diff --git a/src/core/components/dag.js b/src/core/components/dag.js
index 5521591834..5b33ee8214 100644
--- a/src/core/components/dag.js
+++ b/src/core/components/dag.js
@@ -50,7 +50,14 @@ module.exports = function dag (self) {
 
       if (typeof options === 'function') {
         callback = options
-        options = {}
+
+        // Allow options in path position
+        if (typeof path !== 'string') {
+          options = path
+          path = null
+        } else {
+          options = {}
+        }
       }
 
       options = options || {}
@@ -156,7 +163,7 @@ module.exports = function dag (self) {
         if (err) { return callback(err) }
 
         mapAsync(res.value.links, (link, cb) => {
-          self.dag._getRecursive(link.multihash, cb)
+          self.dag._getRecursive(link.multihash, options, cb)
         }, (err, nodes) => {
           // console.log('nodes:', nodes)
           if (err) return callback(err)
diff --git a/src/core/components/files.js b/src/core/components/files.js
index d6f6d889a2..f13f42ae43 100644
--- a/src/core/components/files.js
+++ b/src/core/components/files.js
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ function prepareFile (self, opts, file, callback) {
   waterfall([
     (cb) => opts.onlyHash
       ? cb(null, file)
-      : self.object.get(file.multihash, opts, cb),
+      : self.object.get(file.multihash, Object.assign({}, opts, { preload: false }), cb),
     (node, cb) => {
       const b58Hash = cid.toBaseEncodedString()
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ function pinFile (self, opts, file, cb) {
   const isRootDir = !file.path.includes('/')
   const shouldPin = pin && isRootDir && !opts.onlyHash && !opts.hashAlg
   if (shouldPin) {
-    return self.pin.add(file.hash, err => cb(err, file))
+    return self.pin.add(file.hash, { preload: false }, err => cb(err, file))
   } else {
     cb(null, file)
   }
diff --git a/src/core/components/object.js b/src/core/components/object.js
index c0a3a82551..41ad06f1cd 100644
--- a/src/core/components/object.js
+++ b/src/core/components/object.js
@@ -206,11 +206,7 @@ module.exports = function object (self) {
             return callback(err)
           }
 
-          if (options.preload !== false) {
-            self._preload(cid)
-          }
-
-          self.object.get(node.multihash, callback)
+          self.object.get(node.multihash, { preload: options.preload }, callback)
         })
       }
     }),
diff --git a/src/core/components/pin.js b/src/core/components/pin.js
index 1b231a86fd..39e8765ca0 100644
--- a/src/core/components/pin.js
+++ b/src/core/components/pin.js
@@ -119,9 +119,11 @@ module.exports = (self) => {
     add: promisify((paths, options, callback) => {
       if (typeof options === 'function') {
         callback = options
-        options = null
+        options = {}
       }
-      const recursive = options ? options.recursive : true
+      options = options || {}
+
+      const recursive = options.recursive == null ? true : options.recursive
 
       resolvePath(self.object, paths, (err, mhs) => {
         if (err) { return callback(err) }
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ module.exports = (self) => {
 
             // entire graph of nested links should be pinned,
             // so make sure we have all the objects
-            dag._getRecursive(key, (err) => {
+            dag._getRecursive(key, { preload: options.preload }, (err) => {
               if (err) { return cb(err) }
               // found all objects, we can add the pin
               return cb(null, key)
@@ -153,7 +155,7 @@ module.exports = (self) => {
             }
 
             // make sure we have the object
-            dag.get(new CID(multihash), (err) => {
+            dag.get(new CID(multihash), { preload: options.preload }, (err) => {
               if (err) { return cb(err) }
               // found the object, we can add the pin
               return cb(null, key)
diff --git a/test/core/preload.spec.js b/test/core/preload.spec.js
index 1f44814876..37528b81fe 100644
--- a/test/core/preload.spec.js
+++ b/test/core/preload.spec.js
@@ -141,9 +141,14 @@ describe('preload', () => {
       const wrappingDir = res.find(file => file.path === '')
       expect(wrappingDir).to.exist()
 
-      ipfs.ls(wrappingDir.hash, (err) => {
+      // Adding these files with have preloaded wrappingDir.hash, clear it out
+      MockPreloadNode.clearPreloadCids((err) => {
         expect(err).to.not.exist()
-        MockPreloadNode.waitForCids(wrappingDir.hash, done)
+
+        ipfs.ls(wrappingDir.hash, (err) => {
+          expect(err).to.not.exist()
+          MockPreloadNode.waitForCids(wrappingDir.hash, done)
+        })
       })
     })
   })
diff --git a/test/utils/mock-preload-node.js b/test/utils/mock-preload-node.js
index 795413a31d..713db9db22 100644
--- a/test/utils/mock-preload-node.js
+++ b/test/utils/mock-preload-node.js
@@ -142,7 +142,22 @@ module.exports.waitForCids = (cids, opts, cb) => {
     getPreloadCids(opts.addr, (err, preloadCids) => {
       if (err) return cb(err)
 
-      if (cids.every(cid => preloadCids.includes(cid))) {
+      // See if our cached preloadCids includes all the cids we're looking for.
+      const { missing, duplicates } = cids.reduce((results, cid) => {
+        const count = preloadCids.filter(preloadedCid => preloadedCid === cid).length
+        if (count === 0) {
+          results.missing.push(cid)
+        } else if (count > 1) {
+          results.duplicates.push(cid)
+        }
+        return results
+      }, { missing: [], duplicates: [] })
+
+      if (duplicates.length) {
+        return cb(errCode(new Error(`Multiple occurances of ${duplicates} found`), 'ERR_DUPLICATE'))
+      }
+
+      if (missing.length === 0) {
         return cb()
       }