EAs and holes

System

I had never noticed this before, but it appears that with 6.5 at least, extended attributes are not available on holes, either through the GUI or through iwextattr. iwextattr returns this:

C:\Documents and Settings\rhuffstedtler>iwextattr -g TeamSite/Metadata/siteSection //IWCM03
/default/main/public/FOO/www-FOO-com/WORKAREA/content/FOO/WIP_Test_Avian_111056
8173829.jsp
Lookup of EA TeamSite/Metadata/siteSection failed, err=2439

Interestingly, iwattrib can still return any of the base attributes.

I'm using the EAs to route content to the proper approver in workflow. Does anyone know of a way to get the extended attributes directly from the file when it's a hole, or am I looking at having to put my metadata in a db to do exactly what I want?