diff --git a/pageserver/src/aux_file.rs b/pageserver/src/aux_file.rs
index aba4ccf19d..2752b15378 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/aux_file.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/aux_file.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use bytes::{Buf, BufMut};
 use pageserver_api::key::{Key, AUX_KEY_PREFIX, METADATA_KEY_SIZE};
 use tracing::warn;
 
@@ -61,6 +62,48 @@ pub fn encode_aux_file_key(path: &str) -> Key {
     }
 }
 
+const AUX_FILE_ENCODING_VERSION: u8 = 0x01;
+
+pub fn decode_file_value(val: &[u8]) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<(&str, &[u8])>> {
+    let mut ptr = &val[..];
+    assert_eq!(
+        ptr.get_u8(),
+        AUX_FILE_ENCODING_VERSION,
+        "unsupported aux file value"
+    );
+    let mut files = vec![];
+    while ptr.has_remaining() {
+        let key_len = ptr.get_u32() as usize;
+        let key = &ptr[..key_len];
+        ptr.advance(key_len);
+        let val_len = ptr.get_u32() as usize;
+        let content = &ptr[..val_len];
+        ptr.advance(val_len);
+
+        let path = std::str::from_utf8(key)?;
+        files.push((path, content));
+    }
+    Ok(files)
+}
+
+pub fn encode_file_value(files: &[(&str, &[u8])]) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<u8>> {
+    let mut encoded = vec![];
+    encoded.put_u8(AUX_FILE_ENCODING_VERSION);
+    for (path, content) in files {
+        if path.len() > u32::MAX as usize {
+            anyhow::bail!("{} exceeds path size limit", path);
+        }
+        encoded.put_u32(path.len() as u32);
+        encoded.put_slice(path.as_bytes());
+        if content.len() > u32::MAX as usize {
+            anyhow::bail!("{} exceeds content size limit", path);
+        }
+        encoded.put_u32(content.len() as u32);
+        encoded.put_slice(content);
+    }
+    Ok(encoded)
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
diff --git a/pageserver/src/pgdatadir_mapping.rs b/pageserver/src/pgdatadir_mapping.rs
index c733b38acb..aa9b8b5c77 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/pgdatadir_mapping.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/pgdatadir_mapping.rs
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@
 use super::tenant::{PageReconstructError, Timeline};
 use crate::context::RequestContext;
 use crate::keyspace::{KeySpace, KeySpaceAccum};
-use crate::repository::*;
 use crate::span::debug_assert_current_span_has_tenant_and_timeline_id_no_shard_id;
 use crate::walrecord::NeonWalRecord;
+use crate::{aux_file, repository::*};
 use anyhow::{ensure, Context};
 use bytes::{Buf, Bytes, BytesMut};
 use enum_map::Enum;
@@ -1392,6 +1392,37 @@ impl<'a> DatadirModification<'a> {
         content: &[u8],
         ctx: &RequestContext,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        const AUX_FILES_V2: bool = false; // disable for now until we settle down the feature flag for aux file v2
+        if AUX_FILES_V2 {
+            let key = aux_file::encode_aux_file_key(path);
+            // retrieve the key from the engine
+            let old_val = match self.get(key, ctx).await {
+                Ok(val) => Some(val),
+                Err(PageReconstructError::MissingKey(_)) => None,
+                Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
+            };
+            let files = if let Some(ref old_val) = old_val {
+                aux_file::decode_file_value(old_val)?
+            } else {
+                Vec::new()
+            };
+            let new_files = if content.is_empty() {
+                files
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .filter(|(p, _)| &path != p)
+                    .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            } else {
+                files
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .filter(|(p, _)| &path != p)
+                    .chain(std::iter::once((path, content)))
+                    .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            };
+            let new_val = aux_file::encode_file_value(&new_files)?;
+            self.put(key, Value::Image(new_val.into()));
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
         let file_path = path.to_string();
         let content = if content.is_empty() {
             None