diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/put.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/put.go
index 7c9a430f0..bd676cbdc 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/put.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/put.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package meta
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/gob"
+
 	objectSDK "github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-api-go/pkg/object"
 	v2object "github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-api-go/v2/object"
 	"github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-node/pkg/core/object"
@@ -59,19 +62,19 @@ func (db *DB) Put(obj *object.Object) error {
 					return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not create bucket for header key", db)
 				}
 
-				// FIXME: here we can get empty slice that could not be the key
-				// Possible solutions:
-				// 1. add prefix byte (0 if empty);
-				v := []byte(indices[i].val)
+				v := nonEmptyKeyBytes([]byte(indices[i].val))
 
-				// create address bucket for the value
-				valBucket, err := keyBucket.CreateBucketIfNotExists(nonEmptyKeyBytes(v))
+				strs, err := decodeAddressList(keyBucket.Get(v))
 				if err != nil {
-					return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not create bucket for header value", db)
+					return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not decode address list", db)
 				}
 
-				// put object address to value bucket
-				if err := valBucket.Put(addrKey, nil); err != nil {
+				data, err := encodeAddressList(append(strs, string(addrKey)))
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not encode address list", db)
+				}
+
+				if err := keyBucket.Put(v, data); err != nil {
 					return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not put item to header bucket", db)
 				}
 			}
@@ -151,3 +154,30 @@ func objectIndices(obj *object.Object, parent bool) []bucketItem {
 
 	return res
 }
+
+// FIXME: gob is a temporary solution, use protobuf.
+func decodeAddressList(data []byte) ([]string, error) {
+	if len(data) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	var strs []string
+
+	decoder := gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(data))
+	if err := decoder.Decode(&strs); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return strs, nil
+}
+
+func encodeAddressList(l []string) ([]byte, error) {
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	encoder := gob.NewEncoder(buf)
+
+	if err := encoder.Encode(l); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/select.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/select.go
index aaec37239..b42461790 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/select.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/metabase/select.go
@@ -66,18 +66,23 @@ func (db *DB) Select(fs object.SearchFilters) ([]*object.Address, error) {
 			fVal := f.Value()
 
 			// iterate over all existing values for the key
-			if err := keyBucket.ForEach(func(k, _ []byte) error {
+			if err := keyBucket.ForEach(func(k, v []byte) error {
 				include := matchFunc(string(key), string(cutKeyBytes(k)), fVal)
 
-				return keyBucket.Bucket(k).ForEach(func(k, _ []byte) error {
-					if include {
-						mAddr[string(k)] = struct{}{}
-					} else {
-						delete(mAddr, string(k))
-					}
+				strs, err := decodeAddressList(v)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not decode address list", db)
+				}
 
-					return nil
-				})
+				for i := range strs {
+					if include {
+						mAddr[strs[i]] = struct{}{}
+					} else {
+						delete(mAddr, strs[i])
+					}
+				}
+
+				return nil
 			}); err != nil {
 				return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not iterate bucket %s", db, key)
 			}