diff --git a/src/db/keyvalue-persisted.js b/src/db/keyvalue-persisted.js
index ac173b0..f84fd79 100644
--- a/src/db/keyvalue-persisted.js
+++ b/src/db/keyvalue-persisted.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Level } from 'level'
+import LevelStorage from '../storage/level.js'
 import PQueue from 'p-queue'
 
 const valueEncoding = 'json'
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ const KeyValuePersisted = async ({ KeyValue, OpLog, Database, ipfs, identity, da
   const queue = new PQueue({ concurrency: 1 })
 
   const path = `./${identity.id}/${databaseId}/_index`
-  const index = new Level(path, { valueEncoding })
-  await index.open()
+  const index = await LevelStorage({ path, valueEncoding: 'json' })
+  // await index.open()
 
   let latestOplogHash
 
diff --git a/src/identities/identities.js b/src/identities/identities.js
index 5a07718..c815125 100644
--- a/src/identities/identities.js
+++ b/src/identities/identities.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import Identity, { isIdentity, isEqual, decodeIdentity } from './identity.js'
 import OrbitDBIdentityProvider from './providers/orbitdb.js'
 // import DIDIdentityProvider from './identity-providers/did.js'
 // import EthIdentityProvider from './identity-providers/ethereum.js'
-import KeyStore from '../key-store.js'
+import * as KeyStore from '../key-store.js'
 import { LRUStorage, IPFSBlockStorage, MemoryStorage } from '../storage/index.js'
 import path from 'path'
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ const Identities = async ({ keystore, identityKeysPath, storage, ipfs } = {}) =>
 
     const { id, publicKey, signatures } = identity
 
-    const idSignatureVerified = await KeyStore.verify(signatures.id, publicKey, id)
+    const idSignatureVerified = await verify(signatures.id, publicKey, id)
     if (!idSignatureVerified) {
       return false
     }
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ const Identities = async ({ keystore, identityKeysPath, storage, ipfs } = {}) =>
   }
 
   const verify = async (signature, publicKey, data) => {
-    return KeyStore.verify(signature, publicKey, data)
+    return verify(signature, publicKey, data)
   }
 
   return {
diff --git a/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js b/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js
index 3664638..11f4a40 100644
--- a/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js
+++ b/src/identities/providers/orbitdb.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import IdentityProvider from './interface.js'
-import KeyStore from '../../key-store.js'
+import * as KeyStore from '../../key-store.js'
 
 const type = 'orbitdb'
 
diff --git a/src/key-store.js b/src/key-store.js
index a5e15c7..f181bd8 100644
--- a/src/key-store.js
+++ b/src/key-store.js
@@ -81,10 +81,10 @@ const verify = async (signature, publicKey, data) => {
 
 // const verifiedCache = new LRU(1000)
 
-const KeyStore = async ({ storage, cache }) => {
+const KeyStore = async ({ storage, cache } = {}) => {
   storage = storage || await LevelStorage()
   cache = cache || await LRUStorage()
-    
+
   const close = async () => {
     if (!storage) return
     await storage.close()
@@ -166,9 +166,6 @@ const KeyStore = async ({ storage, cache }) => {
     if (!id) {
       throw new Error('id needed to get a key')
     }
-    if (!storage) {
-      await open()
-    }
     if (storage.status && storage.status !== 'open') {
       return null
     }
diff --git a/test/db/keyvalue-persisted.js b/test/db/keyvalue-persisted.js
index 3ea0bf6..3ce2874 100644
--- a/test/db/keyvalue-persisted.js
+++ b/test/db/keyvalue-persisted.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { deepStrictEqual, strictEqual } from 'assert'
-import mapSeries from 'p-map-series'
 import rimraf from 'rimraf'
 import { Log, Entry } from '../../src/oplog/index.js'
 import { KeyValuePersisted, KeyValue, Database } from '../../src/db/index.js'
@@ -97,7 +96,7 @@ Object.keys(testAPIs).forEach((IPFS) => {
       const key = 'key1'
       const expected = 'value1'
 
-      const hash = await db.put(key, expected)
+      await db.put(key, expected)
       const actual = await db.get(key)
       strictEqual(actual, expected)
     })
diff --git a/test/fixtures/orbit-db-identity-keys.js b/test/fixtures/orbit-db-identity-keys.js
index b961b78..48421b2 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/orbit-db-identity-keys.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/orbit-db-identity-keys.js
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ const createTestIdentities = async (ipfs1, ipfs2) => {
   rmrf('./keys_1')
 
   const keystore = await KeyStore()
-  await keystore.open()
   for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(identityKeys)) {
     await keystore.addKey(key, value)
   }
diff --git a/test/key-store.test.js b/test/key-store.test.js
index 4a90173..9d00281 100644
--- a/test/key-store.test.js
+++ b/test/key-store.test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { strictEqual, deepStrictEqual } from 'assert'
 import LevelStorage from '../src/storage/level.js'
-import LRUStorage from '../src/storage/lru.js'
 import KeyStore, { sign, verify } from '../src/key-store.js'
 import { testAPIs } from 'orbit-db-test-utils'
 import path from 'path'
@@ -248,10 +247,10 @@ Object.keys(testAPIs).forEach((IPFS) => {
         }
       })
     })
-    
+
     describe('Verifying', async function () {
       let key, publicKey
-      
+
       beforeEach(async () => {
         key = await keystore.getKey('userA')
         publicKey = await keystore.getPublic(key)
@@ -280,6 +279,6 @@ Object.keys(testAPIs).forEach((IPFS) => {
         const verified = await verify(signature, publicKey, 'data data data')
         strictEqual(verified, false)
       })
-    })    
+    })
   })
 })