diff --git a/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.cpp b/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.cpp
index 39eda62188..78a2bbfd1d 100644
--- a/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.cpp
+++ b/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 #include <folly/logging/xlog.h>
 
+#include "eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksException.h"
+
 using folly::StringPiece;
 using rocksdb::ColumnFamilyDescriptor;
 using rocksdb::ColumnFamilyHandle;
@@ -26,6 +28,10 @@ namespace facebook {
 namespace eden {
 
 RocksHandles::~RocksHandles() {
+  close();
+}
+
+void RocksHandles::close() {
   // MUST destroy the column handles first
   columns.clear();
   db.reset();
@@ -33,33 +39,12 @@ RocksHandles::~RocksHandles() {
 
 RocksHandles::RocksHandles(
     StringPiece dbPath,
+    const Options& options,
     const std::vector<ColumnFamilyDescriptor>& columnDescriptors) {
   auto dbPathStr = dbPath.str();
-
-  Options options;
-  // Optimize RocksDB. This is the easiest way to get RocksDB to perform well.
-  options.IncreaseParallelism();
-
-  // Create the DB if it's not already present.
-  options.create_if_missing = true;
-  // Automatically create column families as we define new ones.
-  options.create_missing_column_families = true;
-
-  // If we wanted we could set options.info_log to control where RocksDB
-  // log messages get sent.  By default they are written to a file named "LOG"
-  // in the DB directory.
-  // options.info_log = make_shared<CustomLogger>(InfoLogLevel::INFO_LEVEL);
-
   DB* dbRaw;
-  columns.reserve(columnDescriptors.size());
-
   std::vector<ColumnFamilyHandle*> columnHandles;
 
-  auto openDB = [&] {
-    return DB::Open(
-        options, dbPathStr, columnDescriptors, &columnHandles, &dbRaw);
-  };
-
   // This will create any newly defined column families automatically,
   // so we needn't make any special migration steps here; just define
   // a new family and start to use it.
@@ -67,36 +52,17 @@ RocksHandles::RocksHandles(
   // and shout at us for not opening up the database with them defined.
   // We will need to do "something smarter" if we ever decide to perform
   // that kind of a migration.
-  auto status = openDB();
+  auto status =
+      DB::Open(options, dbPathStr, columnDescriptors, &columnHandles, &dbRaw);
   if (!status.ok()) {
     XLOG(ERR) << "Error opening RocksDB storage at " << dbPathStr << ": "
               << status.ToString();
-    XLOG(ERR) << "Attempting to repair RocksDB " << dbPathStr;
-
-    rocksdb::ColumnFamilyOptions unknownColumFamilyOptions;
-    unknownColumFamilyOptions.OptimizeForPointLookup(8);
-    unknownColumFamilyOptions.OptimizeLevelStyleCompaction();
-
-    DBOptions dbOptions(options);
-    status = RepairDB(
-        dbPathStr, dbOptions, columnDescriptors, unknownColumFamilyOptions);
-    if (!status.ok()) {
-      throw std::runtime_error(folly::to<string>(
-          "Unable to repair RocksDB at ", dbPathStr, ": ", status.ToString()));
-    }
-
-    columnHandles.clear();
-    status = openDB();
-    if (!status.ok()) {
-      throw std::runtime_error(folly::to<string>(
-          "Failed to open RocksDB at ",
-          dbPathStr,
-          " after repair attempt: ",
-          status.ToString()));
-    }
+    throw RocksException::build(
+        status, "error opening RocksDB storage at", dbPathStr);
   }
 
   db.reset(dbRaw);
+  columns.reserve(columnHandles.size());
   for (auto h : columnHandles) {
     columns.emplace_back(h);
   }
diff --git a/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.h b/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.h
index 018bf4110f..b44165fa96 100644
--- a/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.h
+++ b/eden/fs/rocksdb/RocksHandles.h
@@ -48,12 +48,10 @@ struct RocksHandles {
    */
   RocksHandles(
       folly::StringPiece dbPath,
+      const rocksdb::Options& options,
       const std::vector<rocksdb::ColumnFamilyDescriptor>& columnDescriptors);
 
-  RocksHandles(const RocksHandles&) = delete;
-  RocksHandles& operator=(const RocksHandles&) = delete;
-  RocksHandles(RocksHandles&&) = default;
-  RocksHandles& operator=(RocksHandles&&) = default;
+  void close();
 };
 } // namespace eden
 } // namespace facebook
diff --git a/eden/fs/store/RocksDbLocalStore.cpp b/eden/fs/store/RocksDbLocalStore.cpp
index 2be43e7932..7fc623c190 100644
--- a/eden/fs/store/RocksDbLocalStore.cpp
+++ b/eden/fs/store/RocksDbLocalStore.cpp
@@ -178,6 +178,52 @@ void RocksDbWriteBatch::put(
   flushIfNeeded();
 }
 
+rocksdb::Options getRocksdbOptions() {
+  rocksdb::Options options;
+  // Optimize RocksDB. This is the easiest way to get RocksDB to perform well.
+  options.IncreaseParallelism();
+
+  // Create the DB if it's not already present.
+  options.create_if_missing = true;
+  // Automatically create column families as we define new ones.
+  options.create_missing_column_families = true;
+
+  return options;
+}
+
+void repairDB(AbsolutePathPiece path) {
+  XLOG(ERR) << "Attempting to repair RocksDB " << path;
+  rocksdb::ColumnFamilyOptions unknownColumFamilyOptions;
+  unknownColumFamilyOptions.OptimizeForPointLookup(8);
+  unknownColumFamilyOptions.OptimizeLevelStyleCompaction();
+
+  const auto& columnDescriptors = columnFamilies();
+
+  auto dbPathStr = path.stringPiece().str();
+  rocksdb::DBOptions dbOptions(getRocksdbOptions());
+  auto status = RepairDB(
+      dbPathStr, dbOptions, columnDescriptors, unknownColumFamilyOptions);
+  if (!status.ok()) {
+    throw RocksException::build(status, "unable to repair RocksDB at ", path);
+  }
+}
+
+RocksHandles openDB(AbsolutePathPiece path) {
+  auto options = getRocksdbOptions();
+  try {
+    return RocksHandles(path.stringPiece(), options, columnFamilies());
+  } catch (const RocksException& ex) {
+    XLOG(ERR) << "Error opening RocksDB storage at " << path << ": "
+              << ex.what();
+    // Fall through and attempt to repair the DB
+  }
+
+  repairDB(path);
+
+  // Now try opening the DB again.
+  return RocksHandles(path.stringPiece(), options, columnFamilies());
+}
+
 } // namespace
 
 namespace facebook {
@@ -189,9 +235,8 @@ RocksDbLocalStore::RocksDbLocalStore(
     std::shared_ptr<ReloadableConfig> config)
     : LocalStore(std::move(config)),
       faultInjector_(*faultInjector),
-      dbHandles_(pathToRocksDb.stringPiece(), columnFamilies()),
-      ioPool_(12, "RocksLocalStore") {
-}
+      dbHandles_(openDB(pathToRocksDb)),
+      ioPool_(12, "RocksLocalStore") {}
 
 RocksDbLocalStore::~RocksDbLocalStore() {
 #ifdef FOLLY_SANITIZE_ADDRESS
@@ -209,8 +254,7 @@ RocksDbLocalStore::~RocksDbLocalStore() {
 }
 
 void RocksDbLocalStore::close() {
-  dbHandles_.columns.clear();
-  dbHandles_.db.reset();
+  dbHandles_.close();
 }
 
 void RocksDbLocalStore::clearKeySpace(KeySpace keySpace) {