diff --git a/add_test.go b/add_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..39002e824
--- /dev/null
+++ b/add_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package ipfscluster
+
+// This files has tests for Add* using multiple cluster peers.
+
+import (
+	"mime/multipart"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ipfs/ipfs-cluster/api"
+	"github.com/ipfs/ipfs-cluster/test"
+)
+
+func TestAdd(t *testing.T) {
+	clusters, mock := createClusters(t)
+	defer shutdownClusters(t, clusters, mock)
+	sth := test.NewShardingTestHelper()
+	defer sth.Clean(t)
+
+	t.Run("local", func(t *testing.T) {
+		params := api.DefaultAddParams()
+		params.Shard = false
+		params.Name = "testlocal"
+		mfr, closer := sth.GetTreeMultiReader(t)
+		defer closer.Close()
+		r := multipart.NewReader(mfr, mfr.Boundary())
+		ci, err := clusters[0].AddFile(r, params)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if ci.String() != test.ShardingDirBalancedRootCID {
+			t.Fatal("unexpected root CID for local add")
+		}
+
+		pinDelay()
+
+		f := func(t *testing.T, c *Cluster) {
+			pin := c.StatusLocal(ci)
+			if pin.Error != "" {
+				t.Error(pin.Error)
+			}
+			if pin.Status != api.TrackerStatusPinned {
+				t.Error("item should be pinned")
+			}
+		}
+
+		runF(t, clusters, f)
+	})
+}
+
+func TestAddPeerDown(t *testing.T) {
+	clusters, mock := createClusters(t)
+	defer shutdownClusters(t, clusters, mock)
+	sth := test.NewShardingTestHelper()
+	defer sth.Clean(t)
+
+	err := clusters[0].Shutdown()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	waitForLeaderAndMetrics(t, clusters)
+
+	t.Run("local", func(t *testing.T) {
+		params := api.DefaultAddParams()
+		params.Shard = false
+		params.Name = "testlocal"
+		mfr, closer := sth.GetTreeMultiReader(t)
+		defer closer.Close()
+		r := multipart.NewReader(mfr, mfr.Boundary())
+		ci, err := clusters[1].AddFile(r, params)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if ci.String() != test.ShardingDirBalancedRootCID {
+			t.Fatal("unexpected root CID for local add")
+		}
+
+		pinDelay()
+
+		f := func(t *testing.T, c *Cluster) {
+			if c.id == clusters[0].id {
+				return
+			}
+
+			pin := c.StatusLocal(ci)
+			if pin.Error != "" {
+				t.Error(pin.Error)
+			}
+			if pin.Status != api.TrackerStatusPinned {
+				t.Error("item should be pinned")
+			}
+		}
+
+		runF(t, clusters, f)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/cluster.go b/cluster.go
index 1d5b03db8..53f563ac5 100644
--- a/cluster.go
+++ b/cluster.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import (
 // consensus layer.
 var ReadyTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 
+var pingMetricName = "ping"
+
 // Cluster is the main IPFS cluster component. It provides
 // the go-API for it and orchestrates the components that make up the system.
 type Cluster struct {
@@ -252,7 +254,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) pushPingMetrics() {
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(c.config.MonitorPingInterval)
 	for {
 		metric := api.Metric{
-			Name:  "ping",
+			Name:  pingMetricName,
 			Peer:  c.id,
 			Valid: true,
 		}
@@ -279,7 +281,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) alertsHandler() {
 			if err == nil && leader == c.id {
 				logger.Warningf("Peer %s received alert for %s in %s", c.id, alrt.MetricName, alrt.Peer.Pretty())
 				switch alrt.MetricName {
-				case "ping":
+				case pingMetricName:
 					c.repinFromPeer(alrt.Peer)
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/rpc_api.go b/rpc_api.go
index feb84f438..f6068ec3c 100644
--- a/rpc_api.go
+++ b/rpc_api.go
@@ -202,10 +202,14 @@ func (rpcapi *RPCAPI) BlockAllocate(ctx context.Context, in api.PinSerial, out *
 
 	// Return the current peer list.
 	if pin.ReplicationFactorMin < 0 {
-		peers, err := rpcapi.c.consensus.Peers()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
+		// Returned metrics are Valid and belong to current
+		// Cluster peers.
+		metrics := rpcapi.c.monitor.LatestMetrics(pingMetricName)
+		peers := make([]peer.ID, len(metrics), len(metrics))
+		for i, m := range metrics {
+			peers[i] = m.Peer
 		}
+
 		*out = api.PeersToStrings(peers)
 		return nil
 	}