diff --git a/cmd/helm/init.go b/cmd/helm/init.go
index e1fab6618..671d91c3e 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/init.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/init.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
@@ -392,11 +391,9 @@ func initLocalRepo(indexFile, cacheFile string, out io.Writer, home helmpath.Hom
 		}
 
 		//TODO: take this out and replace with helm update functionality
-		fp, err := filepath.Rel(home.Cache(), indexFile)
-		if err != nil {
+		if err := createLink(indexFile, cacheFile, home); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		createLink(fp, filepath.Join(home.Cache(), cacheFile))
 	} else if fi.IsDir() {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s must be a file, not a directory", indexFile)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/helm/init_unix.go b/cmd/helm/init_unix.go
index ff6260434..20458a182 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/init_unix.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/init_unix.go
@@ -20,8 +20,15 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm/helmpath"
 )
 
-func createLink(indexFile, cacheFile string) {
-	os.Symlink(indexFile, cacheFile)
+func createLink(indexFile, cacheFile string, home helmpath.Home) error {
+	fp, err := filepath.Rel(home.Cache(), indexFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return os.Symlink(fp, filepath.Join(home.Cache(), cacheFile))
 }
diff --git a/cmd/helm/init_windows.go b/cmd/helm/init_windows.go
index 73ae6c6de..be17bccda 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/init_windows.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/init_windows.go
@@ -20,8 +20,10 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"os"
+
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm/helmpath"
 )
 
-func createLink(indexFile, cacheFile string) {
-	os.Link(indexFile, cacheFile)
+func createLink(indexFile, cacheFile string, home helmpath.Home) error {
+	return os.Link(indexFile, cacheFile)
 }