diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFMetadataLocation.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFMetadataLocation.java
index 2269f9fa90c..13fe970184a 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFMetadataLocation.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFMetadataLocation.java
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ class PFMetadataLocation implements PFPersistenceLocation {
 	
 	public PFPersistenceLocation[] getChildren() {
 		File[] members = _baseFolder.listFiles();
+		if (members == null)  members = new File[0];
 		List children = new ArrayList(members.length);
 		for (int i = 0; i < members.length; i++) {
 			File member = members[i];
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ class PFMetadataLocation implements PFPersistenceLocation {
 	
 	public void keepChildren(Set keepSet) {
 		File[] children = _baseFolder.listFiles();
+		if (children == null) children = new File[0];
 		for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
 			File child = children[i];
 			if (!keepSet.contains(child.getName())) {
@@ -96,6 +98,7 @@ class PFMetadataLocation implements PFPersistenceLocation {
 	}
 	
 	public void setContents(InputStream stream) {
+		ensure();
 		OutputStream out = null;
 		try {
 			out = new FileOutputStream(getContentsFile());
@@ -130,14 +133,16 @@ class PFMetadataLocation implements PFPersistenceLocation {
 	 * @param file the file to delete.
 	 */
 	private void deleteFile(File file) {
-		if (file.isDirectory()) {
-			File[] children = file.listFiles();
-			for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
-				File child = children[i];
-				deleteFile(child);
+		if (file.exists()) {
+			if (file.isDirectory()) {
+				File[] children = file.listFiles();
+				for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
+					File child = children[i];
+					deleteFile(child);
+				}
 			}
+			file.delete();
 		}
-		file.delete();
 	}
 	
 	private File getContentsFile() {
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFPersistenceLocation.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFPersistenceLocation.java
index bc4be695353..32d1afb754f 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFPersistenceLocation.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.rse.core/src/org/eclipse/rse/internal/persistence/PFPersistenceLocation.java
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ interface PFPersistenceLocation {
 
 	/**
 	 * @return the locations of the children of this location. It is possible
-	 * for a location to have both contents and children.
+	 * for a location to have both contents and children. Since this location
+	 * is a handle it may not exist, in which case this returns an empty array.
 	 */
 	PFPersistenceLocation[] getChildren();
 	
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ interface PFPersistenceLocation {
 	/**
 	 * Keeps only those children from this location that are in the keep set.
 	 * Typically used to clean renamed nodes from the tree on a save operation.
+	 * If the location does not yet exist, this does nothing.
 	 * @param keepSet The names of the children that should be kept. Others are discarded.
 	 */
 	void keepChildren(Set keepSet);
@@ -70,6 +72,7 @@ interface PFPersistenceLocation {
 	/**
 	 * Sets the contents of this location to a particular stream.
 	 * Implementations must close this stream when finished.
+	 * This forces the location to come into existence if it does not already exist.
 	 * @param stream the stream from which to read the new contents of this location.
 	 */
 	void setContents(InputStream stream);
@@ -77,6 +80,7 @@ interface PFPersistenceLocation {
 	/**
 	 * Returns an open stream which can be read to retrieve the contents of this
 	 * location. The client is responsible for closing this stream.
+	 * If the location does not yet exist this will return null and log the attempt.
 	 * @return a stream that will retrieve the contents of this location.
 	 */
 	InputStream getContents();