diff --git a/mercurial/pycompat.py b/mercurial/pycompat.py
--- a/mercurial/pycompat.py
+++ b/mercurial/pycompat.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ if not ispy3:
     import Queue as _queue
     import SocketServer as socketserver
     import urlparse
+    urlunquote = urlparse.unquote
     import xmlrpclib
 else:
     import http.client as httplib
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ else:
     import queue as _queue
     import socketserver
     import urllib.parse as urlparse
+    urlunquote = urlparse.unquote_to_bytes
     import xmlrpc.client as xmlrpclib
 
 if ispy3: