lib/PublicInbox/LeiToMail.pm | 2 +-
 lib/PublicInbox/NetReader.pm | 5 ++++-
 lib/PublicInbox/NetWriter.pm | 2 ++
 lib/PublicInbox/Watch.pm     | 2 ++

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiToMail.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiToMail.pm
index be6e178fe2c3019575afa815ba4faeac3a61c80f..6e102a1de0d4de4b5dc144e48307521e390cd393 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiToMail.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiToMail.pm
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ 		require PublicInbox::URIimap;
 		my $net = PublicInbox::NetWriter->new;
 		$net->{quiet} = $lei->{opt}->{quiet};
 		my $uri = PublicInbox::URIimap->new($dst)->canonical;
-		$net->add_url($uri);
+		$net->add_url($$uri);
 		my $err = $net->errors($lei);
 		return $lei->fail($err) if $err;
 		$uri->mailbox or return $lei->fail("No mailbox: $dst");
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/NetReader.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/NetReader.pm
index 23445e7a49f2200834ae5571464c97d6c00b560d..c050c60ffb87192c1c4a3130186c547ac3182878 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/NetReader.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/NetReader.pm
@@ -493,6 +493,9 @@ 	}
 	undef;
 }
 
+# may be overridden in NetWriter or Watch
+sub folder_select { $_[0]->{each_old} ? 'select' : 'examine' }
+
 sub _imap_fetch_all ($$$) {
 	my ($self, $mic, $orig_uri) = @_;
 	my $sec = uri_section($orig_uri);
@@ -501,7 +504,7 @@ 	$mic->Clear(1); # trim results history
 
 	# we need to check for mailbox writability to see if we care about
 	# FLAGS from already-imported messages.
-	my $cmd = $self->{each_old} ? 'select' : 'examine';
+	my $cmd = $self->folder_select;
 	$mic->$cmd($mbx) or return "E: \U$cmd\E $mbx ($sec) failed: $!";
 
 	my ($r_uidval, $r_uidnext, $perm_fl);
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/NetWriter.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/NetWriter.pm
index 82288e6bc6391106c0d2123ee7bc1e03c24af489..629a752ae79a3b3b1c1ea8ed91e029f925801268 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/NetWriter.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/NetWriter.pm
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ 	$mic->append_string($folder, $$bref, $f, $smsg->internaldate) or
 		die "APPEND $folder: $@";
 }
 
+sub folder_select { 'select' } # for PublicInbox::NetReader
+
 sub imap_delete_all {
 	my ($self, $uri) = @_;
 	my $mic = $self->mic_for_folder($uri) or return;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Watch.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Watch.pm
index 86dae91fd65149849966f3b6e7c968be3930289e..482d35c44687c583a6e3726b9bea4a1dc7f978ef 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Watch.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Watch.pm
@@ -682,4 +682,6 @@ 	}
 	undef;
 }
 
+sub folder_select { 'select' } # for PublicInbox::NetReader
+
 1;