diff --git a/mercurial/pure/base85.py b/mercurial/pure/base85.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mercurial/pure/base85.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+# base85.py: pure python base85 codec
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2009 Brendan Cully <brendan@kublai.com>
+#
+# This software may be used and distributed according to the terms of
+# the GNU General Public License, incorporated herein by reference.
+
+import struct
+
+_b85chars = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" \
+            "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz!#$%&()*+-;<=>?@^_`{|}~"
+_b85dec = {}
+
+def _mkb85dec():
+    for i in range(len(_b85chars)):
+        _b85dec[_b85chars[i]] = i
+
+def b85encode(text, pad=False):
+    """encode text in base85 format"""
+    l = len(text)
+    r = l % 4
+    if r:
+        text += '\0' * (4 - r)
+    longs = len(text) >> 2
+    out = []
+    words = struct.unpack('>%dL' % (longs), text)
+    for word in words:
+        # unrolling improved speed by 33%
+        word, r = divmod(word, 85)
+        e = _b85chars[r]
+        word, r = divmod(word, 85)
+        d = _b85chars[r]
+        word, r = divmod(word, 85)
+        c = _b85chars[r]
+        word, r = divmod(word, 85)
+        b = _b85chars[r]
+        word, r = divmod(word, 85)
+        a = _b85chars[r]
+
+        out += (a, b, c, d, e)
+
+    out = ''.join(out)
+    if pad:
+        return out
+
+    # Trim padding
+    olen = l % 4
+    if olen:
+        olen += 1
+    olen += l / 4 * 5
+    return out[:olen]
+
+def b85decode(text):
+    """decode base85-encoded text"""
+    if not _b85dec:
+        _mkb85dec()
+
+    l = len(text)
+    out = []
+    for i in range(0, len(text), 5):
+        chunk = text[i:i+5]
+        acc = 0
+        for j in range(len(chunk)):
+            try:
+                acc = acc * 85 + _b85dec[chunk[j]]
+            except KeyError:
+                raise TypeError('Bad base85 character at byte %d' % (i + j))
+        if acc > 4294967295:
+            raise OverflowError('Base85 overflow in hunk starting at byte %d' % i)
+        out.append(acc)
+
+    # Pad final chunk if necessary
+    cl = l % 5
+    if cl:
+        acc *= 85 ** (5 - cl)
+        if cl > 1:
+            acc += 0xffffff >> (cl - 2) * 8
+        out[-1] = acc
+
+    out = struct.pack('>%dL' % (len(out)), *out)
+    if cl:
+        out = out[:-(5 - cl)]
+
+    return out