diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_wburl.py b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_wburl.py
index b4d15b5d..2e7475af 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/test/test_wburl.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/test/test_wburl.py
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-"""
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+ur"""
 # Replay Urls
 # ======================
 >>> repr(WbUrl('20131010000506/example.com'))
@@ -33,6 +36,32 @@
 >>> repr(WbUrl('2014/http%3A%2F%2Fexample.com/'))
 "('replay', '2014', '', 'http://example.com/', '2014/http://example.com/')"
 
+# Test IDNs
+>>> repr(WbUrl(u'http://пример.испытание'))
+"('latest_replay', '', '', 'http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f', 'http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f')"
+
+>>> repr(WbUrl(u'https://пример.испытание/abc/'))
+"('latest_replay', '', '', 'https://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc/', 'https://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc/')"
+
+>>> repr(WbUrl(u'//пример.испытание/abc/'))
+"('latest_replay', '', '', 'http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc/', 'http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc/')"
+
+>>> repr(WbUrl(u'2014id_/https://пример.испытание/abc'))
+"('replay', '2014', 'id_', 'https://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc', '2014id_/https://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc')"
+
+# percent-encoded form (as sent by browser usually)
+>>> repr(WbUrl('2014id_/http://' + quote_plus(u'пример.испытание'.encode('utf-8')) + '/abc'))
+"('replay', '2014', 'id_', 'http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc', '2014id_/http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc')"
+
+# percent-encoded form -- scheme relative
+>>> repr(WbUrl('2014id_///' + quote_plus(u'пример.испытание'.encode('utf-8')) + '/abc'))
+"('replay', '2014', 'id_', 'http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc', '2014id_/http://xn--e1afmkfd.xn--80akhbyknj4f/abc')"
+
+# invalid: truncated and superfluous '%', ignore invalid (no exception)
+>>> repr(WbUrl('2014id_/http://' + quote_plus(u'пример.испытание'.encode('utf-8'))[1:] + '%' + '/abc'))
+"('replay', '2014', 'id_', 'http://xn--d0-olcluwd.xn--%-7sbpkb3ampk3g/abc', '2014id_/http://xn--d0-olcluwd.xn--%-7sbpkb3ampk3g/abc')"
+
+
 # Query Urls
 # ======================
 >>> repr(WbUrl('*/http://example.com/abc?def=a'))
@@ -102,7 +131,7 @@ Exception: ('Invalid WbUrl: ', '')
 """
 
 from pywb.rewrite.wburl import WbUrl
-
+from urllib import quote_plus
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     import doctest
diff --git a/pywb/rewrite/wburl.py b/pywb/rewrite/wburl.py
index c612f8c2..9436dc20 100644
--- a/pywb/rewrite/wburl.py
+++ b/pywb/rewrite/wburl.py
@@ -87,30 +87,61 @@ class WbUrl(BaseWbUrl):
 
     DEFAULT_SCHEME = 'http://'
 
-    PARTIAL_ENC_RX = re.compile('(https?%3A)?(%2F%2F)?', re.I)
+    #PARTIAL_ENC_RX = re.compile('(https?%3A)?(%2F%2F)?', re.I)
+    FIRST_PATH = re.compile('(?<![:/])/(?![/])')
 
     # ======================
 
-    def __init__(self, url):
+    def __init__(self, orig_url):
         super(WbUrl, self).__init__()
 
-        self.original_url = url
+        was_uni = False
+        if isinstance(orig_url, unicode):
+            orig_url = orig_url.encode('utf-8')
+            was_uni = True
+
+        self.original_url = orig_url
+
+        if not self._init_query(orig_url):
+            if not self._init_replay(orig_url):
+                raise Exception('Invalid WbUrl: ', orig_url)
+
+        if was_uni or '%' in self.url:
+            parts = self.FIRST_PATH.split(self.url, 1)
+
+            if was_uni or '%' in parts[0]:
+                if not was_uni:
+                    scheme_dom = urllib.unquote_plus(parts[0])
+                else:
+                    scheme_dom = parts[0]
+
+                scheme_dom = scheme_dom.rsplit('/', 1)
+
+                dom = scheme_dom[-1]
+
+                dom = dom.decode('utf-8', 'ignore')
+                dom = dom.encode('idna')
+
+                if len(scheme_dom) > 1:
+                    self.url = scheme_dom[0] + '/' + dom
+                else:
+                    self.url = dom
+
+                if len(parts) > 1:
+                    self.url += '/' + parts[1]
 
-        if not self._init_query(url):
-            if not self._init_replay(url):
-                raise Exception('Invalid WbUrl: ', url)
 
         # protocol agnostic url -> http://
         # no protocol -> http://
         inx = self.url.find(':/')
-        if inx < 0:
+        #if inx < 0:
             # check for other partially encoded variants
-            m = self.PARTIAL_ENC_RX.match(self.url)
-            if m:
-                len_ = len(m.group(0))
-                self.url = (urllib.unquote_plus(self.url[:len_]) +
-                            self.url[len_:])
-                inx = self.url.find(':/')
+        #    m = self.PARTIAL_ENC_RX.match(self.url)
+        #    if m:
+        #        len_ = len(m.group(0))
+        #        self.url = (urllib.unquote_plus(self.url[:len_]) +
+        #                    self.url[len_:])
+        #        inx = self.url.find(':/')
 
         if inx < 0:
             self.url = self.DEFAULT_SCHEME + self.url