diff --git a/mercurial/logexchange.py b/mercurial/logexchange.py
--- a/mercurial/logexchange.py
+++ b/mercurial/logexchange.py
@@ -94,6 +94,27 @@
     finally:
         wlock.release()
 
+def activepath(remote):
+    """returns remote path"""
+    local = None
+    try:
+        local = remote.local()
+    except AttributeError:
+        pass
+
+    # determine the remote path from the repo, if possible; else just
+    # use the string given to us
+    rpath = remote
+    if local:
+        rpath = remote._repo.root
+    elif not isinstance(remote, str):
+        try:
+            rpath = remote._url
+        except AttributeError:
+            rpath = remote.url
+
+    return rpath
+
 def pullremotenames(localrepo, remoterepo):
     """
     pulls bookmarks and branches information of the remote repo during a
@@ -101,7 +122,7 @@
     localrepo is our local repository
     remoterepo is the peer instance
     """
-    remotepath = remoterepo.url()
+    remotepath = activepath(remoterepo)
     bookmarks = remoterepo.listkeys('bookmarks')
     # on a push, we don't want to keep obsolete heads since
     # they won't show up as heads on the next pull, so we
diff --git a/tests/test-logexchange.t b/tests/test-logexchange.t
--- a/tests/test-logexchange.t
+++ b/tests/test-logexchange.t
@@ -57,14 +57,14 @@
   $ cat .hg/logexchange/bookmarks
   0
   
-  87d6d66763085b629e6d7ed56778c79827273022\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00bar (esc)
-  62615734edd52f06b6fb9c2beb429e4fe30d57b8\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00foo (esc)
+  87d6d66763085b629e6d7ed56778c79827273022\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00bar (esc)
+  62615734edd52f06b6fb9c2beb429e4fe30d57b8\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00foo (esc)
 
   $ cat .hg/logexchange/branches
   0
   
-  ec2426147f0e39dbc9cef599b066be6035ce691d\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00default (esc)
-  3e1487808078543b0af6d10dadf5d46943578db0\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00wat (esc)
+  ec2426147f0e39dbc9cef599b066be6035ce691d\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00default (esc)
+  3e1487808078543b0af6d10dadf5d46943578db0\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00wat (esc)
 
 Making a new server
 -------------------
@@ -94,15 +94,15 @@
   $ cat .hg/logexchange/bookmarks
   0
   
-  62615734edd52f06b6fb9c2beb429e4fe30d57b8\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00foo (esc)
-  87d6d66763085b629e6d7ed56778c79827273022\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00bar (esc)
-  87d6d66763085b629e6d7ed56778c79827273022\x00file:$TESTTMP/server2\x00bar (esc)
-  62615734edd52f06b6fb9c2beb429e4fe30d57b8\x00file:$TESTTMP/server2\x00foo (esc)
+  62615734edd52f06b6fb9c2beb429e4fe30d57b8\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00foo (esc)
+  87d6d66763085b629e6d7ed56778c79827273022\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00bar (esc)
+  87d6d66763085b629e6d7ed56778c79827273022\x00$TESTTMP/server2\x00bar (esc)
+  62615734edd52f06b6fb9c2beb429e4fe30d57b8\x00$TESTTMP/server2\x00foo (esc)
 
   $ cat .hg/logexchange/branches
   0
   
-  3e1487808078543b0af6d10dadf5d46943578db0\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00wat (esc)
-  ec2426147f0e39dbc9cef599b066be6035ce691d\x00file:$TESTTMP/server\x00default (esc)
-  ec2426147f0e39dbc9cef599b066be6035ce691d\x00file:$TESTTMP/server2\x00default (esc)
-  3e1487808078543b0af6d10dadf5d46943578db0\x00file:$TESTTMP/server2\x00wat (esc)
+  3e1487808078543b0af6d10dadf5d46943578db0\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00wat (esc)
+  ec2426147f0e39dbc9cef599b066be6035ce691d\x00$TESTTMP/server\x00default (esc)
+  ec2426147f0e39dbc9cef599b066be6035ce691d\x00$TESTTMP/server2\x00default (esc)
+  3e1487808078543b0af6d10dadf5d46943578db0\x00$TESTTMP/server2\x00wat (esc)