diff --git a/node/src/manager/commands/chain.rs b/node/src/manager/commands/chain.rs
index 2ebe75e0778..41d2492a52a 100644
--- a/node/src/manager/commands/chain.rs
+++ b/node/src/manager/commands/chain.rs
@@ -21,17 +21,10 @@ use graph_store_postgres::BlockStore;
 use graph_store_postgres::ChainStatus;
 use graph_store_postgres::ChainStore;
 use graph_store_postgres::Shard;
-use graph_store_postgres::Storage;
 use graph_store_postgres::{
     command_support::catalog::block_store, connection_pool::ConnectionPool,
 };
 
-#[derive(QueryableByName, Debug)]
-struct ChainIdSeq {
-    #[sql_type = "diesel::sql_types::BigInt"]
-    last_value: i64,
-}
-
 pub async fn list(primary: ConnectionPool, store: Arc<BlockStore>) -> Result<(), Error> {
     let mut chains = {
         let conn = primary.get()?;
@@ -185,18 +178,9 @@ pub fn change_block_cache_shard(
         let ident = chain_store.chain_identifier.clone();
         let shard = Shard::new(shard.to_string())?;
 
-        // Fetch the current last_value from the sequence
-        let result = sql_query("SELECT last_value FROM chains_id_seq").get_result::<ChainIdSeq>(&conn)?;
-
-        let last_val = result.last_value;
+        let chain = BlockStore::allocate_chain(&conn, &chain_name, &shard, &ident)?;
 
-        let next_val = last_val + 1;
-        let namespace = format!("chain{}", next_val);
-        let storage= Storage::new(namespace.to_string()).map_err(|e| {
-            anyhow!("Failed to create storage: {}", e)
-        })?;
-
-        store.add_chain_store_inner(&chain_name, &shard, &ident, storage,ChainStatus::Ingestible, true)?;
+        store.add_chain_store(&chain,ChainStatus::Ingestible, true)?;
 
         // Drop the foreign key constraint on deployment_schemas
         sql_query(
@@ -206,7 +190,7 @@ pub fn change_block_cache_shard(
 
         // Update the current chain name to chain-old
         update_chain_name(&conn, &chain_name, &new_name)?;
-        chain_store.update_name(&new_name)?;
+
 
         // Create a new chain with the name in the destination shard
         let _=  add_chain(&conn, &chain_name, &ident, &shard)?;
@@ -219,6 +203,8 @@ pub fn change_block_cache_shard(
         Ok(())
     })?;
 
+    chain_store.update_name(&new_name)?;
+
     println!(
         "Changed block cache shard for {} from {} to {}",
         chain_name, old_shard, shard
diff --git a/store/postgres/src/block_store.rs b/store/postgres/src/block_store.rs
index ea74573dea6..d4ef451ff32 100644
--- a/store/postgres/src/block_store.rs
+++ b/store/postgres/src/block_store.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ use std::{
     time::Duration,
 };
 
+use anyhow::anyhow;
+use diesel::{
+    r2d2::{ConnectionManager, PooledConnection},
+    sql_query, PgConnection, RunQueryDsl,
+};
 use graph::{
     blockchain::ChainIdentifier,
     components::store::{BlockStore as BlockStoreTrait, QueryPermit},
@@ -21,6 +26,8 @@ use crate::{
     ChainStore, NotificationSender, Shard, PRIMARY_SHARD,
 };
 
+use self::primary::Chain;
+
 #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
 pub const FAKE_NETWORK_SHARED: &str = "fake_network_shared";
 
@@ -328,30 +335,63 @@ impl BlockStore {
             .expect("the primary is never disabled")
     }
 
-    pub fn add_chain_store_inner(
-        &self,
+    pub fn allocate_chain(
+        conn: &PooledConnection<ConnectionManager<PgConnection>>,
         name: &String,
         shard: &Shard,
         ident: &ChainIdentifier,
-        storage: Storage,
+    ) -> Result<Chain, StoreError> {
+        #[derive(QueryableByName, Debug)]
+        struct ChainIdSeq {
+            #[sql_type = "diesel::sql_types::BigInt"]
+            last_value: i64,
+        }
+
+        // Fetch the current last_value from the sequence
+        let result =
+            sql_query("SELECT last_value FROM chains_id_seq").get_result::<ChainIdSeq>(conn)?;
+
+        let last_val = result.last_value;
+
+        let next_val = last_val + 1;
+        let namespace = format!("chain{}", next_val);
+        let storage =
+            Storage::new(namespace.to_string()).map_err(|e| StoreError::Unknown(anyhow!(e)))?;
+
+        let chain = Chain {
+            id: next_val as i32,
+            name: name.clone(),
+            shard: shard.clone(),
+            net_version: ident.net_version.clone(),
+            genesis_block: ident.genesis_block_hash.hash_hex(),
+            storage: storage.clone(),
+        };
+
+        Ok(chain)
+    }
+
+    pub fn add_chain_store(
+        &self,
+        chain: &primary::Chain,
         status: ChainStatus,
         create: bool,
     ) -> Result<Arc<ChainStore>, StoreError> {
         let pool = self
             .pools
-            .get(shard)
-            .ok_or_else(|| constraint_violation!("there is no pool for shard {}", shard))?
+            .get(&chain.shard)
+            .ok_or_else(|| constraint_violation!("there is no pool for shard {}", chain.shard))?
             .clone();
         let sender = ChainHeadUpdateSender::new(
             self.mirror.primary().clone(),
-            name.clone(),
+            chain.name.clone(),
             self.sender.clone(),
         );
-        let logger = self.logger.new(o!("network" => name.clone()));
+        let ident = chain.network_identifier()?;
+        let logger = self.logger.new(o!("network" => chain.name.clone()));
         let store = ChainStore::new(
             logger,
-            name.clone(),
-            storage.clone(),
+            chain.name.clone(),
+            chain.storage.clone(),
             &ident,
             status,
             sender,
@@ -366,26 +406,10 @@ impl BlockStore {
         self.stores
             .write()
             .unwrap()
-            .insert(name.clone(), store.clone());
+            .insert(chain.name.clone(), store.clone());
         Ok(store)
     }
 
-    pub fn add_chain_store(
-        &self,
-        chain: &primary::Chain,
-        status: ChainStatus,
-        create: bool,
-    ) -> Result<Arc<ChainStore>, StoreError> {
-        self.add_chain_store_inner(
-            &chain.name,
-            &chain.shard,
-            &chain.network_identifier()?,
-            chain.storage.clone(),
-            status,
-            create,
-        )
-    }
-
     /// Return a map from network name to the network's chain head pointer.
     /// The information is cached briefly since this method is used heavily
     /// by the indexing status API