diff --git a/internal/server/server.go b/internal/server/server.go
index 22ca2ee40..050632c04 100644
--- a/internal/server/server.go
+++ b/internal/server/server.go
@@ -135,12 +135,18 @@ func (s *Server) handleAPIPossiblyNotConnected(f func(ctx context.Context, r *ht
 }
 
 func (s *Server) handleRefresh(ctx context.Context, r *http.Request) (interface{}, *apiError) {
-	log(ctx).Infof("refreshing")
+	if err := s.rep.Refresh(ctx); err != nil {
+		return nil, internalServerError(err)
+	}
+
 	return &serverapi.Empty{}, nil
 }
 
 func (s *Server) handleFlush(ctx context.Context, r *http.Request) (interface{}, *apiError) {
-	log(ctx).Infof("flushing")
+	if err := s.rep.Flush(ctx); err != nil {
+		return nil, internalServerError(err)
+	}
+
 	return &serverapi.Empty{}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/repo/api_server_repository.go b/repo/api_server_repository.go
index c017e2b46..1b6664b05 100644
--- a/repo/api_server_repository.go
+++ b/repo/api_server_repository.go
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func (r *apiServerRepository) Refresh(ctx context.Context) error {
 }
 
 func (r *apiServerRepository) Flush(ctx context.Context) error {
-	return nil
+	return r.cli.Post(ctx, "flush", nil, nil)
 }
 
 func (r *apiServerRepository) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func (r *apiServerRepository) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "error closing object manager")
 	}
 
-	return nil
+	return r.Flush(ctx)
 }
 
 func (r *apiServerRepository) ContentInfo(ctx context.Context, contentID content.ID) (content.Info, error) {
diff --git a/tests/end_to_end_test/api_server_repository_test.go b/tests/end_to_end_test/api_server_repository_test.go
index f5b149d5d..afb2cb432 100644
--- a/tests/end_to_end_test/api_server_repository_test.go
+++ b/tests/end_to_end_test/api_server_repository_test.go
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ func TestAPIServerRepository(t *testing.T) {
 	e1.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "repo", "connect", "filesystem", "--path", e.RepoDir, "--override-username", "not-foo", "--override-hostname", "bar")
 	e1.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "snapshot", "create", sharedTestDataDir1)
 
+	originalPBlobCount := len(e1.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "blob", "list", "--prefix=p"))
+	originalQBlobCount := len(e1.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "blob", "list", "--prefix=q"))
+
 	htpasswordFile := filepath.Join(e.ConfigDir, "htpasswd.txt")
 	ioutil.WriteFile(htpasswordFile, htpasswdFileContents, 0755)
 
@@ -81,12 +84,35 @@ func TestAPIServerRepository(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("invalid number of snapshots for foo@bar")
 	}
 
+	// create very small directory
+	smallDataDir := filepath.Join(sharedTestDataDirBase, "dir-small")
+
+	testenv.CreateDirectoryTree(smallDataDir, testenv.DirectoryTreeOptions{
+		Depth:                  1,
+		MaxSubdirsPerDirectory: 1,
+		MaxFilesPerDirectory:   1,
+		MaxFileSize:            100,
+	}, nil)
+
+	// create snapshot of a very small directory using remote repository client
+	e2.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "snapshot", "create", smallDataDir)
+
+	// make sure snapshot created by the client resulted in blobs being created by the server
+	// as opposed to buffering it in memory
+	if got, want := len(e.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "blob", "list", "--prefix=p")), originalPBlobCount; got <= want {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected number of P blobs on the server: %v, wanted > %v", got, want)
+	}
+
+	if got, want := len(e.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "blob", "list", "--prefix=q")), originalQBlobCount; got <= want {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected number of Q blobs on the server: %v, wanted > %v", got, want)
+	}
+
 	// create snapshot using remote repository client
 	e2.RunAndExpectSuccess(t, "snapshot", "create", sharedTestDataDir2)
 
 	// now should see two snapshots
 	snapshots = e2.ListSnapshotsAndExpectSuccess(t)
-	if got, want := len(snapshots), 2; got != want {
+	if got, want := len(snapshots), 3; got != want {
 		t.Errorf("invalid number of snapshots for foo@bar")
 	}
 }