diff --git a/src/shifter_core.c b/src/shifter_core.c
index 364daf64..452774b1 100644
--- a/src/shifter_core.c
+++ b/src/shifter_core.c
@@ -1643,9 +1643,11 @@ int setupPerNodeCacheBackingStore(VolMapPerNodeCacheConfig *cache, const char *b
         }
         args = (char **) _malloc(sizeof(char *) * 4);
         args[0] = _strdup(udiConfig->mkfsXfsPath);
-        args[1] = _strdup("-d");
-        args[2] = alloc_strgenf("name=%s,file=1,size=%lu", buffer, cache->cacheSize);
-        args[3] = NULL;
+        args[1] = _strdup("-b");
+        args[2] = alloc_strgenf("size=%lu", cache->blockSize);
+        args[3] = _strdup("-d");
+        args[4] = alloc_strgenf("name=%s,file=1,size=%lu", buffer, cache->cacheSize);
+        args[5] = NULL;
         ret = forkAndExecvSilent(args);
         for (argPtr = args; argPtr && *argPtr; argPtr++) {
             free(*argPtr);
diff --git a/src/test/test_shifter_core.cpp b/src/test/test_shifter_core.cpp
index 7c4b20a8..b5cd4958 100644
--- a/src/test/test_shifter_core.cpp
+++ b/src/test/test_shifter_core.cpp
@@ -604,6 +604,7 @@ IGNORE_TEST(ShifterCoreTestGroup, setupPerNodeCacheBackingStore_tests) {
 
     cache->fstype = strdup("xfs");
     cache->cacheSize = 200 * 1024 * 1024; // 200mb
+    cache->blockSize = 4096; // 4 KiB
 
     if (access("/sbin/mkfs.xfs", X_OK) == 0) {
         config->target_uid = getuid();