diff --git a/metadata.cc b/metadata.cc
index a7da4b9..0f49047 100644
--- a/metadata.cc
+++ b/metadata.cc
@@ -99,9 +99,9 @@ namespace {
 	}
 
 	superblock
-	read_superblock(block_manager<>::ptr bm) {
+	read_superblock(block_manager<>::ptr bm, block_address location = SUPERBLOCK_LOCATION) {
 		superblock sb;
-		block_manager<>::read_ref r = bm->read_lock(SUPERBLOCK_LOCATION,
+		block_manager<>::read_ref r = bm->read_lock(location,
 							    mk_validator(new superblock_validator));
 		superblock_disk const *sbd = reinterpret_cast<superblock_disk const *>(&r.data());
 		superblock_traits::unpack(*sbd, sb);
@@ -161,6 +161,20 @@ metadata::metadata(std::string const &dev_path, open_type ot,
 	}
 }
 
+metadata::metadata(std::string const &dev_path, block_address held_root)
+{
+	tm_ = open_tm(dev_path, false);
+	sb_ = read_superblock(tm_->get_bm(), held_root);
+	// We don't open the metadata sm for a held root
+	//metadata_sm_ = open_metadata_sm(tm_, &sb_.metadata_space_map_root_);
+	tm_->set_sm(metadata_sm_);
+
+	data_sm_ = open_disk_sm(tm_, static_cast<void *>(&sb_.data_space_map_root_));
+	details_ = detail_tree::ptr(new detail_tree(tm_, sb_.device_details_root_, device_details_traits::ref_counter()));
+	mappings_top_level_ = dev_tree::ptr(new dev_tree(tm_, sb_.data_mapping_root_, mtree_ref_counter(tm_)));
+	mappings_ = mapping_tree::ptr(new mapping_tree(tm_, sb_.data_mapping_root_, block_time_ref_counter(data_sm_)));
+}
+
 namespace {
 	void print_superblock(superblock const &sb) {
 		using namespace std;
diff --git a/metadata.h b/metadata.h
index 7fbab46..2317027 100644
--- a/metadata.h
+++ b/metadata.h
@@ -151,6 +151,8 @@ namespace thin_provisioning {
 			 sector_t data_block_size = 128,
 			 block_address nr_data_blocks = 0); // Only used if CREATE
 
+		metadata(std::string const &dev_path, block_address held_root);
+
 		void commit();
 
 		typedef block_manager<>::read_ref read_ref;
diff --git a/metadata_checker.cc b/metadata_checker.cc
index ed7a5d1..417a59b 100644
--- a/metadata_checker.cc
+++ b/metadata_checker.cc
@@ -171,8 +171,22 @@ thin_provisioning::metadata_check(metadata::ptr md)
 
 	block_counter metadata_counter, data_counter;
 
-	if (md->sb_.held_root_)
-		metadata_counter.inc(md->sb_.held_root_);
+	if (md->sb_.held_root_) {
+		block_manager<>::ptr bm = md->tm_->get_bm();
+
+
+		block_address root = md->sb_.held_root_;
+
+		metadata_counter.inc(root);
+
+		superblock sb;
+		block_manager<>::read_ref r = bm->read_lock(root);
+		superblock_disk const *sbd = reinterpret_cast<superblock_disk const *>(&r.data());
+		superblock_traits::unpack(*sbd, sb);
+
+		metadata_counter.inc(sb.data_mapping_root_);
+		metadata_counter.inc(sb.device_details_root_);
+	}
 
 	mapping_validator::ptr mv(new mapping_validator(metadata_counter,
 							data_counter));
diff --git a/metadata_dumper.cc b/metadata_dumper.cc
index f73c44a..4a3656f 100644
--- a/metadata_dumper.cc
+++ b/metadata_dumper.cc
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace {
 		mappings_extractor(uint64_t dev_id, emitter::ptr e,
 				   space_map::ptr md_sm, space_map::ptr data_sm)
 			: counter_(),
-			  checker_(counter_),
+			  checker_(counter_, false),
 			  dev_id_(dev_id),
 			  e_(e),
 			  md_sm_(md_sm),
diff --git a/thin_dump.cc b/thin_dump.cc
index 5980e2c..4a85432 100644
--- a/thin_dump.cc
+++ b/thin_dump.cc
@@ -31,9 +31,12 @@ using namespace std;
 using namespace thin_provisioning;
 
 namespace {
-	int dump(string const &path, string const &format, bool repair) {
+	int dump(string const &path, string const &format, bool repair,
+		 block_address held_root = 0) {
 		try {
-			metadata::ptr md(new metadata(path, metadata::OPEN));
+			metadata::ptr md(held_root ?
+					 new metadata(path, held_root) :
+					 new metadata(path, metadata::OPEN));
 			emitter::ptr e;
 
 			if (format == "xml")
@@ -46,6 +49,7 @@ namespace {
 			}
 
 			metadata_dump(md, e, repair);
+
 		} catch (std::exception &e) {
 			cerr << e.what() << endl;
 			return 1;
@@ -60,6 +64,7 @@ namespace {
 		    << "  {-h|--help}" << endl
 		    << "  {-f|--format} {xml|human_readable}" << endl
 		    << "  {-r|--repair}" << endl
+		    << "  {-s|--held-superblock}" << endl
 		    << "  {-V|--version}" << endl;
 	}
 }
@@ -68,10 +73,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	int c;
 	bool repair = false;
-	const char shortopts[] = "hf:rV";
+	const char shortopts[] = "hs:f:rV";
 	string format = "xml";
+	block_address held_root = 0;
+	char *end_ptr;
+
 	const struct option longopts[] = {
 		{ "help", no_argument, NULL, 'h'},
+		{ "held-root", required_argument, NULL, 's' },
 		{ "format", required_argument, NULL, 'f' },
 		{ "repair", no_argument, NULL, 'r'},
 		{ "version", no_argument, NULL, 'V'},
@@ -92,8 +101,17 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			repair = true;
 			break;
 
+		case 's':
+			held_root = strtoull(optarg, &end_ptr, 10);
+			if (end_ptr == optarg) {
+				cerr << "couldn't parse <held_root>" << endl;
+				usage(cerr, basename(argv[0]));
+				return 1;
+			}
+			break;
+
 		case 'V':
-			cout << THIN_PROVISIONING_TOOLS_VERSION << endl;
+			cerr << THIN_PROVISIONING_TOOLS_VERSION << endl;
 			return 0;
 
 		default:
@@ -108,5 +126,5 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	return dump(argv[optind], format, repair);
+	return dump(argv[optind], format, repair, held_root);
 }