diff --git a/Database/ImportFeed.hs b/Database/ImportFeed.hs
index 69c0599124..2d44b0b9ea 100644
--- a/Database/ImportFeed.hs
+++ b/Database/ImportFeed.hs
@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ isKnownItemId (ImportFeedDbHandle h) i =
 			] []
 		return $ not (null l)
 
-recordKnownUrl :: ImportFeedDbHandle -> URLString -> IO ()
+recordKnownUrl :: ImportFeedDbHandle -> URLByteString -> IO ()
 recordKnownUrl h u = queueDb h $
-	void $ insertUniqueFast $ KnownUrls $ SByteString $ encodeBS u
+	void $ insertUniqueFast $ KnownUrls $ SByteString u
 
 recordKnownItemId :: ImportFeedDbHandle -> SByteString -> IO ()
 recordKnownItemId h i = queueDb h $
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ updateFromLog db@(ImportFeedDbHandle h) (oldtree, currtree)
 		let f = getTopFilePath (DiffTree.file ti)
 		case extLogFileKey urlLogExt f of
 			Just k -> do
-				knownurls =<< getUrls k
+				knownurls =<< getUrls' k
 			Nothing -> case extLogFileKey metaDataLogExt f of
 				Just k -> do
 					m <- getCurrentMetaData k
diff --git a/Logs/Web.hs b/Logs/Web.hs
index cce855f105..5aff1f0b67 100644
--- a/Logs/Web.hs
+++ b/Logs/Web.hs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {- Web url logs.
  -
- - Copyright 2011-2021 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
+ - Copyright 2011-2023 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
  -
  - Licensed under the GNU AGPL version 3 or higher.
  -}
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 module Logs.Web (
 	URLString,
+	URLByteString,
 	getUrls,
+	getUrls',
 	getUrlsWithPrefix,
 	setUrlPresent,
 	setUrlMissing,
@@ -23,6 +25,7 @@ module Logs.Web (
 ) where
 
 import qualified Data.Map as M
+import qualified Data.ByteString as S
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as L
 
 import Annex.Common
@@ -35,20 +38,27 @@ import Annex.UUID
 import qualified Annex.Branch
 import qualified Types.Remote as Remote
 
+type URLByteString = S.ByteString
+
 {- Gets all urls that a key might be available from. -}
 getUrls :: Key -> Annex [URLString]
 getUrls key = do
-	config <- Annex.getGitConfig
-	l <- go $ urlLogFile config key : oldurlLogs config key
+	l <- map decodeBS <$> getUrls' key
 	tmpl <- Annex.getState (maybeToList . M.lookup key . Annex.tempurls)
 	return (tmpl ++ l)
+
+{- Note that this does not include temporary urls set with setTempUrl. -}
+getUrls' :: Key -> Annex [URLByteString]
+getUrls' key = do
+	config <- Annex.getGitConfig
+	go $ urlLogFile config key : oldurlLogs config key
   where
 	go [] = return []
 	go (l:ls) = do
 		us <- currentLogInfo l
 		if null us
 			then go ls
-			else return $ map decodeUrlLogInfo us
+			else return $ map fromLogInfo us
 
 getUrlsWithPrefix :: Key -> String -> Annex [URLString]
 getUrlsWithPrefix key prefix = filter (prefix `isPrefixOf`) 
@@ -123,10 +133,7 @@ getDownloader u = case separate (== ':') u of
 	("", u') -> (u', OtherDownloader)
 	_ -> (u, WebDownloader)
 
-decodeUrlLogInfo :: LogInfo -> URLString
-decodeUrlLogInfo = decodeBS . fromLogInfo
-
 {- Parses the content of an url log file, returning the urls that are
  - currently recorded. -}
-parseUrlLog :: L.ByteString -> [URLString]
-parseUrlLog = map decodeUrlLogInfo . getLog
+parseUrlLog :: L.ByteString -> [URLByteString]
+parseUrlLog = map fromLogInfo . getLog