diff --git a/snapshot/btrfs/btrfs_test.go b/snapshot/btrfs/btrfs_test.go
index 2a1e9e748..5259ea765 100644
--- a/snapshot/btrfs/btrfs_test.go
+++ b/snapshot/btrfs/btrfs_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/mount"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot/testsuite"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/testutil"
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ func TestBtrfs(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestBtrfsMounts(t *testing.T) {
 	testutil.RequiresRoot(t)
-	ctx := context.Background()
+	ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-btrfs-test")
 
 	// create temporary directory for mount point
 	mountPoint, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "containerd-btrfs-test")
diff --git a/snapshot/overlay/overlay_test.go b/snapshot/overlay/overlay_test.go
index f80d11559..0a9252fa6 100644
--- a/snapshot/overlay/overlay_test.go
+++ b/snapshot/overlay/overlay_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/mount"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot/storage"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot/testsuite"
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ func TestOverlay(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestOverlayMounts(t *testing.T) {
-	ctx := context.TODO()
+	ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-overlay-test")
 	root, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "overlay")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ func TestOverlayMounts(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestOverlayCommit(t *testing.T) {
-	ctx := context.TODO()
+	ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-overlay-test")
 	root, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "overlay")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ func TestOverlayCommit(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestOverlayOverlayMount(t *testing.T) {
-	ctx := context.TODO()
+	ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-overlay-test")
 	root, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "overlay")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ func getParents(ctx context.Context, sn snapshot.Snapshotter, root, key string)
 
 func TestOverlayOverlayRead(t *testing.T) {
 	testutil.RequiresRoot(t)
-	ctx := context.TODO()
+	ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-overlay-test")
 	root, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "overlay")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ func TestOverlayOverlayRead(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestOverlayView(t *testing.T) {
-	ctx := context.TODO()
+	ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-overlay-test")
 	root, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "overlay")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/snapshot/storage/bolt.go b/snapshot/storage/bolt.go
index ba5e43e31..8be5245da 100644
--- a/snapshot/storage/bolt.go
+++ b/snapshot/storage/bolt.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/boltdb/bolt"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot"
 	db "github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot/storage/proto"
 	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ func CreateActive(ctx context.Context, key, parent string, readonly bool) (a Act
 			return snapshot.ErrSnapshotExist
 		}
 
-		id, err := bkt.NextSequence()
+		id, err := nextSequence(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "unable to get identifier")
 		}
@@ -309,28 +310,68 @@ func CommitActive(ctx context.Context, key, name string, usage snapshot.Usage) (
 	return
 }
 
+// nextSequence maintains the snapshot ids in the same space across namespaces
+// to avoid collisions on the filesystem, which is typically not namespace
+// aware. This will also be useful to ensure that snapshots can be used across
+// namespaces in the future, by projecting parent relationships into an
+// alternate namespace without fixing up identifiers.
+func nextSequence(ctx context.Context) (uint64, error) {
+	t, ok := ctx.Value(transactionKey{}).(*boltFileTransactor)
+	if !ok {
+		return 0, ErrNoTransaction
+	}
+
+	bkt := t.tx.Bucket(bucketKeyStorageVersion)
+	if bkt == nil {
+		return 0, errors.New("version bucket required for sequence")
+	}
+
+	return bkt.NextSequence()
+}
+
 func withBucket(ctx context.Context, fn func(context.Context, *bolt.Bucket, *bolt.Bucket) error) error {
+	namespace, err := namespaces.NamespaceRequired(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	t, ok := ctx.Value(transactionKey{}).(*boltFileTransactor)
 	if !ok {
 		return ErrNoTransaction
 	}
-	bkt := t.tx.Bucket(bucketKeyStorageVersion)
-	if bkt == nil {
+	nbkt := t.tx.Bucket(bucketKeyStorageVersion)
+	if nbkt == nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(snapshot.ErrSnapshotNotExist, "bucket does not exist")
 	}
+
+	bkt := nbkt.Bucket([]byte(namespace))
+	if bkt == nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(snapshot.ErrSnapshotNotExist, "namespace not available in snapshotter")
+	}
+
 	return fn(ctx, bkt.Bucket(bucketKeySnapshot), bkt.Bucket(bucketKeyParents))
 }
 
 func createBucketIfNotExists(ctx context.Context, fn func(context.Context, *bolt.Bucket, *bolt.Bucket) error) error {
+	namespace, err := namespaces.NamespaceRequired(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	t, ok := ctx.Value(transactionKey{}).(*boltFileTransactor)
 	if !ok {
 		return ErrNoTransaction
 	}
 
-	bkt, err := t.tx.CreateBucketIfNotExists(bucketKeyStorageVersion)
+	nbkt, err := t.tx.CreateBucketIfNotExists(bucketKeyStorageVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create version bucket")
 	}
+
+	bkt, err := nbkt.CreateBucketIfNotExists([]byte(namespace))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	sbkt, err := bkt.CreateBucketIfNotExists(bucketKeySnapshot)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create snapshots bucket")
diff --git a/snapshot/storage/metastore_test.go b/snapshot/storage/metastore_test.go
index 83772257b..ca800db45 100644
--- a/snapshot/storage/metastore_test.go
+++ b/snapshot/storage/metastore_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ func MetaStoreSuite(t *testing.T, name string, meta func(root string) (*MetaStor
 // makeTest creates a testsuite with a writable transaction
 func makeTest(t *testing.T, name string, metaFn metaFactory, fn testFunc) func(t *testing.T) {
 	return func(t *testing.T) {
-		ctx := context.Background()
+		ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "testing-snapshot-metadata")
 		tmpDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "metastore-test-"+name+"-")
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/snapshot/testsuite/testsuite.go b/snapshot/testsuite/testsuite.go
index f447802d0..fee6bcdff 100644
--- a/snapshot/testsuite/testsuite.go
+++ b/snapshot/testsuite/testsuite.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/fs/fstest"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/mount"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/snapshot"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/testutil"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ func SnapshotterSuite(t *testing.T, name string, snapshotterFn func(ctx context.
 
 func makeTest(t *testing.T, name string, snapshotterFn func(ctx context.Context, root string) (snapshot.Snapshotter, func(), error), fn func(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, snapshotter snapshot.Snapshotter, work string)) func(t *testing.T) {
 	return func(t *testing.T) {
-		ctx := context.Background()
+		ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "snapshotter-test")
 		restoreMask := clearMask()
 		defer restoreMask()
 		// Make two directories: a snapshotter root and a play area for the tests: