diff --git a/accounts/keystore/keystore.go b/accounts/keystore/keystore.go
index f7eaae74e3..25c3663b5c 100644
--- a/accounts/keystore/keystore.go
+++ b/accounts/keystore/keystore.go
@@ -412,13 +412,23 @@ func (ks *KeyStore) expire(addr common.Address, u *unlocked, timeout time.Durati
 	}
 }
 
-// NewAccount generates a new key and stores it into the key directory,
+// CreateNewAccount generates a new key and stores it into the key directory,
 // encrypting it with the passphrase.
-func (ks *KeyStore) NewAccount(passphrase string) (accounts.Account, error) {
+func (ks *KeyStore) CreateNewAccount(passphrase string) (accounts.Account, error) {
 	_, account, err := storeNewKey(ks.storage, crand.Reader, passphrase)
 	if err != nil {
 		return accounts.Account{}, err
 	}
+	return account, nil
+}
+
+// NewAccount generates a new key and stores it into the key directory,
+// encrypting it with the passphrase, and adds it to the cache
+func (ks *KeyStore) NewAccount(passphrase string) (accounts.Account, error) {
+	account, err := ks.CreateNewAccount(passphrase)
+	if err != nil {
+		return account, err
+	}
 	// Add the account to the cache immediately rather
 	// than waiting for file system notifications to pick it up.
 	ks.cache.add(account)
diff --git a/cmd/geth/accountcmd.go b/cmd/geth/accountcmd.go
index 3b767d1cc1..9dddfc3870 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/accountcmd.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/accountcmd.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/console"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/node"
 	"gopkg.in/urfave/cli.v1"
 )
 
@@ -292,17 +293,10 @@ func ambiguousAddrRecovery(ks *keystore.KeyStore, err *keystore.AmbiguousAddrErr
 // accountCreate creates a new account into the keystore defined by the CLI flags.
 func accountCreate(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	cfg := createConfig(ctx)
-	scryptN := keystore.StandardScryptN
-	scryptP := keystore.StandardScryptP
+	ks, _, err := node.MakeKeystoreBackend(&cfg.Node, false)
 
-	if cfg.Node.UseLightweightKDF {
-		scryptN = keystore.LightScryptN
-		scryptP = keystore.LightScryptP
-	}
 	password := getPassPhrase("Your new account is locked with a password. Please give a password. Do not forget this password.", true, 0, utils.MakePasswordList(ctx))
-	ks := keystore.NewUninitializedKeyStore(cfg.Node.KeyStoreDir, scryptN, scryptP)
-
-	account, err := ks.NewAccount(password)
+	account, err := ks.CreateNewAccount(password)
 	if err != nil {
 		utils.Fatalf("Failed to create account: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/node/config.go b/node/config.go
index be9e21b4fa..135394863c 100644
--- a/node/config.go
+++ b/node/config.go
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ func (c *Config) parsePersistentNodes(path string) []*discover.Node {
 	return nodes
 }
 
-func makeAccountManager(conf *Config) (*accounts.Manager, string, error) {
+func MakeKeystoreBackend(conf *Config, loadKeys bool) (*keystore.KeyStore, string, error) {
 	scryptN := keystore.StandardScryptN
 	scryptP := keystore.StandardScryptP
 	if conf.UseLightweightKDF {
@@ -395,10 +395,21 @@ func makeAccountManager(conf *Config) (*accounts.Manager, string, error) {
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(keydir, 0700); err != nil {
 		return nil, "", err
 	}
-	// Assemble the account manager and supported backends
-	backends := []accounts.Backend{
-		keystore.NewKeyStore(keydir, scryptN, scryptP),
+	if !loadKeys {
+		return keystore.NewUninitializedKeyStore(keydir, scryptN, scryptP), ephemeral, nil
 	}
+	return keystore.NewKeyStore(keydir, scryptN, scryptP), ephemeral, nil
+}
+
+func makeAccountManager(conf *Config) (*accounts.Manager, string, error) {
+
+	ks, ephemeral, err := MakeKeystoreBackend(conf, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", err
+	}
+	// Assemble the account manager and supported backends
+
+	backends := []accounts.Backend{ks}
 	if !conf.NoUSB {
 		// Start a USB hub for Ledger hardware wallets
 		if ledgerhub, err := usbwallet.NewLedgerHub(); err != nil {