diff --git a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/Py4JBackendApi.scala b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/Py4JBackendApi.scala
index 8ea280c08dde..49f43f603f16 100644
--- a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/Py4JBackendApi.scala
+++ b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/Py4JBackendApi.scala
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ final class Py4JBackendApi(backend: Backend) extends Closeable with ErrorHandlin
           else NonOwningTempFileManager(tmpFileManager),
         theHailClassLoader = hcl,
         flags = flags,
-        irMetadata = IrMetadata(None),
+        irMetadata = new IrMetadata(),
         references = references,
         blockMatrixCache = bmCache,
         codeCache = codeCache,
diff --git a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/ServiceBackendApi.scala b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/ServiceBackendApi.scala
index f089d79fb84c..12326f535d25 100644
--- a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/ServiceBackendApi.scala
+++ b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/backend/api/ServiceBackendApi.scala
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ object ServiceBackendApi extends HttpLikeBackendRpc[Request] with Logging {
           null,
           env.hcl,
           env.flags,
-          IrMetadata(None),
+          new IrMetadata(),
           mutable.Map(env.references.toSeq: _*),
           NoCaching,
           NoCaching,
diff --git a/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/HailSuite.scala b/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/HailSuite.scala
index b5b40cdf7bde..40a5bcbea63f 100644
--- a/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/HailSuite.scala
+++ b/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/HailSuite.scala
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class HailSuite extends TestNGSuite with TestUtils {
       _tempFileManager = null,
       theHailClassLoader = HailSuite.theHailClassLoader,
       flags = HailSuite.flags,
-      irMetadata = IrMetadata(None),
+      irMetadata = new IrMetadata(),
       References = ImmutableMap(ReferenceGenome.builtinReferences()),
       BlockMatrixCache = NoCaching,
       CodeCache = NoCaching,