diff --git a/mopidy/backends/local/library.py b/mopidy/backends/local/library.py
index 86d960c1..9791c518 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/local/library.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/local/library.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from mopidy.backends import base
 from mopidy.frontends.mpd import translator as mpd_translator
 from mopidy.models import Album, SearchResult
 
-from .translator import parse_mpd_tag_cache
+from .translator import local_to_file_uri, parse_mpd_tag_cache
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('mopidy.backends.local')
 
@@ -189,7 +189,10 @@ class LocalLibraryUpdateProvider(base.BaseLibraryProvider):
     def load(self):
         tracks = parse_mpd_tag_cache(self._tag_cache_file, self._media_dir)
         for track in tracks:
-            self._tracks[track.uri] = track
+            # TODO: this should use uris as is, i.e. hack that should go away
+            # with tag caches.
+            uri = local_to_file_uri(track.uri, self._media_dir)
+            self._tracks[uri] = track.copy(uri=uri)
         return tracks
 
     def add(self, track):
diff --git a/mopidy/backends/local/playback.py b/mopidy/backends/local/playback.py
index 98c92a85..b264dac7 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/local/playback.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/local/playback.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import logging
-import os
 
 from mopidy.backends import base
-from mopidy.utils import path
+
+from . import translator
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('mopidy.backends.local')
 
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ logger = logging.getLogger('mopidy.backends.local')
 class LocalPlaybackProvider(base.BasePlaybackProvider):
     def change_track(self, track):
         media_dir = self.backend.config['local']['media_dir']
-        # TODO: check that type is correct.
-        file_path = path.uri_to_path(track.uri).split(b':', 1)[1]
-        file_path = os.path.join(media_dir, file_path)
-        track = track.copy(uri=path.path_to_uri(file_path))
+        uri = translator.local_to_file_uri(track.uri, media_dir)
+        track = track.copy(uri=uri)
         return super(LocalPlaybackProvider, self).change_track(track)
diff --git a/mopidy/backends/local/translator.py b/mopidy/backends/local/translator.py
index 3a02a8af..3c6b8151 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/local/translator.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/local/translator.py
@@ -6,11 +6,18 @@ import urlparse
 
 from mopidy.models import Track, Artist, Album
 from mopidy.utils.encoding import locale_decode
-from mopidy.utils.path import path_to_uri
+from mopidy.utils.path import path_to_uri, uri_to_path
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('mopidy.backends.local')
 
 
+def local_to_file_uri(uri, media_dir):
+    # TODO: check that type is correct.
+    file_path = uri_to_path(uri).split(b':', 1)[1]
+    file_path = os.path.join(media_dir, file_path)
+    return path_to_uri(file_path)
+
+
 def parse_m3u(file_path, media_dir):
     r"""
     Convert M3U file list of uris
diff --git a/mopidy/scanner.py b/mopidy/scanner.py
index 30fb553b..b61517ef 100644
--- a/mopidy/scanner.py
+++ b/mopidy/scanner.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ sys.argv[1:] = []
 
 from mopidy import config as config_lib, exceptions, ext
 from mopidy.audio import scan
+from mopidy.backends.local import translator
 from mopidy.utils import log, path, versioning
 
 
@@ -66,6 +67,8 @@ def main():
     media_dir = config['local']['media_dir']
     excluded_extensions = config['local']['excluded_file_extensions']
 
+    # 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()
@@ -73,20 +76,20 @@ def main():
     logging.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)
             uris_remove.add(track.uri)
 
-    logging.info('Removing %d moved or deleted tracks.', len(uris_remove))
+    logging.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)
+    logging.info('Checking %s for unknown tracks.', media_dir)
     for uri in path.find_uris(config['local']['media_dir']):
         if os.path.splitext(path.uri_to_path(uri))[1] in excluded_extensions:
             logging.debug('Skipped %s: File extension excluded.', uri)
@@ -95,8 +98,8 @@ def main():
         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.')
+    logging.info('Found %d unknown tracks.', len(uris_update))
+    logging.info('Scanning...')
 
     scanner = scan.Scanner(config['local']['scan_timeout'])
     progress = Progress(len(uris_update))