diff --git a/mercurial/urllibcompat.py b/mercurial/urllibcompat.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mercurial/urllibcompat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+from . import pycompat
+
+if pycompat.ispy3:
+
+    def getfullurl(req):
+        return req.full_url
+
+    def gethost(req):
+        return req.host
+
+    def getselector(req):
+        return req.selector
+
+    def getdata(req):
+        return req.data
+
+    def hasdata(req):
+        return req.data is not None
+else:
+
+    def gethost(req):
+        return req.get_host()
+
+    def getselector(req):
+        return req.get_selector()
+
+    def getfullurl(req):
+        return req.get_full_url()
+
+    def getdata(req):
+        return req.get_data()
+
+    def hasdata(req):
+        return req.has_data()