex = checkIfEmptyIndex;
     }
 
     @Override
     public IOperatorNodePushable createPushRuntime(IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
             IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, int partition, int nPartitions) {
         return new IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable(this, ctx, partition, fieldPermutation, 1.0f, verifyInput,
-                numElementsHint, recordDescProvider);
+                numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex, recordDescProvider);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
index 8a941fe..ea1d297 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@
         memBTreeAccessor.search(scanCursor, nullPred);
 
         // Bulk load the disk inverted index from the in-memory inverted index.
-        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = diskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = diskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
         try {
             while (scanCursor.hasNext()) {
                 scanCursor.next();
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@
             deletedKeysBTreeAccessor.search(deletedKeysScanCursor, nullPred);
 
             // Bulk load the deleted-keys BTree.
-            IIndexBulkLoader deletedKeysBTreeBulkLoader = diskDeletedKeysBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+            IIndexBulkLoader deletedKeysBTreeBulkLoader = diskDeletedKeysBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
             IIndexBulkLoader builder = component.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numBTreeTuples,
                     bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
 
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@
 
         IInvertedIndex mergedDiskInvertedIndex = component.getInvIndex();
         IIndexCursor cursor = mergeOp.getCursor();
-        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = mergedDiskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, true, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = mergedDiskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, true, 0L, false);
         try {
             while (cursor.hasNext()) {
                 cursor.next();
@@ -559,10 +559,10 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException {
         try {
-            return new LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            return new LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new IndexException(e);
         }
@@ -577,9 +577,9 @@
         private final IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader;
         private boolean exceptionCaught = false;
 
-        public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-                throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
-            if (!isEmptyIndex()) {
+        public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+                boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
                 throw new IndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
             }
             // Note that by using a flush target file name, we state that the
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@
                 throw new IndexException(e);
             }
             invIndexBulkLoader = ((LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent) component).getInvIndex().createBulkLoader(
-                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, false);
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
index 068031d..91d6702 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
@@ -188,8 +188,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Bulk load not supported by in-memory inverted index.");
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
index 5f75f8d..82aac60 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@
         private final MultiComparator allCmp;
 
         public OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoader(float btreeFillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
-                int startPageId, int fileId) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
+                boolean checkIfEmptyIndex, int startPageId, int fileId) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
             this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
             this.tokenCmp = MultiComparator.create(btree.getComparatorFactories());
             this.invListCmp = MultiComparator.create(invListCmpFactories);
@@ -316,7 +316,8 @@
             this.btreeTupleReference = new ArrayTupleReference();
             this.lastTupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(numTokenFields + numInvListKeys);
             this.lastTuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
-            this.btreeBulkloader = btree.createBulkLoader(btreeFillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            this.btreeBulkloader = btree.createBulkLoader(btreeFillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint,
+                    checkIfEmptyIndex);
             currentPageId = startPageId;
             currentPage = bufferCache.pin(BufferedFileHandle.getDiskPageId(fileId, currentPageId), true);
             currentPage.acquireWriteLatch();
@@ -563,10 +564,11 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException {
         try {
-            return new OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, rootPageId, fileId);
+            return new OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex,
+                    rootPageId, fileId);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new InvertedIndexException(e);
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java
index 81b1ada..51efbf4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@
         if (!isEmpty) {
             rTreeTupleSorter.sort();
 
-            rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+            rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
             cursor = rTreeTupleSorter;
 
             try {
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@
             BTree diskBTree = component.getBTree();
 
             // BulkLoad the tuples from the in-memory tree into the new disk BTree.
-            IIndexBulkLoader bTreeBulkloader = diskBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numBTreeTuples);
+            IIndexBulkLoader bTreeBulkloader = diskBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numBTreeTuples, false);
             IIndexBulkLoader builder = component.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numBTreeTuples,
                     bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
             // scan the memory BTree
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@
 
         LSMRTreeImmutableComponent mergedComponent = createDiskComponent(componentFactory,
                 mergeOp.getRTreeMergeTarget(), mergeOp.getBTreeMergeTarget(), mergeOp.getBloomFilterMergeTarget(), true);
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getRTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getRTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
 
         try {
             while (cursor.hasNext()) {
@@ -400,10 +400,10 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         try {
-            return new LSMRTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            return new LSMRTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new TreeIndexException(e);
         }
@@ -413,9 +413,9 @@
         private final ILSMComponent component;
         private final IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader;
 
