diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/cookie_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/cookie_rewriter.py
index 4724df4c..e9dd80ac 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/cookie_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/cookie_rewriter.py
@@ -55,6 +55,24 @@ class MinimalScopeCookieRewriter(WbUrlBaseCookieRewriter):
         return morsel
 
 
+#=================================================================
+class ExactPathCookieRewriter(WbUrlBaseCookieRewriter):
+    """
+    Rewrite cookies only using exact path, useful for live rewrite
+    without a timestamp and to minimize cookie pollution
+
+    If path or domain present, simply remove
+    """
+
+    def rewrite_cookie(self, name, morsel):
+        if morsel.get('domain'):
+            del morsel['domain']
+        # else set cookie to rewritten path
+        if morsel.get('path'):
+            del morsel['path']
+
+        self._remove_age_opts(morsel)
+        return morsel
 #=================================================================
 class RootScopeCookieRewriter(WbUrlBaseCookieRewriter):
     """
@@ -79,5 +97,7 @@ class RootScopeCookieRewriter(WbUrlBaseCookieRewriter):
 def get_cookie_rewriter(cookie_scope):
     if cookie_scope == 'root':
         return RootScopeCookieRewriter
+    elif cookie_scope == 'exact':
+        return ExactPathCookieRewriter
     else:
         return MinimalScopeCookieRewriter
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py
index b3668521..7acc0f3e 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/html_rewriter.py
@@ -185,6 +185,12 @@ class HTMLRewriterMixin(object):
             elif attr_name == 'crossorigin':
                 attr_name = '_crossorigin'
 
+            # special case: link don't rewrite canonical
+            elif tag == 'link' and attr_name == 'href':
+                if not self.has_attr(tag_attrs, ('rel', 'canonical')):
+                    rw_mod = handler.get(attr_name)
+                    attr_value = self._rewrite_url(attr_value, rw_mod)
+
             # special case: meta tag
             elif (tag == 'meta') and (attr_name == 'content'):
                 if self.has_attr(tag_attrs, ('http-equiv', 'refresh')):
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_cookie_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_cookie_rewriter.py
index c20f56f9..4f57464f 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_cookie_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_cookie_rewriter.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 r"""
+# Default -- MinimalScopeRewriter
 # No rewriting
 >>> rewrite_cookie('a=b; c=d;')
 [('Set-Cookie', 'a=b'), ('Set-Cookie', 'c=d')]
@@ -23,10 +24,17 @@ r"""
 >>> rewrite_cookie('abc@def=123')
 []
 
+# ExactCookieRewriter
+>>> rewrite_cookie('some=value; Path=/diff/path/;', urlrewriter, ExactPathCookieRewriter)
+[('Set-Cookie', 'some=value')]
+
+>>> rewrite_cookie('some=value; Domain=.example.com; Path=/diff/path/; Max-Age=1500', urlrewriter, ExactPathCookieRewriter)
+[('Set-Cookie', 'some=value')]
+
 """
 
 
-from pywb.rewrite.cookie_rewriter import MinimalScopeCookieRewriter
+from pywb.rewrite.cookie_rewriter import MinimalScopeCookieRewriter, ExactPathCookieRewriter
 from pywb.rewrite.url_rewriter import UrlRewriter
 
 urlrewriter = UrlRewriter('20131226101010/http://example.com/some/path/index.html', '/pywb/')
@@ -34,6 +42,6 @@ urlrewriter = UrlRewriter('20131226101010/http://example.com/some/path/index.htm
 urlrewriter2 = UrlRewriter('em_/http://example.com/', '/preview/')
 
 
-def rewrite_cookie(cookie_str, rewriter=urlrewriter):
-    return MinimalScopeCookieRewriter(rewriter).rewrite(cookie_str)
+def rewrite_cookie(cookie_str, rewriter=urlrewriter, cookie_rewriter=MinimalScopeCookieRewriter):
+    return cookie_rewriter(rewriter).rewrite(cookie_str)
 
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py
index a7d9337b..46c1773c 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_html_rewriter.py
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ ur"""
 >>> parse('<link href="abc.txt"><div>SomeTest</div>', head_insert = '<script>load_stuff();</script>')
 <link href="/web/20131226101010oe_/http://example.com/some/path/abc.txt"><script>load_stuff();</script><div>SomeTest</div>
 
+# don't rewrite rel=canonical
+>>> parse('<link rel=canonical href="http://example.com/">')
+<link rel="canonical" href="http://example.com/">
+
 # doctype
 >>> parse('<!doctype html PUBLIC "public">')
 <!doctype html PUBLIC "public">
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_regex_rewriters.py b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_regex_rewriters.py
index 253328e5..92975a7f 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_regex_rewriters.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_regex_rewriters.py
@@ -45,6 +45,16 @@ r"""
 >>> _test_js('document_domain = "anotherdomain.com"; window.document.domain = "example.com"')
 'document_domain = "anotherdomain.com"; window.document.WB_wombat_domain = "example.com"'
 
+# protocol-rel escapes
+>>> _test_js('"//example.com/"')
+'"/web/20131010/http://example.com/"'
+
+>>> _test_js(r'"\/\/example.com/"')
+'"/web/20131010/http:\\/\\/example.com/"'
+
+>>> _test_js(r'"\\/\\/example.com/"')
+'"/web/20131010/http:\\\\/\\\\/example.com/"'
+
 # custom rules added
 >>> _test_js('window.location = "http://example.com/abc.html"; some_func(); ', [('some_func\(\).*', RegexRewriter.format('/*{0}*/'), 0)])
 'window.WB_wombat_location = "/web/20131010/http://example.com/abc.html"; /*some_func(); */'
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_url_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_url_rewriter.py
index be0ca7da..3d324069 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_url_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_url_rewriter.py
@@ -50,6 +50,21 @@
 >>> do_rewrite(r'http:\/\/some-other-site.com', '20101226101112/http://example.com/index.html', 'localhost:8080/')
 'localhost:8080/20101226101112/http:\\\\/\\\\/some-other-site.com'
 
+>>> do_rewrite(r'//some-other-site.com', '20101226101112/http://example.com/index.html', 'localhost:8080/')
+'localhost:8080/20101226101112/http://some-other-site.com'
+
+>>> do_rewrite(r'\/\/some-other-site.com', '20101226101112/http://example.com/index.html', 'localhost:8080/')
+'localhost:8080/20101226101112/http:\\\\/\\\\/some-other-site.com'
+
+>>> do_rewrite(r'\\/\\/some-other-site.com', '20101226101112/http://example.com/index.html', 'localhost:8080/')
+'localhost:8080/20101226101112/http:\\\\/\\\\/some-other-site.com'
+
+>>> do_rewrite(r'http:\/\/some-other-site.com', '20101226101112/http://example.com/index.html', 'localhost:8080/')
+'localhost:8080/20101226101112/http:\\\\/\\\\/some-other-site.com'
+
+>>> do_rewrite(r'http:\/\/some-other-site.com', '20101226101112/http://example.com/index.html', 'localhost:8080/')
+'localhost:8080/20101226101112/http:\\\\/\\\\/some-other-site.com'
+
 >>> do_rewrite('../../other.html', '2020/http://example.com/index.html', '/')
 '/2020/http://example.com/other.html'
 
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/url_rewriter.py b/pywb/rewrite/url_rewriter.py
index a162f67e..4ef332d4 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/url_rewriter.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/url_rewriter.py
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ class UrlRewriter(object):
 
     PROTOCOLS = ['http:', 'https:', 'ftp:', 'mms:', 'rtsp:', 'wais:']
 
-    def __init__(self, wburl, prefix, full_prefix=None, rel_prefix=None, 
+    REL_SCHEME = ('//', r'\/\/', r'\\/\\/')
+
+    def __init__(self, wburl, prefix, full_prefix=None, rel_prefix=None,
                  root_path=None, cookie_scope=None):
         self.wburl = wburl if isinstance(wburl, WbUrl) else WbUrl(wburl)
         self.prefix = prefix
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ class UrlRewriter(object):
 
         is_abs = any(url.startswith(x) for x in self.PROTOCOLS)
 
-        if url.startswith('//'):
+        if url.startswith(self.REL_SCHEME):
             is_abs = True
             url = 'http:' + url