diff --git a/service/fs_utils.cc b/service/fs_utils.cc
index 22bcebae..0efa031a 100644
--- a/service/fs_utils.cc
+++ b/service/fs_utils.cc
@@ -63,39 +63,29 @@ static FsObjectInfo extractInfo(const struct stat & stats)
 
 struct LocalUrlFsHandler : public UrlFsHandler {
 
-    virtual FsObjectInfo getInfo(const Url & url) const
+    virtual FsObjectInfo getInfo(const Url & url)
+        const
     {
+        FsObjectInfo info;
+
         struct stat stats;
         string path = url.path();
 
         // cerr << "fs info on path: " + path + "\n";
         int res = ::stat(path.c_str(), &stats);
-        if (res == -1) {
-            if (errno == ENOENT) {
-                return FsObjectInfo();
+        if (res == 0) {
+            info = extractInfo(stats);
+        }
+        else {
+            if (errno != ENOENT) {
+                throw ML::Exception(errno, "stat");
             }
-            throw ML::Exception(errno, "stat");
         }
 
         // TODO: owner ID (uid) and name (uname)
-
-        return extractInfo(stats);
+        return info;
     }
 
-    virtual FsObjectInfo tryGetInfo(const Url & url) const
-    {
-        struct stat stats;
-        string path = url.path();
-
-        // cerr << "fs info on path: " + path + "\n";
-        int res = ::stat(path.c_str(), &stats);
-        if (res == -1) {
-            return FsObjectInfo();
-        }
-
-        return extractInfo(stats);
-    }
-    
     virtual void makeDirectory(const Url & url) const
     {
         boost::system::error_code ec;
@@ -217,9 +207,10 @@ namespace Datacratic {
 
 /* URLFSHANDLER */
 
-size_t
+int64_t
 UrlFsHandler::
-getSize(const Url & url) const
+getSize(const Url & url)
+    const
 {
     return getInfo(url).size;
 }
@@ -250,20 +241,22 @@ void registerUrlFsHandler(const std::string & scheme,
 }
 
 FsObjectInfo
-tryGetUriObjectInfo(const std::string & url)
+getUriObjectInfo(const std::string & url)
 {
-    Url realUrl = makeUrl(url);
-    return findFsHandler(realUrl.scheme())->tryGetInfo(realUrl);
+    FsObjectInfo info = tryGetUriObjectInfo(url);
+    if (!info) {
+        throw ML::Exception("object does not exist at: " + url);
+    }
 }
 
 FsObjectInfo
-getUriObjectInfo(const std::string & url)
+tryGetUriObjectInfo(const std::string & url)
 {
     Url realUrl = makeUrl(url);
     return findFsHandler(realUrl.scheme())->getInfo(realUrl);
 }
- 
-size_t
+
+int64_t
 getUriSize(const std::string & url)
 {
     Url realUrl = makeUrl(url);
diff --git a/service/fs_utils.h b/service/fs_utils.h
index e092d348..20226001 100644
--- a/service/fs_utils.h
+++ b/service/fs_utils.h
@@ -71,9 +71,8 @@ OnUriObject;
 
 struct UrlFsHandler {
     virtual FsObjectInfo getInfo(const Url & url) const = 0;
-    virtual FsObjectInfo tryGetInfo(const Url & url) const = 0;
 
-    virtual size_t getSize(const Url & url) const;
+    virtual int64_t getSize(const Url & url) const;
     virtual std::string getEtag(const Url & url) const;
 
     virtual void makeDirectory(const Url & url) const = 0;
@@ -98,18 +97,18 @@ void registerUrlFsHandler(const std::string & scheme,
 /* FREE FUNCTIONS                                                            */
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
-// Return the object info for either a file or an S3 object
-FsObjectInfo getUriObjectInfo(const std::string & filename);
+// Return the object info for the given url and throws if it does not exist
+FsObjectInfo getUriObjectInfo(const std::string & url);
 
-// Return the object info for either a file or an S3 object, or null if
-// it doesn't exist
-FsObjectInfo tryGetUriObjectInfo(const std::string & filename);
+// Return the object info for either a file or an S3 object or an empty
+// FsObjectInfo it doesn't exist
+FsObjectInfo tryGetUriObjectInfo(const std::string & url);
 
-// Return an URI for either a file or an s3 object
-size_t getUriSize(const std::string & filename);
+// Return the file size for the given url
+int64_t getUriSize(const std::string & url);
 
 // Return an etag for either a file or an s3 object
-std::string getUriEtag(const std::string & filename);
+std::string getUriEtag(const std::string & url);
 
 /* Create the directories for the given path.  For S3 it does nothing;
    for normal directories it does mkdir -p
diff --git a/service/s3.cc b/service/s3.cc
index ab852ed4..1519d5fc 100644
--- a/service/s3.cc
+++ b/service/s3.cc
@@ -57,16 +57,7 @@ struct S3UrlFsHandler : public UrlFsHandler {
     {
         string bucket = url.host();
         auto api = getS3ApiForBucket(bucket);
-        auto bucketPath = S3Api::parseUri(url.original);
-        return api->getObjectInfo(bucket, bucketPath.second);
-    }
-
-    virtual FsObjectInfo tryGetInfo(const Url & url) const
-    {
-        string bucket = url.host();
-        auto api = getS3ApiForBucket(bucket);
-        auto bucketPath = S3Api::parseUri(url.original);
-        return api->tryGetObjectInfo(bucket, bucketPath.second);
+        return api->tryGetObjectInfo(bucket, url.path().substr(1));
     }
 
     virtual void makeDirectory(const Url & url) const