-        config_req = compat_urllib_request.Request(
-            'http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/'
-            'vidconfig.php?videoID=%s&hash=%s' % (video_id, key))
-        config_req.add_header('Referer', url)
-        config = self._download_webpage(config_req, video_id, 'Downloading video config')
+        config = self._download_webpage(
+            'http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/vidconfig.php',
+            video_id, 'Downloading video config', headers={
+                'Referer': url,
+            }, query={
+                'videoID': video_id,
+                'hash': key,
+            })