-        public LSMRTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
+        public LSMRTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex)
                 throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
-            if (!isEmptyIndex()) {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
                 throw new TreeIndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
             }
             // Note that by using a flush target file name, we state that the
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@
                 throw new TreeIndexException(e);
             }
             bulkLoader = ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput,
-                    numElementsHint);
+                    numElementsHint, false);
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java
index 54072d1..4a61481 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@
             bTreeTupleSorter.sort();
         }
 
-        IIndexBulkLoader rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
         LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFlushCursor cursor = new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFlushCursor(rTreeTupleSorter,
                 bTreeTupleSorter, comparatorFields, linearizerArray);
         cursor.open(null, null);
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@
         LSMRTreeImmutableComponent component = createDiskComponent(componentFactory, mergeOp.getRTreeMergeTarget(),
                 null, null, true);
         RTree mergedRTree = component.getRTree();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = mergedRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = mergedRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
         try {
             while (cursor.hasNext()) {
                 cursor.next();
@@ -363,10 +363,11 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         try {
-            return new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            return new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint,
+                    checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new TreeIndexException(e);
         }
@@ -382,9 +383,9 @@
         private final ILSMComponent component;
         private final IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader;
 
-        public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-                throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
-            if (!isEmptyIndex()) {
+        public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+                boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
                 throw new TreeIndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
             }
             // Note that by using a flush target file name, we state that the
@@ -397,7 +398,7 @@
                 throw new TreeIndexException(e);
             }
             bulkLoader = ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput,
-                    numElementsHint);
+                    numElementsHint, false);
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java
index 5454832..528c004 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java
@@ -860,8 +860,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         // TODO: verifyInput currently does nothing.
         try {
             return new RTreeBulkLoader(fillFactor);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
index 5b8f7d9..eafeff2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@
             LOGGER.info("Bulk loading " + ins + " tuples");
         }
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, ins);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, ins, true);
         ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         for (int i = 0; i < ins; i++) {
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@
             treeIndex.activate();
 
             // Load sorted records, and expect to fail at tuple i.
-            IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, true, ins);
+            IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, true, ins, true);
             for (int j = 0; j < ins; j++) {
                 if (j > i) {
                     fail("Bulk load failure test unexpectedly succeeded past tuple: " + j);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java
index 852a0b6..3f1ff5d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         // Perform bulk load.
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = ctx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numTuples);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = ctx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numTuples, true);
         int c = 1;
         for (CheckTuple checkTuple : checkTuples) {
             if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
index 50ff154..44ab0d9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@
             LOGGER.info("Bulk loading " + numInserts + " tuples");
         }
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numInserts);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numInserts, true);
         ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
index 33df370..907bd10 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@
                 // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
                 index.deactivate();
                 index.activate();
-                
+
                 insertIntTupleRange(50, 100);
                 insertIntTupleRange(301, 350);
                 int tupleTobeDeletedValue = 151;
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid range: [" + begin + ", " + end + "]");
             }
 
-            IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = index.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, end - begin);
+            IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = index.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, end - begin, true);
             for (int i = begin; i <= end; i++) {
                 TupleUtils.createIntegerTuple(builder, tuple, i);
                 bulkloader.add(tuple);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java
index d364955..52cbddb 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     public long runExperiment(DataGenThread dataGen, int numThreads) throws Exception {
         btree.create();
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = btree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = btree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, true);
         for (int i = 0; i < numBatches; i++) {
             TupleBatch batch = dataGen.tupleBatchQueue.take();
             for (int j = 0; j < batch.size(); j++) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
index a1fe8d4..c4e1ac5 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = testCtx.getFieldSerdes();
 
         // Use the expected index to bulk-load the actual index.
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = testCtx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numDocs);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = testCtx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numDocs, true);
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(testCtx.getFieldSerdes().length);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         Iterator<CheckTuple> checkTupleIter = tmpMemIndex.iterator();
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java
index fcdf654..dacb432 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@
         typeTraits[1] = new TypeTraits(false);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManagerInterface, lcManagerProvider, fileSplitProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory(),
+                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, false, new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory(),
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         ClusterConfig.setLocationConstraint(spec, btreeBulkLoad);
 
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java
index 24a96a3..4c7f91d 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@
             typeTraits[i] = new TypeTraits(false);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor writer = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManagerInterface, lcManagerProvider, fileSplitProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory(),
+                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, false, new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory(),
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, writer, NC1_ID, NC2_ID);
 
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
index 208d41c..e3d89d5 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
         treeIndexOpHelper.open();
         try {
             index = (ITreeIndex) treeIndexOpHelper.getIndexInstance();
-            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, false, 0);
+            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, false, 0, false);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             // cleanup in case of failure
             treeIndexOpHelper.close();