diff --git a/mercurial/changelog.py b/mercurial/changelog.py
--- a/mercurial/changelog.py
+++ b/mercurial/changelog.py
@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@
     ]
     return "\n".join(items)
 
+def decodecopies(data):
+    try:
+        copies = {}
+        for l in data.split('\n'):
+            k, v = l.split('\0')
+            copies[_string_unescape(k)] = _string_unescape(v)
+        return copies
+    except ValueError:
+        # Perhaps someone had chosen the same key name (e.g. "p1copies") and
+        # used different syntax for the value.
+        return None
+
 def stripdesc(desc):
     """strip trailing whitespace and leading and trailing empty lines"""
     return '\n'.join([l.rstrip() for l in desc.splitlines()]).strip('\n')
@@ -286,6 +298,16 @@
         return self._text[off[2] + 1:off[3]].split('\n')
 
     @property
+    def p1copies(self):
+        rawcopies = self.extra.get('p1copies')
+        return rawcopies and decodecopies(rawcopies)
+
+    @property
+    def p2copies(self):
+        rawcopies = self.extra.get('p2copies')
+        return rawcopies and decodecopies(rawcopies)
+
+    @property
     def description(self):
         return encoding.tolocal(self._text[self._offsets[3] + 2:])
 
diff --git a/mercurial/context.py b/mercurial/context.py
--- a/mercurial/context.py
+++ b/mercurial/context.py
@@ -441,6 +441,21 @@
         return self._changeset.files
     @propertycache
     def _copies(self):
+        source = self._repo.ui.config('experimental', 'copies.read-from')
+        p1copies = self._changeset.p1copies
+        p2copies = self._changeset.p2copies
+        # If config says to get copy metadata only from changeset, then return
+        # that, defaulting to {} if there was no copy metadata.
+        # In compatibility mode, we return copy data from the changeset if
+        # it was recorded there, and otherwise we fall back to getting it from
+        # the filelogs (below).
+        if (source == 'changeset-only' or
+            (source == 'compatibility' and p1copies is not None)):
+            return p1copies or {}, p2copies or {}
+
+        # Otherwise (config said to read only from filelog, or we are in
+        # compatiblity mode and there is not data in the changeset), we get
+        # the copy metadata from the filelogs.
         p1copies = {}
         p2copies = {}
         p1 = self.p1()
diff --git a/mercurial/copies.py b/mercurial/copies.py
--- a/mercurial/copies.py
+++ b/mercurial/copies.py
@@ -162,8 +162,8 @@
 
 def usechangesetcentricalgo(repo):
     """Checks if we should use changeset-centric copy algorithms"""
-    return (repo.ui.config('experimental', 'copies.read-from') ==
-            'compatibility')
+    return (repo.ui.config('experimental', 'copies.read-from') in
+            ('changeset-only', 'compatibility'))
 
 def _committedforwardcopies(a, b, match):
     """Like _forwardcopies(), but b.rev() cannot be None (working copy)"""
diff --git a/tests/test-copies-in-changeset.t b/tests/test-copies-in-changeset.t
--- a/tests/test-copies-in-changeset.t
+++ b/tests/test-copies-in-changeset.t
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@
   $ cat >> $HGRCPATH << EOF
   > [experimental]
   > copies.write-to=changeset-only
+  > copies.read-from=changeset-only
   > [alias]
   > changesetcopies = log -r . -T "files: {files}
   >   p1copies: {get(extras,'p1copies')}
   >   p2copies: {get(extras,'p2copies')}
   >   "
+  > showcopies = log -r . -T '{file_copies % "{source} -> {name}\n"}'
   > EOF
 
 Check that copies are recorded correctly
@@ -26,6 +28,15 @@
   c\x00a (esc)
   d\x00a (esc)
   p2copies: 
+  $ hg showcopies
+  a -> b
+  a -> c
+  a -> d
+  $ hg showcopies --config experimental.copies.read-from=compatibility
+  a -> b
+  a -> c
+  a -> d
+  $ hg showcopies --config experimental.copies.read-from=filelog-only
 
 Check that renames are recorded correctly
 
@@ -35,6 +46,8 @@
   files: b b2
   p1copies: b2\x00b (esc)
   p2copies: 
+  $ hg showcopies
+  b -> b2
 
 Rename onto existing file. This should get recorded in the changeset files list and in the extras,
 even though there is no filelog entry.
@@ -51,6 +64,8 @@
   files: c
   p1copies: c\x00b2 (esc)
   p2copies: 
+  $ hg showcopies
+  b2 -> c
   $ hg debugindex c
      rev linkrev nodeid       p1           p2
        0       1 b789fdd96dc2 000000000000 000000000000
@@ -79,6 +94,10 @@
   p1copies: g\x00a (esc)
   i\x00f (esc)
   p2copies: h\x00d (esc)
+  $ hg showcopies
+  a -> g
+  d -> h
+  f -> i
 
 Test writing to both changeset and filelog
 
@@ -94,6 +113,12 @@
   copyrev: b789fdd96dc2f3bd229c1dd8eedf0fc60e2b68e3
   \x01 (esc)
   a
+  $ hg showcopies
+  a -> j
+  $ hg showcopies --config experimental.copies.read-from=compatibility
+  a -> j
+  $ hg showcopies --config experimental.copies.read-from=filelog-only
+  a -> j
 
 Test writing only to filelog
 
@@ -109,5 +134,10 @@
   copyrev: b789fdd96dc2f3bd229c1dd8eedf0fc60e2b68e3
   \x01 (esc)
   a
+  $ hg showcopies
+  $ hg showcopies --config experimental.copies.read-from=compatibility
+  a -> k
+  $ hg showcopies --config experimental.copies.read-from=filelog-only
+  a -> k
 
   $ cd ..