diff --git a/mercurial/archival.py b/mercurial/archival.py
--- a/mercurial/archival.py
+++ b/mercurial/archival.py
@@ -74,8 +74,11 @@ class tarit(object):
         def _write_gzip_header(self):
             self.fileobj.write('\037\213')             # magic header
             self.fileobj.write('\010')                 # compression method
-            # Python 2.6 deprecates self.filename
-            fname = getattr(self, 'name', None) or self.filename
+            # Python 2.6 introduced self.name and deprecated self.filename
+            try:
+                fname = self.name
+            except AttributeError:
+                fname = self.filename
             if fname and fname.endswith('.gz'):
                 fname = fname[:-3]
             flags = 0