diff --git a/src/mca/allocator/allocator.h b/src/mca/allocator/allocator.h
index 21cf882d4e..e213ae67f2 100644
--- a/src/mca/allocator/allocator.h
+++ b/src/mca/allocator/allocator.h
@@ -26,6 +26,19 @@ typedef void* (*mca_allocator_realloc_fn_t)(struct mca_allocator_t*, void*, size
 typedef void(*mca_allocator_free_fn_t)(struct mca_allocator_t*, void *);
 
 
+/*
+ * compact/return memory to higher level allocator
+ */
+
+typedef int (*mca_allocator_return_fn_t)(
+    struct mca_allocator_t* allocator 
+);
+ 
+
+/*
+ * cleanup (free) any resources held by allocator
+ */
+
 typedef int (*mca_allocator_finalize_fn_t)(
     struct mca_allocator_t* allocator 
 );
@@ -35,6 +48,7 @@ struct mca_allocator_t {
     mca_allocator_alloc_fn_t alc_alloc;
     mca_allocator_realloc_fn_t alc_realloc;
     mca_allocator_free_fn_t alc_free;
+    mca_allocator_return_fn_t alc_return;
     mca_allocator_finalize_fn_t alc_finalize;
 };
 typedef struct mca_allocator_t mca_allocator_t;
diff --git a/src/mca/allocator/bucket/allocator_bucket.c b/src/mca/allocator/bucket/allocator_bucket.c
index 23577045a9..e51dc0b3c5 100644
--- a/src/mca/allocator/bucket/allocator_bucket.c
+++ b/src/mca/allocator/bucket/allocator_bucket.c
@@ -14,25 +14,22 @@ int mca_allocator_bucket_module_close(void);
 
 void * mca_allocator_bucket_alloc_wrapper(struct mca_allocator_t* allocator,
                                           size_t size, size_t align);
+static int mca_allocator_num_buckets;
+
+
 
 struct mca_allocator_t* mca_allocator_bucket_module_init(
     bool *allow_multi_user_threads,
     mca_allocator_segment_alloc_fn_t segment_alloc,
     mca_allocator_segment_free_fn_t segment_free)
 {
-    int num_buckets = 30;
-    int id;
     size_t alloc_size = sizeof(mca_allocator_bucket_t);
     mca_allocator_bucket_t * retval;
     mca_allocator_bucket_t * allocator = segment_alloc(&alloc_size);
     if(NULL == allocator) {
         return(NULL);
     }
-    id = mca_base_param_register_int("allocator","bucket","num_buckets",
-                                     NULL,num_buckets);
-    mca_base_param_lookup_int(id,&num_buckets);
-
-    retval = mca_allocator_bucket_init((mca_allocator_t *) allocator, num_buckets, 
+    retval = mca_allocator_bucket_init((mca_allocator_t *) allocator, mca_allocator_num_buckets, 
                                         segment_alloc, segment_free);
     if(NULL == retval) {
         segment_free(allocator);
@@ -48,6 +45,8 @@ struct mca_allocator_t* mca_allocator_bucket_module_init(
 
 int mca_allocator_bucket_module_open(void) {
 
+    int id = mca_base_param_register_int("allocator","bucket","num_buckets", NULL,30);
+    mca_base_param_lookup_int(id,&mca_allocator_num_buckets);
     return(OMPI_SUCCESS);
 }