diff --git a/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_catalog.py b/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_catalog.py
index 62d2b8606c..7a2157686c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_catalog.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_catalog.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from calibre.db.cli import integers_from_string
 readonly = True
 version = 0  # change this if you change signature of implementation()
 needs_srv_ctx = True
+no_remote = True
 
 
 def implementation(db, notify_changes, ctx):
@@ -103,8 +104,6 @@ Options control how entries are displayed in the generated catalog output.
 def main(opts, args, dbctx):
     if len(args) < 1:
         raise SystemExit(_('You must specify a catalog output file'))
-    if dbctx.is_remote:
-        raise SystemExit(_('Generating catalogs from server libraries is not supported'))
     if opts.ids:
         opts.ids = list(integers_from_string(opts.ids))
     fmt = args[0].rpartition('.')[-1]
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/cli/main.py b/src/calibre/db/cli/main.py
index 2efa0fbccb..ee98b6e944 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/cli/main.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/cli/main.py
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ def send_message(msg=''):
 
 def run_cmd(cmd, opts, args, dbctx):
     m = module_for_cmd(cmd)
+    if dbctx.is_remote and getattr(m, 'no_remote', False):
+        raise SystemExit(_('The {} command is not supported with remote (server based) libraries').format(cmd))
     ret = m.main(opts, args, dbctx)
     if not dbctx.is_remote and not opts.dont_notify_gui and not getattr(m, 'readonly', False):
         send_message()
@@ -167,7 +169,7 @@ class DBCtx(object):
     @property
     def db(self):
         if self._db is None:
-            self._db = LibraryDatabase(self.library_path).new_api
+            self._db = LibraryDatabase(self.library_path)
         return self._db
 
     def path(self, path):
@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ class DBCtx(object):
         m = module_for_cmd(name)
         if self.is_remote:
             return self.remote_run(name, m, *args)
-        return m.implementation(self.db, None, *args)
+        return m.implementation(self.db.new_api, None, *args)
 
     def interpret_http_error(self, err):
         if err.code == httplib.UNAUTHORIZED: