diff --git a/hgext/convert/__init__.py b/hgext/convert/__init__.py
--- a/hgext/convert/__init__.py
+++ b/hgext/convert/__init__.py
@@ -219,7 +219,10 @@ class convert(object):
                             # Merely marks that a copy happened.
                             self.dest.copyfile(copyf, newf)
 
-        newnode = self.dest.putcommit(filenames, parents, commit)
+        if not filenames and self.mapfile.active():
+            newnode = parents[0]
+        else:
+            newnode = self.dest.putcommit(filenames, parents, commit)
         self.mapentry(rev, newnode)
 
     def convert(self):
@@ -352,6 +355,9 @@ class filemapper(object):
             return newpre
         return name
 
+    def active(self):
+        return bool(self.include or self.exclude or self.rename)
+
 def _convert(ui, src, dest=None, revmapfile=None, **opts):
     """Convert a foreign SCM repository to a Mercurial one.