--- a/hgext/largefiles/lfcommands.py	Sat Oct 22 14:17:19 2011 -0400
+++ b/hgext/largefiles/lfcommands.py	Sat Oct 22 14:20:17 2011 -0400
@@ -43,14 +43,15 @@
     else:
         tolfile = True
         size = lfutil.getminsize(ui, True, opts.get('size'), default=None)
+
+    if not hg.islocal(src):
+        raise util.Abort(_('%s is not a local Mercurial repo') % src)
+    if not hg.islocal(dest):
+        raise util.Abort(_('%s is not a local Mercurial repo') % dest)
+
     rsrc = hg.repository(ui, src)
-    if not rsrc.local():
-        raise util.Abort(_('%s is not a local Mercurial repo') % src)
-
     ui.status(_('initializing destination %s\n') % dest)
     rdst = hg.repository(ui, dest, create=True)
-    if not rdst.local():
-        raise util.Abort(_('%s is not a local Mercurial repo') % dest)
 
     success = False
     try: