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 61a48e50..aa87260c 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