diff --git a/mercurial/httppeer.py b/mercurial/httppeer.py
--- a/mercurial/httppeer.py
+++ b/mercurial/httppeer.py
@@ -491,13 +491,9 @@
             inst = httpspeer(ui, path)
         else:
             inst = httppeer(ui, path)
-        try:
-            # Try to do useful work when checking compatibility.
-            # Usually saves a roundtrip since we want the caps anyway.
-            inst._fetchcaps()
-        except error.RepoError:
-            # No luck, try older compatibility check.
-            inst.between([(nullid, nullid)])
+
+        inst._fetchcaps()
+
         return inst
     except error.RepoError as httpexception:
         try: