diff --git a/IkiWiki.pm b/IkiWiki.pm
index d8cfc31cc..9511c8303 100644
--- a/IkiWiki.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki.pm
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use vars qw{%config %links %oldlinks %pagemtime %pagectime %pagecase
 	%pagestate %wikistate %renderedfiles %oldrenderedfiles
 	%pagesources %delpagesources %destsources %depends %depends_simple
 	@mass_depends %hooks %forcerebuild %loaded_plugins %typedlinks
-	%oldtypedlinks %autofiles @underlayfiles $lastrev};
+	%oldtypedlinks %autofiles @underlayfiles $lastrev $phase};
 
 use Exporter q{import};
 our @EXPORT = qw(hook debug error htmlpage template template_depends
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ our $DEPEND_CONTENT=1;
 our $DEPEND_PRESENCE=2;
 our $DEPEND_LINKS=4;
 
+# Phases of processing.
+sub PHASE_SCAN () { 0 }
+sub PHASE_RENDER () { 1 }
+$phase = PHASE_SCAN;
+
 # Optimisation.
 use Memoize;
 memoize("abs2rel");
diff --git a/IkiWiki/Render.pm b/IkiWiki/Render.pm
index 9e93534c6..c88de1e8e 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Render.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Render.pm
@@ -827,6 +827,8 @@ sub gen_autofile ($$$) {
 }
 
 sub refresh () {
+	$phase = PHASE_SCAN;
+
 	srcdir_check();
 	run_hooks(refresh => sub { shift->() });
 	my ($files, $pages, $new, $internal_new, $del, $internal_del, $changed, $internal_changed);
@@ -878,7 +880,10 @@ sub refresh () {
 	}
 
 	calculate_links();
-	
+
+	# At this point it becomes OK to start matching pagespecs.
+	$phase = PHASE_RENDER;
+
 	remove_del(@$del, @$internal_del);
 
 	foreach my $file (@$changed) {
@@ -942,6 +947,10 @@ sub commandline_render () {
 	loadindex();
 	unlockwiki();
 
+	# This function behaves as though it's in the render phase;
+	# all other files are assumed to have been scanned last time.
+	$phase = PHASE_RENDER;
+
 	my $srcfile=possibly_foolish_untaint($config{render});
 	my $file=$srcfile;
 	$file=~s/\Q$config{srcdir}\E\/?//;
diff --git a/po/po2wiki b/po/po2wiki
index 126aa8e17..862aa9d97 100755
--- a/po/po2wiki
+++ b/po/po2wiki
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ foreach my $file (@$files) {
 	$pagesources{$page}=$file; # used by po plugin functions
 }
 
+$IkiWiki::phase = IkiWiki::PHASE_RENDER;
+
 foreach my $lang (@{$config{po_slave_languages}}) {
 	my ($ll, $name)=IkiWiki::Plugin::po::splitlangpair($lang);
 	$config{destdir}="../underlays/locale/$ll";