diff --git a/plugins/Dunno.py b/plugins/Dunno.py
index 46a2444dd..bbaa816ab 100644
--- a/plugins/Dunno.py
+++ b/plugins/Dunno.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class DbiDunnoDB(object):
 
     def _getDb(self, channel):
         # Why cache?  It gains very little.
-        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'Dunno.db')
+        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename('Dunno.db', channel)
         self.filenames.add(filename)
         return self.DunnoDB(filename)
 
diff --git a/plugins/FunDB.py b/plugins/FunDB.py
index c5f4c9dd8..9f5c86687 100755
--- a/plugins/FunDB.py
+++ b/plugins/FunDB.py
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class DbiFunDBDB(object):
             self.dbs[channel] = {}
         if type not in self.dbs[channel]:
             filename = type.capitalize() + '.db'
-            filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, filename)
+            filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(filename, channel)
             self.filenames.add(filename)
             self.dbs[channel][type] = self.FunDBDB(filename)
         return self.dbs[channel][type]
diff --git a/plugins/Karma.py b/plugins/Karma.py
index f8ad61c06..b4269562b 100644
--- a/plugins/Karma.py
+++ b/plugins/Karma.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ conf.registerChannelValue(conf.supybot.plugins.Karma, 'allowUnaddressedKarma',
 
 class SqliteKarmaDB(object):
     def _getDb(self, channel):
-        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'Karma.db')
+        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename('Karma.db', channel)
         if os.path.exists(filename):
             db = sqlite.connect(filename)
         else:
diff --git a/plugins/Markov.py b/plugins/Markov.py
index aed254726..482e105a8 100644
--- a/plugins/Markov.py
+++ b/plugins/Markov.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class DbmMarkovDB(object):
     def _getDb(self, channel):
         if channel not in self.dbs:
             # Stupid anydbm seems to append .db to the end of this.
-            filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'DbmMarkovDB')
+            filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename('DbmMarkovDB', channel)
             # To keep the code simpler for addPair, I decided not to make
             # self.dbs[channel]['firsts'] and ['lasts'].  Instead, we'll pad
             # the words list being sent to addPair such that ['\n \n'] will be
diff --git a/plugins/Project.py b/plugins/Project.py
index 58e95ec2b..0aa32c2ec 100644
--- a/plugins/Project.py
+++ b/plugins/Project.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class TrackerDB(dbi.DB):
         
 class ProjectDB(object):
     def __init__(self, channel, project):
-        dir = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'Projects')
+        dir = plugins.makeChannelFilename('Projects', channel)
         if not os.path.exists(dir):
             os.mkdir(dir)
         self.projectDir = os.path.join(dir, project)
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ class ProjectsDB(object):
 
     def projects(self, channel):
         """Returns the projects on channel."""
-        dir = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'Projects')
+        dir = plugins.makeChannelFilename('Projects', channel)
         return os.listdir(conf.supybot.directories.data.dirize(dir))
 
     def isProject(self, channel, project):
diff --git a/plugins/Quotes.py b/plugins/Quotes.py
index 083272811..8ba1b71c5 100644
--- a/plugins/Quotes.py
+++ b/plugins/Quotes.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class QuoteRecord(object):
 
 class SqliteQuotesDB(object):
     def _getDb(self, channel):
-        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'Quotes.db')
+        filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename('Quotes.db', channel)
         if os.path.exists(filename):
             return sqlite.connect(db=filename, mode=0755,
                                   converters={'bool': bool})
diff --git a/plugins/URL.py b/plugins/URL.py
index 5e7801bb2..052fe0161 100644
--- a/plugins/URL.py
+++ b/plugins/URL.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ conf.registerChannelValue(conf.supybot.plugins.URL, 'nonSnarfingRegexp',
 class URLDB(object):
     def __init__(self, channel, log):
         self.log = log
-        self.filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename(channel, 'URL.db')
+        self.filename = plugins.makeChannelFilename('URL.db', channel)
 
     def _getFile(self):
         try:
diff --git a/plugins/__init__.py b/plugins/__init__.py
index b3d6f01e1..cf3236e18 100644
--- a/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -142,12 +142,12 @@ class DBHandler(object):
             del self.cachedDb
 
 
-def makeChannelFilename(channel, filename, dirname=None):
-    assert ircutils.isChannel(channel), 'channel not a channel, ' \
-           'the arguments to makeChannelFilename are probably reversed.'
-    assert filename == os.path.basename(filename), 'We don\'t handle dirs.'
+def makeChannelFilename(filename, channel=None, dirname=None):
     channel = ircutils.toLower(channel)
-    if conf.supybot.databases.plugins.channelSpecific.get(channel)():
+    # ??? This may not be right.
+    filename = os.path.basename(filename)
+    if channel is not None and \
+       conf.get(conf.supybot.databases.plugins.channelSpecific, channel):
         if dirname is None:
             dir = conf.supybot.directories.data.dirize(channel)
         else:
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ class ChannelDBHandler(object):
         """Override this to specialize the filenames of your databases."""
         channel = ircutils.toLower(channel)
         className = self.__class__.__name__
-        return makeChannelFilename(channel, className + self.suffix)
+        return makeChannelFilename(className + self.suffix, channel)
 
     def makeDb(self, filename):
         """Override this to create your databases."""