diff --git a/docs/source/api.rst b/docs/source/api.rst
index 4dc7dc226..bc26d33b8 100644
--- a/docs/source/api.rst
+++ b/docs/source/api.rst
@@ -205,7 +205,8 @@ PDC object APIs
 		* pdc: PDC class ID, returned from PDCInit
 	* Output:
 		* Local object ID
-	* Open a PDC ID created previously by name.
+	* Open a PDC ID created previously by name, if an object is just created or already opened,
+          return the same obj_id. Each open requires a close.
 	* For developers: see pdc_obj.c. Need to communicate with servers for metadata of the object.
 
 * perr_t PDCobj_close(pdcid_t obj_id)
diff --git a/src/api/pdc_obj/pdc_obj.c b/src/api/pdc_obj/pdc_obj.c
index 18e62382e..858ebfbed 100644
--- a/src/api/pdc_obj/pdc_obj.c
+++ b/src/api/pdc_obj/pdc_obj.c
@@ -535,9 +535,29 @@ PDCobj_open_common(const char *obj_name, pdcid_t pdc, int is_col)
     pdcid_t               obj_prop;
     size_t                i;
     uint32_t              metadata_server_id;
+    obj_handle *          oh;
+    struct pdc_obj_info * info;
+    int                   is_opened = 0;
 
     FUNC_ENTER(NULL);
 
+    // Search if the object has already been opened
+    oh = PDCobj_iter_start(pdc);
+    while (!PDCobj_iter_null(oh)) {
+        info = PDCobj_iter_get_info(oh);
+        if (strcmp(obj_name, info->name) == 0) {
+            is_opened = 1;
+            break;
+        }
+        oh = PDCobj_iter_next(oh, pdc);
+    }
+
+    if (is_opened) {
+        ret_value = info->local_id;
+        PDC_inc_ref(info->local_id);
+        goto done;
+    }
+
     p = (struct _pdc_obj_info *)PDC_malloc(sizeof(struct _pdc_obj_info));
     if (!p)
         PGOTO_ERROR(0, "PDC object memory allocation failed");
diff --git a/src/tests/obj/open_obj.c b/src/tests/obj/open_obj.c
index 3558c0ebb..a9ee4d184 100644
--- a/src/tests/obj/open_obj.c
+++ b/src/tests/obj/open_obj.c
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     else {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to create object!\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     // create second object
     sprintf(obj_name2, "o2_%d", rank);
@@ -92,30 +93,39 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     else {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to create object!\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
 
     // open first object twice
-    open11 = PDCobj_open(obj_name1, pdc);
+    open11 = PDCobj_open(obj_name1, cont);
     if (open11 == 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to open object o1\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Open object o1\n", rank);
     }
-    open12 = PDCobj_open(obj_name1, pdc);
+    open12 = PDCobj_open(obj_name1, cont);
     if (open12 == 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to open object o1\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
+    }
+    else if (open12 != open11) {
+        LOG_ERROR("Rank %d opened object o1 with different ID %llu / %llu\n", rank, open12, open11);
+        ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
-        LOG_INFO("Rank %d Open object o1\n", rank);
+        LOG_INFO("Rank %d Re-open object o1\n", rank);
     }
     // open second object once
-    open21 = PDCobj_open(obj_name2, pdc);
+    open21 = PDCobj_open(obj_name2, cont);
     if (open21 == 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to open object o2\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Open object o2\n", rank);
@@ -124,6 +134,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCobj_close(obj1) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close object o1\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed object o1\n", rank);
@@ -131,6 +142,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCobj_close(open11) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close object open11\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed object open11\n", rank);
@@ -138,6 +150,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCobj_close(open12) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close object open12\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed object open12\n", rank);
@@ -145,6 +158,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCobj_close(obj2) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close object o2\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed object o2\n", rank);
@@ -152,6 +166,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCobj_close(open21) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close object open21\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed object open21\n", rank);
@@ -160,6 +175,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCcont_close(cont) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close container c1\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed container c1\n", rank);
@@ -168,6 +184,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCprop_close(obj_prop) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close property\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed object property\n", rank);
@@ -176,6 +193,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCprop_close(cont_prop) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close property\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
     else {
         LOG_INFO("Rank %d Successfully closed container property\n", rank);
@@ -184,7 +202,10 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (PDCclose(pdc) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Rank %d Fail to close PDC\n", rank);
         ret_value = 1;
+        goto done;
     }
+
+done:
 #ifdef ENABLE_MPI
     MPI_Finalize();
 #endif