This is working correctly w/ kpartx. One instance it seems to be still generating symlinks/nodes intermixed is when using parted. However, during reboot and post-boot kpartx invocation, it is pretty consistent w/ only nodes. So, this seems correct with regards to the code in multipath-tools. Marking verification-done. After parted: # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:26 /dev/mapper/mpath1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 3 Feb 9 11:16 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Feb 9 11:16 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part2 -> ../dm-6 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Feb 9 11:17 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part3 -> ../dm-7 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Feb 9 11:17 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part4 -> ../dm-8 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Feb 9 11:26 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part5 -> ../dm-9 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Feb 9 11:26 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part6 -> ../dm-10 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Feb 9 11:26 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part7 -> ../dm-11 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Feb 9 11:26 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part8 -> ../dm-12 After reboot: # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 3 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 5 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 7 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 8 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part4 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 9 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part5 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 10 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part6 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 11 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part7 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 12 Feb 9 11:28 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part8 After a series of kpartx -d/-a -p -part: # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 3 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 5 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 7 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 8 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part4 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 9 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part5 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 10 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part6 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 11 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part7 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 12 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part8 # kpartx -d -p -part /dev/mapper/mpath1 # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 # kpartx -a -p -part /dev/mapper/mpath1 # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 3 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 5 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 7 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 8 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part4 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 9 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part5 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 10 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part6 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 11 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part7 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 12 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part8 # kpartx -d -p -part /dev/mapper/mpath1 # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 # kpartx -a -p -part /dev/mapper/mpath1 # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 3 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 5 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 7 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 8 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part4 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 9 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part5 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 10 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part6 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 11 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part7 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 12 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part8 # kpartx -d -p -part /dev/mapper/mpath1 # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 # kpartx -a -p -part /dev/mapper/mpath1 # ls -l /dev/mapper/mpath1* brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 1 Feb 9 11:34 /dev/mapper/mpath1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 3 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 5 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 7 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 8 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part4 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 9 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part5 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 10 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part6 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 11 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part7 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 252, 12 Feb 9 11:35 /dev/mapper/mpath1-part8