diff --git a/hgext/mq.py b/hgext/mq.py
--- a/hgext/mq.py
+++ b/hgext/mq.py
@@ -1488,12 +1488,11 @@ class queue(object):
                 qpp = [bin(x) for x in l]
             elif datastart != None:
                 l = line.rstrip()
-                try:
-                    n, name = l.split(':', 1)
-                except ValueError:
+                n, name = l.split(':', 1)
+                if n:
+                    applied.append(statusentry(bin(n), name))
+                else:
                     series.append(l)
-                else:
-                    applied.append(statusentry(bin(n), name))
         if datastart is None:
             self.ui.warn(_("No saved patch data found\n"))
             return 1