diff --git a/hgext/shelve.py b/hgext/shelve.py
--- a/hgext/shelve.py
+++ b/hgext/shelve.py
@@ -329,9 +329,7 @@
     dirstatebackupname = 'dirstate.shelve'
     narrowspecbackupname = 'narrowspec.shelve'
     repo.dirstate.savebackup(tr, dirstatebackupname)
-    narrowspec.savebackup(repo, narrowspecbackupname)
     tr.abort()
-    narrowspec.restorebackup(repo, narrowspecbackupname)
     repo.dirstate.restorebackup(None, dirstatebackupname)
 
 def getshelvename(repo, parent, opts):