Attempting to apply metadata to a filesystem where the current UID/GID is not in /etc/passwd results in a "getpwuid failed" error on startup, and a failure to change the ownership of the files specified in .metadata, with a "removed" message when the files were actually there.

(Situation occurred after running an rsync from a host when restoring, and the UID/GID in question restored by rsync was a different UID/GID to the original.)