diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ try:
     py2exe_opts = {}
     if py2exe_for_demandload is not None:
         cmdclass['py2exe'] = py2exe_for_demandload
-        py2exe_opts['console'] = 'hg'
+        py2exe_opts['console'] = ['hg']
     setup(name='mercurial',
           version=mercurial.version.get_version(),
           author='Matt Mackall',