diff --git a/metadata_db.go b/metadata_db.go
index c0be1af..8ac5cd5 100644
--- a/metadata_db.go
+++ b/metadata_db.go
@@ -751,11 +751,10 @@ func (mdb *MetadataDb) createDataObject(
 		return 0, oph.RecordError(err)
 	}
 
-	sqlStmt = fmt.Sprintf(`
- 		        INSERT INTO namespace
-			VALUES ('%s', '%s', '%d', '%d');`,
-		parentDir, fname, nsDataObjType, inode)
-	if _, err := oph.txn.Exec(sqlStmt); err != nil {
+	sqlStatementPrep, _ := oph.txn.Prepare(`INSERT INTO namespace
+		VALUES ($1, $2, $3, $4);`)
+	defer sqlStatementPrep.Close()
+	if _, err := sqlStatementPrep.Exec(parentDir, fname, nsDataObjType, inode); err != nil {
 		mdb.log("Error inserting %s/%s into the namespace table  err=%s", parentDir, fname, err.Error())
 		return 0, oph.RecordError(err)
 	}
@@ -1132,12 +1131,13 @@ func (mdb *MetadataDb) LookupInDir(ctx context.Context, oph *OpHandle, dir *Dir,
 	}
 
 	// point lookup in the namespace
-	sqlStmt := fmt.Sprintf(`
- 		        SELECT obj_type,inode
-                        FROM namespace
-			WHERE parent = '%s' AND name = '%s';`,
-		dir.FullPath, dirOrFileName)
-	rows, err := oph.txn.Query(sqlStmt)
+	sqlStmtPrep, _ := oph.txn.Prepare(`
+	SELECT obj_type,inode
+		FROM namespace
+	WHERE parent = ? AND name = ?;`)
+	defer sqlStmtPrep.Close()
+	rows, err := sqlStmtPrep.Query(dir.FullPath, dirOrFileName)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, false, oph.RecordError(err)
 	}
diff --git a/test/correctness/code.sh b/test/correctness/code.sh
index 2593c4e..87f4a4f 100644
--- a/test/correctness/code.sh
+++ b/test/correctness/code.sh
@@ -532,11 +532,11 @@ main() {
     mkdir -p $mountpoint
 
     # generate random alphanumeric strings
-    base_dir=$(cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w 12 | head -n 1)
+    base_dir=$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=15 count=1 2>/dev/null| base64 | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9'|fold -w 12|head -n1)
     base_dir="base_$base_dir"
-    faux_dir=$(cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w 12 | head -n 1)
+    faux_dir=$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=15 count=1 2>/dev/null| base64 | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9'|fold -w 12|head -n1)
     faux_dir="faux_$faux_dir"
-    expr_dir=$(cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w 12 | head -n 1)
+    expr_dir=$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=15 count=1 2>/dev/null| base64 | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9'|fold -w 12|head -n1)
     expr_dir="expr_$expr_dir"
     writeable_dirs=($base_dir $faux_dir $expr_dir)
     for d in ${writeable_dirs[@]}; do
diff --git a/util.go b/util.go
index 3b206bd..ef5cc48 100644
--- a/util.go
+++ b/util.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const (
 	MaxDirSize                = 255 * 1000
 	MaxNumFileHandles         = 1000 * 1000
 	NumRetriesDefault         = 10
-	Version                   = "v0.24.1"
+	Version                   = "v0.24.2"
 )
 const (
 	InodeInvalid = 0