diff --git a/acceptance-tests/src/test-support/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/tests/acceptance/dsl/node/ThreadPantheonNodeRunner.java b/acceptance-tests/src/test-support/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/tests/acceptance/dsl/node/ThreadPantheonNodeRunner.java
index e2adef3f2a..a575dcccc1 100644
--- a/acceptance-tests/src/test-support/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/tests/acceptance/dsl/node/ThreadPantheonNodeRunner.java
+++ b/acceptance-tests/src/test-support/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/tests/acceptance/dsl/node/ThreadPantheonNodeRunner.java
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public void startNode(final PantheonNode node) {
 
     final KeyValueStorageProvider storageProvider =
         new KeyValueStorageProviderBuilder()
-            .withStorageFactory(storageService.getByName("rocksdb"))
+            .withStorageFactory(storageService.getByName("rocksdb").get())
             .withCommonConfiguration(commonPluginConfiguration)
             .withMetricsSystem(metricsSystem)
             .build();
diff --git a/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java b/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java
index 4cee9dbc50..ea182da6c5 100644
--- a/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java
+++ b/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommand.java
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.PantheonEvents;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.PicoCLIOptions;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.StorageService;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.exception.StorageException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.metrics.MetricCategory;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.storage.rocksdb.RocksDBPlugin;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.services.PantheonConfigurationImpl;
@@ -1263,7 +1264,11 @@ private PrivacyParameters privacyParameters() throws IOException {
 
   private KeyValueStorageProvider keyStorageProvider(final String name) {
     return new KeyValueStorageProviderBuilder()
-        .withStorageFactory(storageService.getByName(name))
+        .withStorageFactory(
+            storageService
+                .getByName(name)
+                .orElseThrow(
+                    () -> new StorageException("No KeyValueStorageFactory found for key: " + name)))
         .withCommonConfiguration(pluginCommonConfiguration)
         .withMetricsSystem(getMetricsSystem())
         .build();
diff --git a/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/StorageServiceImpl.java b/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/StorageServiceImpl.java
index d850af9523..c7ff5054ab 100644
--- a/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/StorageServiceImpl.java
+++ b/pantheon/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/services/StorageServiceImpl.java
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.storage.keyvalue.KeyValueSegmentIdentifier;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.StorageService;
-import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.exception.StorageException;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.storage.KeyValueStorageFactory;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.storage.SegmentIdentifier;
 
@@ -43,9 +42,8 @@ public List<SegmentIdentifier> getAllSegmentIdentifiers() {
     return segments;
   }
 
-  public KeyValueStorageFactory getByName(final String name) {
-    return Optional.ofNullable(factories.get(name))
-        .orElseThrow(
-            () -> new StorageException("No KeyValueStorageFactory found for key: " + name));
+  @Override
+  public Optional<KeyValueStorageFactory> getByName(final String name) {
+    return Optional.ofNullable(factories.get(name));
   }
 }
diff --git a/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/CommandTestAbstract.java b/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/CommandTestAbstract.java
index b4ecf92f92..12dc3abe1c 100644
--- a/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/CommandTestAbstract.java
+++ b/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/CommandTestAbstract.java
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ public void initMocks() throws Exception {
     when(mockRunnerBuilder.staticNodes(any())).thenReturn(mockRunnerBuilder);
     when(mockRunnerBuilder.build()).thenReturn(mockRunner);
 
-    when(storageService.getByName("rocksdb")).thenReturn(rocksDBStorageFactory);
+    when(storageService.getByName("rocksdb")).thenReturn(Optional.of(rocksDBStorageFactory));
 
     when(mockPantheonPluginContext.getService(PicoCLIOptions.class))
         .thenReturn(Optional.of(cliOptions));
diff --git a/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommandTest.java b/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommandTest.java
index 81b7f7630b..0af886669b 100644
--- a/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommandTest.java
+++ b/pantheon/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/cli/PantheonCommandTest.java
@@ -2473,7 +2473,8 @@ public void fullCLIOptionsShownWhenNotInDockerContainer() {
 
   @Test
   public void mustUseEnclaveUriAndOptions() {
-    when(storageService.getByName("rocksdb-privacy")).thenReturn(rocksDBSPrivacyStorageFactory);
+    when(storageService.getByName("rocksdb-privacy"))
+        .thenReturn(Optional.of(rocksDBSPrivacyStorageFactory));
     final URL configFile = this.getClass().getResource("/orion_publickey.pub");
 
     parseCommand(
diff --git a/plugin-api/build.gradle b/plugin-api/build.gradle
index 2424f6397e..ba1f8d8cc1 100644
--- a/plugin-api/build.gradle
+++ b/plugin-api/build.gradle
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Calculated : ${currentHash}
 tasks.register('checkAPIChanges', FileStateChecker) {
   description = "Checks that the API for the Plugin-API project does not change without deliberate thought"
   files = sourceSets.main.allJava.files
-  knownHash = 'sRinlNFG0IbW1DXvVnpa/a4puB5WD0g2GReAGkIl6dc='
+  knownHash = 'FzYuZLAwab2uzCEqdVvkpUL5lih3M4MUKT+qXgGmB7I='
 }
 check.dependsOn('checkAPIChanges')
 
diff --git a/plugin-api/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/plugin/services/StorageService.java b/plugin-api/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/plugin/services/StorageService.java
index e5fbdf0367..9a1efde870 100644
--- a/plugin-api/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/plugin/services/StorageService.java
+++ b/plugin-api/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/plugin/services/StorageService.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.plugin.services.storage.SegmentIdentifier;
 
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 /** This service allows plugins to register as an available storage engine. */
 @Unstable
@@ -35,4 +36,13 @@ public interface StorageService {
    * @return full set of possible segments required from the storage service.
    */
   List<SegmentIdentifier> getAllSegmentIdentifiers();
+
+  /**
+   * Retrieves a registered factory corresponding to the supplied factory name
+   *
+   * @param name The name of the factory to retrieve
+   * @return an optional containing the instance of the registered factory, or empty if the factory
+   *     hasn't been registered.
+   */
+  Optional<KeyValueStorageFactory> getByName(String name);
 }