diff --git a/src/mu-config.c b/src/mu-config.c
index d7c2e5a5..023051b1 100644
--- a/src/mu-config.c
+++ b/src/mu-config.c
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ config_options_group_index (MuConfigOptions *opts)
 		 "top of the maildir", NULL},
 		{"reindex", 'r', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opts->reindex,
 		 "index already indexed messages too", NULL},
-		{"empty", 'y', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opts->empty,
-		 "empty the database before indexing", NULL},
+		{"rebuild", 'y', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opts->rebuild,
+		 "rebuild the database from scratch", NULL},
 		{"autoupgrade", 'u', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opts->autoupgrade,
 		 "automatically upgrade the database with new mu versions", NULL},
 		{"nocleanup", 'n', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opts->nocleanup,
diff --git a/src/mu-config.h b/src/mu-config.h
index 995eb66b..b13fec7d 100644
--- a/src/mu-config.h
+++ b/src/mu-config.h
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ struct _MuConfigOptions {
 	char	        *maildir;	/* where the mails are */
 	gboolean         nocleanup;	/* don't cleanup deleted mails from db */
 	gboolean         reindex;	/* re-index existing mails */
-	gboolean         empty;         /* empty the database before indexing */
+	gboolean         rebuild;       /* empty the database before indexing */
 	gboolean         autoupgrade;   /* automatically upgrade db
 					 * when needed */
 	
diff --git a/src/mu-index.c b/src/mu-index.c
index 6ccd0869..70604024 100644
--- a/src/mu-index.c
+++ b/src/mu-index.c
@@ -93,8 +93,9 @@ typedef struct _MuIndexCallbackData MuIndexCallbackData;
 
 
 static MuResult
-insert_or_update_maybe (const char* fullpath, time_t filestamp,
-			 MuIndexCallbackData *data, gboolean *updated)
+insert_or_update_maybe (const char* fullpath, const char* mdir,
+			time_t filestamp,
+			MuIndexCallbackData *data, gboolean *updated)
 { 
 	MuMsgGMime *msg;
 	
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ insert_or_update_maybe (const char* fullpath, time_t filestamp,
 	} while (0);
 
 		
-	msg = mu_msg_gmime_new (fullpath);
+	msg = mu_msg_gmime_new (fullpath, mdir);
 	if (!msg) {
 		g_warning ("%s: failed to create mu_msg for %s",
 			   __FUNCTION__, fullpath);
@@ -161,8 +162,8 @@ run_msg_callback_maybe (MuIndexCallbackData *data)
 
 
 static MuResult
-on_run_maildir_msg (const char* fullpath, time_t filestamp, 
-		    MuIndexCallbackData *data)
+on_run_maildir_msg (const char* fullpath, const char* mdir,
+		    time_t filestamp, MuIndexCallbackData *data)
 {
 	MuResult result;
 	gboolean updated;
@@ -170,9 +171,9 @@ on_run_maildir_msg (const char* fullpath, time_t filestamp,
 	result = run_msg_callback_maybe (data);
 	if (result != MU_OK)
 		return result;
-			
+	
 	/* see if we need to update/insert anything...*/
-	result = insert_or_update_maybe (fullpath, filestamp, data,
+	result = insert_or_update_maybe (fullpath, mdir, filestamp, data,
 					  &updated);
 	
 	/* update statistics */
@@ -298,7 +299,8 @@ mu_index_run (MuIndex *index, const char* path,
 }
 
 static MuResult
-on_stats_maildir_file (const char *fullpath, time_t timestamp, 
+on_stats_maildir_file (const char *fullpath, const char* mdir,
+		       time_t timestamp, 
 		       MuIndexCallbackData *cb_data)
 {
 	MuResult result;