diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 115d4d26..c611c8b6 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ v0.17.0 (UNRELEASED)
 
 **Sub-commands**
 
-- Swtiched to sub-commands for mopidy this implies the following changes
-  (fixes :issue:`437`):
+- Switched to sub-commands for the ``mopidy`` command , this implies the
+  following changes (fixes :issue:`437`):
 
   ===================== =============
   Old command           New command
diff --git a/docs/commands/mopidy.rst b/docs/commands/mopidy.rst
index c4a35973..c03a40cf 100644
--- a/docs/commands/mopidy.rst
+++ b/docs/commands/mopidy.rst
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ Options
 .. cmdoption:: --config <file>
 
     Specify config file to use. To use multiple config files, separate them
-    with colon. The later files override the earlier ones if there's a
+    with a colon. The later files override the earlier ones if there's a
     conflict.
 
 .. cmdoption:: -o <option>, --option <option>
diff --git a/mopidy/__main__.py b/mopidy/__main__.py
index 035e0ae9..099c20c7 100644
--- a/mopidy/__main__.py
+++ b/mopidy/__main__.py
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ def main():
 
         for extension in installed_extensions:
             for cls in extension.get_sub_commands():
-                cmd_parser = subparser.add_parser(cls.name, help=cls.help)
+                cmd_parser = subparser.add_parser(bytes(cls.name),
+                                                  help=cls.help)
                 extension_sub_commands[cls.name] = (extension, cls(cmd_parser))
 
         args = parser.parse_args(args=mopidy_args)
@@ -58,13 +59,13 @@ def main():
         enabled_extensions = []
         for extension in installed_extensions:
             if not ext.validate_extension(extension):
-                config[extension.ext_name] = {b'enabled': False}
+                config[extension.ext_name] = {'enabled': False}
                 config_errors[extension.ext_name] = {
-                    b'enabled': b'extension disabled by self check.'}
+                    'enabled': 'extension disabled by self check.'}
             elif not config[extension.ext_name]['enabled']:
-                config[extension.ext_name] = {b'enabled': False}
+                config[extension.ext_name] = {'enabled': False}
                 config_errors[extension.ext_name] = {
-                    b'enabled': b'extension disabled by user config.'}
+                    'enabled': 'extension disabled by user config.'}
             else:
                 enabled_extensions.append(extension)
 
diff --git a/mopidy/backends/base.py b/mopidy/backends/base.py
index 2fb20d03..e2ef9758 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/base.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/base.py
@@ -289,9 +289,10 @@ class BaseSubCommandProvider(object):
     """
 
     name = None
-    """What the sub-command should be called. Will be run as ``mopidy NAME``
+    """What the sub-command should be called. Will be run as ``mopidy NAME``.
 
-    Example: ``scan``
+    Will be converted to :type:`bytes` and should be limited to ASCII
+    characters.  Example: ``scan``
     """
 
     help = None
@@ -306,7 +307,7 @@ class BaseSubCommandProvider(object):
         *MUST be implemented by subclass.*
 
         :param args: the argments object from argpase.
-        :param config: read only version of the mopidy config.
+        :param config: read-only version of the mopidy config.
         :param extensions: list of enabled extensions.
         :returns: integer exit value for the process.
         """
diff --git a/mopidy/backends/local/scan.py b/mopidy/backends/local/scan.py
index ab62f81b..96d12d3c 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/local/scan.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/local/scan.py
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ from mopidy.audio import scan
 from mopidy.backends import base
 from mopidy.utils import path
 
+from . import translator
+
 logger = logging.getLogger('mopidy.backends.local.scan')
 
 
 class ScanSubCommand(base.BaseSubCommandProvider):
-    name = b'scan'
-    help = b'scan local media files'
+    name = 'scan'
+    help = 'scan local media files'
 
     def run(self, args, config, extensions):
         media_dir = config['local']['media_dir']
@@ -28,49 +30,51 @@ class ScanSubCommand(base.BaseSubCommandProvider):
                     updaters[e.ext_name] = updater_class
 
         if not updaters:
-            logging.error('No usable library updaters found.')
+            logger.error('No usable library updaters found.')
             return 1
         elif len(updaters) > 1:
-            logging.error('More than one library updater found. '
+            logger.error('More than one library updater found. '
                           'Provided by: %s', ', '.join(updaters.keys()))
             return 1
 
         local_updater = updaters.values()[0](config)
 
+        # TODO: cleanup to consistently use local urls, not a random mix of local
+        # and file uris depending on how the data was loaded.
         uris_library = set()
         uris_update = set()
         uris_remove = set()
 
-        logging.info('Checking tracks from library.')
+        logger.info('Checking tracks from library.')
         for track in local_updater.load():
             try:
-                # TODO: convert local to file uri / path
-                stat = os.stat(path.uri_to_path(track.uri))
+                uri = translator.local_to_file_uri(track.uri, media_dir)
+                stat = os.stat(path.uri_to_path(uri))
                 if int(stat.st_mtime) > track.last_modified:
-                    uris_update.add(track.uri)
-                uris_library.add(track.uri)
+                    uris_update.add(uri)
+                uris_library.add(uri)
             except OSError:
-                logging.debug('Missing file %s', track.uri)
+                logger.debug('Missing file %s', track.uri)
                 uris_remove.add(track.uri)
 
-        logging.info('Removing %d moved or deleted tracks.', len(uris_remove))
+        logger.info('Removing %d missing tracks.', len(uris_remove))
         for uri in uris_remove:
             local_updater.remove(uri)
 
-        logging.info('Checking %s for new or modified tracks.', media_dir)
-        for uri in path.find_uris(config['local']['media_dir']):
+        logger.info('Checking %s for unknown tracks.', media_dir)
+        for uri in path.find_uris(media_dir):
             file_extension = os.path.splitext(path.uri_to_path(uri))[1]
             if file_extension in excluded_file_extensions:
-                logging.debug('Skipped %s: File extension excluded.', uri)
+                logger.debug('Skipped %s: File extension excluded.', uri)
                 continue
 
             if uri not in uris_library:
                 uris_update.add(uri)
 
-        logging.info('Found %d new or modified tracks.', len(uris_update))
-        logging.info('Scanning new and modified tracks.')
+        logger.info('Found %d unknown tracks.', len(uris_update))
+        logger.info('Scanning...')
 
-        scanner = scan.Scanner(scan_timeout)
+        scanner = scan.Scanner(config['local']['scan_timeout'])
         progress = Progress(len(uris_update))
 
         for uri in sorted(uris_update):
@@ -78,17 +82,18 @@ class ScanSubCommand(base.BaseSubCommandProvider):
                 data = scanner.scan(uri)
                 track = scan.audio_data_to_track(data)
                 local_updater.add(track)
-                logging.debug('Added %s', track.uri)
+                logger.debug('Added %s', track.uri)
             except exceptions.ScannerError as error:
-                logging.warning('Failed %s: %s', uri, error)
+                logger.warning('Failed %s: %s', uri, error)
 
             progress.increment()
 
-        logging.info('Commiting changes.')
+        logger.info('Commiting changes.')
         local_updater.commit()
         return 0
 
 
+
 # TODO: move to utils?
 class Progress(object):
     def __init__(self, total):
@@ -101,5 +106,5 @@ class Progress(object):
         if self.count % 1000 == 0 or self.count == self.total:
             duration = time.time() - self.start
             remainder = duration / self.count * (self.total - self.count)
-            logging.info('Scanned %d of %d files in %ds, ~%ds left.',
+            logger.info('Scanned %d of %d files in %ds, ~%ds left.',
                          self.count, self.total, duration, remainder)