PrepRequestProcessor.setFailCreate(true); try { zk.create("/m", null, Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE, CreateMode.PERSISTENT); PrepRequestProcessor.setFailCreate(false); zk.create("/.foo", null, Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE, CreateMode.PERSISTENT); zk.create("/.f.", null, Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE, CreateMode.PERSISTENT);