diff -r 0b71e6f2362f -r b8b1e6e78486 hgext/mq.py
--- a/hgext/mq.py	Tue Aug 17 13:22:20 2010 -0500
+++ b/hgext/mq.py	Sun Aug 15 16:48:08 2010 +0200
@@ -2662,7 +2662,9 @@
     def _setactive(name):
         if q.applied:
             raise util.Abort(_('patches applied - cannot set new queue active'))
-
+        _setactivenocheck(name)
+
+    def _setactivenocheck(name):
         fh = repo.opener(_activequeue, 'w')
         if name != 'patches':
             fh.write(name)