diff --git a/mercurial/patch.py b/mercurial/patch.py
--- a/mercurial/patch.py
+++ b/mercurial/patch.py
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ class patchfile(object):
         self.hash = {}
         self.dirty = 0
         self.offset = 0
+        self.skew = 0
         self.rej = []
         self.fileprinted = False
         self.printfile(False)
@@ -423,7 +424,10 @@ class patchfile(object):
         else:
             start = h.starta + self.offset - 1
         orig_start = start
-        if diffhelpers.testhunk(old, self.lines, start) == 0:
+        # if there's skew we want to emit the "(offset %d lines)" even
+        # when the hunk cleanly applies at start + skew, so skip the
+        # fast case code
+        if self.skew == 0 and diffhelpers.testhunk(old, self.lines, start) == 0:
             if h.rmfile():
                 self.unlink(self.fname)
             else:
@@ -439,7 +443,7 @@ class patchfile(object):
             # override the start line and use eof here
             search_start = len(self.lines)
         else:
-            search_start = orig_start
+            search_start = orig_start + self.skew
 
         for fuzzlen in xrange(3):
             for toponly in [ True, False ]:
@@ -451,6 +455,7 @@ class patchfile(object):
                         newlines = h.new(fuzzlen, toponly)
                         self.lines[l : l + len(old)] = newlines
                         self.offset += len(newlines) - len(old)
+                        self.skew = l - orig_start
                         self.dirty = 1
                         if fuzzlen:
                             fuzzstr = "with fuzz %d " % fuzzlen
diff --git a/tests/test-patch-offset b/tests/test-patch-offset
new file mode 100755
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-patch-offset
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+cat > writepatterns.py <<EOF
+import sys
+
+path = sys.argv[1]
+patterns = sys.argv[2:]
+
+fp = file(path, 'wb')
+for pattern in patterns:
+    count = int(pattern[0:-1])
+    char = pattern[-1] + '\n'
+    fp.write(char*count)
+fp.close()
+EOF
+
+echo % prepare repo
+hg init a
+cd a
+
+# These initial lines of Xs were not in the original file used to generate
+# the patch.  So all the patch hunks need to be applied to a constant offset
+# within this file.  If the offset isn't tracked then the hunks can be
+# applied to the wrong lines of this file.
+python ../writepatterns.py a 34X 10A 1B 10A 1C 10A 1B 10A 1D 10A 1B 10A 1E 10A 1B 10A
+hg commit -Am adda
+
+# This is a cleaner patch generated via diff
+# In this case it reproduces the problem when
+# the output of hg export does not
+echo % import patch
+hg import -v -m 'b' -d '2 0' - <<EOF
+--- a/a	2009-12-08 19:26:17.000000000 -0800
++++ b/a	2009-12-08 19:26:17.000000000 -0800
+@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
+ A
+ A
+ B
+-A
++a
+ A
+ A
+ A
+@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
+ A
+ A
+ B
+-A
++a
+ A
+ A
+ A
+@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
+ A
+ A
+ B
+-A
++a
+ A
+ A
+ A
+EOF
+
+echo % compare imported changes against reference file
+python ../writepatterns.py aref 34X 10A 1B 1a 9A 1C 10A 1B 10A 1D 10A 1B 1a 9A 1E 10A 1B 1a 9A
+diff -u aref a
+
diff --git a/tests/test-patch-offset.out b/tests/test-patch-offset.out
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-patch-offset.out
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+% prepare repo
+adding a
+% import patch
+applying patch from stdin
+patching file a
+Hunk #1 succeeded at 43 (offset 34 lines).
+Hunk #2 succeeded at 87 (offset 34 lines).
+Hunk #3 succeeded at 109 (offset 34 lines).
+a
+% compare imported changes against reference file