diff --git a/tsdb/index/inmem/inmem_test.go b/tsdb/index/inmem/inmem_test.go
index 5e5ffa24b5..206e947719 100644
--- a/tsdb/index/inmem/inmem_test.go
+++ b/tsdb/index/inmem/inmem_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package inmem_test
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/influxdb/models"
@@ -21,9 +23,11 @@ func createData(lo, hi int) (keys, names [][]byte, tags []models.Tags) {
 }
 
 func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_MaxValuesExceeded(b *testing.B) {
-	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", nil)}
+	sfile := mustOpenSeriesFile()
+	defer sfile.Close()
+	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", sfile.SeriesFile)}
 	opt.Config.MaxValuesPerTag = 10
-	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), nil, opt)
+	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), sfile.SeriesFile, opt)
 	si.Open()
 	keys, names, tags := createData(0, 10)
 	si.CreateSeriesListIfNotExists(keys, names, tags)
@@ -37,9 +41,11 @@ func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_MaxValuesExceeded(b *testin
 }
 
 func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_MaxValuesNotExceeded(b *testing.B) {
-	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", nil)}
+	sfile := mustOpenSeriesFile()
+	defer sfile.Close()
+	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", sfile.SeriesFile)}
 	opt.Config.MaxValuesPerTag = 100000
-	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), nil, opt)
+	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), sfile.SeriesFile, opt)
 	si.Open()
 	keys, names, tags := createData(0, 10)
 	si.CreateSeriesListIfNotExists(keys, names, tags)
@@ -53,8 +59,10 @@ func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_MaxValuesNotExceeded(b *tes
 }
 
 func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_NoMaxValues(b *testing.B) {
-	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", nil)}
-	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), nil, opt)
+	sfile := mustOpenSeriesFile()
+	defer sfile.Close()
+	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", sfile.SeriesFile)}
+	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), sfile.SeriesFile, opt)
 	si.Open()
 	keys, names, tags := createData(0, 10)
 	si.CreateSeriesListIfNotExists(keys, names, tags)
@@ -68,10 +76,12 @@ func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_NoMaxValues(b *testing.B) {
 }
 
 func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_MaxSeriesExceeded(b *testing.B) {
-	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", nil)}
+	sfile := mustOpenSeriesFile()
+	defer sfile.Close()
+	opt := tsdb.EngineOptions{InmemIndex: inmem.NewIndex("foo", sfile.SeriesFile)}
 	opt.Config.MaxValuesPerTag = 0
 	opt.Config.MaxSeriesPerDatabase = 10
-	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), nil, opt)
+	si := inmem.NewShardIndex(1, "foo", "bar", tsdb.NewSeriesIDSet(), sfile.SeriesFile, opt)
 	si.Open()
 	keys, names, tags := createData(0, 10)
 	si.CreateSeriesListIfNotExists(keys, names, tags)
@@ -83,3 +93,41 @@ func BenchmarkShardIndex_CreateSeriesListIfNotExists_MaxSeriesExceeded(b *testin
 		si.CreateSeriesListIfNotExists(keys, names, tags)
 	}
 }
+
+// seriesFileWrapper is a test wrapper for tsdb.seriesFileWrapper.
+type seriesFileWrapper struct {
+	*tsdb.SeriesFile
+}
+
+// newSeriesFileWrapper returns a new instance of seriesFileWrapper with a temporary file path.
+func newSeriesFileWrapper() *seriesFileWrapper {
+	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tsdb-series-file-")
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return &seriesFileWrapper{SeriesFile: tsdb.NewSeriesFile(dir)}
+}
+
+// mustOpenSeriesFile returns a new, open instance of seriesFileWrapper. Panic on error.
+func mustOpenSeriesFile() *seriesFileWrapper {
+	f := newSeriesFileWrapper()
+	if err := f.Open(); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return f
+}
+
+// Close closes the log file and removes it from disk.
+func (f *seriesFileWrapper) Close() error {
+	defer os.RemoveAll(f.Path())
+	return f.SeriesFile.Close()
+}
+
+// reopen initialises a new series file using the existing one.
+func (f *seriesFileWrapper) reopen() error {
+	if err := f.SeriesFile.Close(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	f.SeriesFile = tsdb.NewSeriesFile(f.SeriesFile.Path())
+	return nil
+}