diff --git a/manifest_xml.py b/manifest_xml.py
index f2ac77a5..d496337c 100644
--- a/manifest_xml.py
+++ b/manifest_xml.py
@@ -80,18 +80,20 @@ class _XmlRemote(object):
   def _resolveFetchUrl(self):
     url = self.fetchUrl.rstrip('/')
     manifestUrl = self.manifestUrl.rstrip('/')
-    p = manifestUrl.startswith('persistent-http')
-    if p:
-      manifestUrl = manifestUrl[len('persistent-'):]
-
-    # urljoin will get confused if there is no scheme in the base url
-    # ie, if manifestUrl is of the form <hostname:port>
+    # urljoin will gets confused over quite a few things.  The ones we care
+    # about here are:
+    # * no scheme in the base url, like <hostname:port>
+    # * persistent-https://
+    # We handle this by replacing these with obscure protocols
+    # and then replacing them with the original when we are done.
+    # gopher -> <none>
+    # wais -> persistent-https
     if manifestUrl.find(':') != manifestUrl.find('/') - 1:
       manifestUrl = 'gopher://' + manifestUrl
+    manifestUrl = re.sub(r'^persistent-https://', 'wais://', manifestUrl)
     url = urllib.parse.urljoin(manifestUrl, url)
     url = re.sub(r'^gopher://', '', url)
-    if p:
-      url = 'persistent-' + url
+    url = re.sub(r'^wais://', 'persistent-https://', url)
     return url
 
   def ToRemoteSpec(self, projectName):