diff --git a/aqt/profiles.py b/aqt/profiles.py
index 365bc8f8f..9f6add370 100644
--- a/aqt/profiles.py
+++ b/aqt/profiles.py
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ class ProfileManager(object):
             self.base = os.path.abspath(base)
         else:
             self.base = self._defaultBase()
-        self.ensureLocalFS()
         self.ensureBaseExists()
         # load metadata
         self.firstRun = self._loadMeta()
@@ -75,15 +74,6 @@ class ProfileManager(object):
     # Base creation
     ######################################################################
 
-    def ensureLocalFS(self):
-        if self.base.startswith("\\\\"):
-            QMessageBox.critical(
-                None, "Error", """\
-To use Anki on a network share, the share must be mapped to a local drive \
-letter. Please see the 'File Locations' section of the manual for more \
-information.""")
-            raise Exception("unc")
-
     def ensureBaseExists(self):
         try:
             self._ensureExists(self.base)
diff --git a/aqt/utils.py b/aqt/utils.py
index 95995e41d..2868440c8 100644
--- a/aqt/utils.py
+++ b/aqt/utils.py
@@ -330,10 +330,11 @@ def applyStyles(widget):
 def getBase(col):
     base = None
     mdir = col.media.dir()
-    if isWin:
+    if isWin and not mdir.startswith("\\\\"):
         prefix = u"file:///"
     else:
         prefix = u"file://"
+    mdir = mdir.replace("\\", "/")
     base = prefix + unicode(
         urllib.quote(mdir.encode("utf-8")),
         "utf-8") + "/"