diff --git a/src/cli/repo/s3.go b/src/cli/repo/s3.go
index 06be910e3..10c85484a 100644
--- a/src/cli/repo/s3.go
+++ b/src/cli/repo/s3.go
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func makeS3Config() (storage.S3Config, storage.CommonConfig, error) {
 		})
 }
 
-func closeRepo(ctx context.Context, r repository.Repository) {
+func closeRepo(ctx context.Context, r *repository.Repository) {
 	if err := r.Close(ctx); err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("Error closing repository: %v\n", err)
 	}
diff --git a/src/internal/kopia/kopia.go b/src/internal/kopia/kopia.go
index 3be5222c0..78e4a924f 100644
--- a/src/internal/kopia/kopia.go
+++ b/src/internal/kopia/kopia.go
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ type KopiaWrapper struct {
 	rep     repo.Repository
 }
 
-func New(s storage.Storage) KopiaWrapper {
-	return KopiaWrapper{storage: s}
+func New(s storage.Storage) *KopiaWrapper {
+	return &KopiaWrapper{storage: s}
 }
 
-func (kw KopiaWrapper) Initialize(ctx context.Context) error {
+func (kw *KopiaWrapper) Initialize(ctx context.Context) error {
 	bst, err := blobStoreByProvider(ctx, kw.storage)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, errInit.Error())
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (kw KopiaWrapper) Initialize(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (kw KopiaWrapper) Connect(ctx context.Context) error {
+func (kw *KopiaWrapper) Connect(ctx context.Context) error {
 	bst, err := blobStoreByProvider(ctx, kw.storage)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, errInit.Error())
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func blobStoreByProvider(ctx context.Context, s storage.Storage) (blob.Storage,
 	}
 }
 
-func (kw KopiaWrapper) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
+func (kw *KopiaWrapper) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if kw.rep == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ func (kw KopiaWrapper) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (kw KopiaWrapper) open(ctx context.Context, password string) error {
+func (kw *KopiaWrapper) open(ctx context.Context, password string) error {
 	// TODO(ashmrtnz): issue #75: nil here should be storage.ConnectionOptions().
 	rep, err := repo.Open(ctx, defaultKopiaConfigFilePath, password, nil)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/internal/kopia/kopia_test.go b/src/internal/kopia/kopia_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c87dfa86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/internal/kopia/kopia_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package kopia
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/suite"
+
+	ctesting "github.com/alcionai/corso/internal/testing"
+)
+
+func openKopiaRepo(ctx context.Context, prefix string) (*KopiaWrapper, error) {
+	storage, err := ctesting.NewS3Storage(prefix)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	k := New(storage)
+	if err = k.Initialize(ctx); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return k, nil
+}
+
+// ---------------
+// unit tests
+// ---------------
+type KopiaUnitSuite struct {
+	suite.Suite
+}
+
+func (suite *KopiaUnitSuite) TestCloseWithoutOpenDoesNotCrash() {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	timeOfTest := time.Now().UTC().Format("2016-01-02T15:04:05")
+	suite.T().Logf("TestCloseWithoutOpenDoesNotCrash() run at %s", timeOfTest)
+
+	k := KopiaWrapper{}
+	assert.NotPanics(suite.T(), func() {
+		k.Close(ctx)
+	})
+}
+
+// ---------------
+// integration tests that use kopia
+// ---------------
+type KopiaIntegrationSuite struct {
+	suite.Suite
+}
+
+func TestKopiaIntegrationSuite(t *testing.T) {
+	runIntegrationTests := os.Getenv("INTEGRATION_TESTING")
+	if runIntegrationTests != "true" {
+		t.Skip()
+	}
+
+	suite.Run(t, new(KopiaIntegrationSuite))
+}
+
+func (suite *KopiaIntegrationSuite) SetupSuite() {
+	require.NoError(suite.T(), ctesting.CheckS3EnvVars())
+}
+
+func (suite *KopiaIntegrationSuite) TestCloseTwiceDoesNotCrash() {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	timeOfTest := time.Now().UTC().Format("2016-01-02T15:04:05")
+	suite.T().Logf("TestCloseTwiceDoesNotCrash() run at %s", timeOfTest)
+
+	k, err := openKopiaRepo(ctx, "init-s3-"+timeOfTest)
+	assert.NoError(suite.T(), err)
+	assert.NoError(suite.T(), k.Close(ctx))
+	assert.Nil(suite.T(), k.rep)
+	assert.NoError(suite.T(), k.Close(ctx))
+}
diff --git a/src/pkg/repository/repository.go b/src/pkg/repository/repository.go
index 6acd31e70..c705ed1ed 100644
--- a/src/pkg/repository/repository.go
+++ b/src/pkg/repository/repository.go
@@ -49,19 +49,19 @@ func Initialize(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	acct Account,
 	storage storage.Storage,
-) (Repository, error) {
+) (*Repository, error) {
 	k := kopia.New(storage)
 	if err := k.Initialize(ctx); err != nil {
-		return Repository{}, err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	r := Repository{
 		ID:        uuid.New(),
 		Version:   "v1",
 		Account:   acct,
 		Storage:   storage,
-		dataLayer: &k,
+		dataLayer: k,
 	}
-	return r, nil
+	return &r, nil
 }
 
 // Connect will:
@@ -73,22 +73,22 @@ func Connect(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	acct Account,
 	storage storage.Storage,
-) (Repository, error) {
+) (*Repository, error) {
 	k := kopia.New(storage)
 	if err := k.Connect(ctx); err != nil {
-		return Repository{}, err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	// todo: ID and CreatedAt should get retrieved from a stored kopia config.
 	r := Repository{
 		Version:   "v1",
 		Account:   acct,
 		Storage:   storage,
-		dataLayer: &k,
+		dataLayer: k,
 	}
-	return r, nil
+	return &r, nil
 }
 
-func (r Repository) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
+func (r *Repository) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if r.dataLayer == nil {
 		return nil
 	}