diff --git oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/Oak.java oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/Oak.java
index a64874a..b91b46f 100644
--- oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/Oak.java
+++ oak-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/Oak.java
@@ -143,8 +143,7 @@ public class Oak {
 
     private final Closer closer = Closer.create();
 
-    private boolean initialized;
-
+    private ContentRepository contentRepository;
 
     /**
      * Default {@code ScheduledExecutorService} used for scheduling background tasks.
@@ -522,9 +521,16 @@ public class Oak {
     }
 
     public ContentRepository createContentRepository() {
+        if (contentRepository == null) {
+            contentRepository = createNewContentRepository();
+        }
+
+        return contentRepository;
+    }
+
+    private ContentRepository createNewContentRepository() {
         //TODO FIXME OAK-2736
         //checkState(!initialized, "Oak instance should be used only once to create the ContentRepository instance");
-        initialized = true;
         final List<Registration> regs = Lists.newArrayList();
         regs.add(whiteboard.register(Executor.class, getExecutor(), Collections.emptyMap()));
 
diff --git oak-jcr/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/jcr/Jcr.java oak-jcr/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/jcr/Jcr.java
index 5afed7c..a926746 100644
--- oak-jcr/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/jcr/Jcr.java
+++ oak-jcr/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/jcr/Jcr.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import javax.jcr.Repository;
 
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.Oak;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.api.ContentRepository;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.jcr.repository.RepositoryImpl;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.plugins.commit.ConflictValidatorProvider;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.plugins.index.IndexEditorProvider;
@@ -69,6 +70,8 @@ public class Jcr {
     private int observationQueueLength = DEFAULT_OBSERVATION_QUEUE_LENGTH;
     private CommitRateLimiter commitRateLimiter = null;
 
+    private Repository repository;
+
     public Jcr(Oak oak) {
         this.oak = oak;
 
@@ -198,13 +201,21 @@ public class Jcr {
         return this;
     }
 
+    public ContentRepository createContentRepository() {
+        return oak.createContentRepository();
+    }
+
     public Repository createRepository() {
-        return new RepositoryImpl(
-                oak.createContentRepository(), 
-                oak.getWhiteboard(),
-                securityProvider,
-                observationQueueLength,
-                commitRateLimiter);
+        if (repository == null) {
+            repository = new RepositoryImpl(
+                    oak.createContentRepository(),
+                    oak.getWhiteboard(),
+                    securityProvider,
+                    observationQueueLength,
+                    commitRateLimiter);
+        }
+
+        return repository;
     }
 
 }