diff --git a/beetsplug/rewrite.py b/beetsplug/rewrite.py
index a02538902..b92da4f5f 100644
--- a/beetsplug/rewrite.py
+++ b/beetsplug/rewrite.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def rewriter(field, rules):
     (pattern, replacement) pairs.
     """
     def fieldfunc(item):
-        value = getattr(item, field)
+        value = item._values_fixed[field]
         for pattern, replacement in rules:
             if pattern.match(value.lower()):
                 # Rewrite activated.
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class RewritePlugin(BeetsPlugin):
                 fieldname, pattern = key.split(None, 1)
             except ValueError:
                 raise ui.UserError("invalid rewrite specification")
-            if fieldname not in library.ITEM_KEYS:
+            if fieldname not in library.Item._fields:
                 raise ui.UserError("invalid field name (%s) in rewriter" %
                                    fieldname)
             log.debug(u'adding template field %s' % key)
diff --git a/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst b/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst
index 8a139b806..d3151bac2 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/rewrite.rst
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 Rewrite Plugin
 ==============
 
-The ``rewrite`` plugin lets you easily substitute values in your path formats.
-Specifically, it is intended to let you *canonicalize* names such as artists:
-for example, perhaps you want albums from The Jimi Hendrix Experience to be
-sorted into the same folder as solo Hendrix albums.
+The ``rewrite`` plugin lets you easily substitute values in your templates and
+path formats. Specifically, it is intended to let you *canonicalize* names
+such as artists: for example, perhaps you want albums from The Jimi Hendrix
+Experience to be sorted into the same folder as solo Hendrix albums.
 
 To use field rewriting, first enable the plugin by putting ``rewrite`` on your
 ``plugins`` line. Then, make a ``rewrite:`` section in your config file to
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ example above::
     rewrite:
         artist The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Jimi Hendrix
 
-This will make ``$artist`` in your path formats expand to "Jimi Hendrix" where it
+This will make ``$artist`` in your templates expand to "Jimi Hendrix" where it
 would otherwise be "The Jimi Hendrix Experience".
 
 The pattern is a case-insensitive regular expression. This means you can use
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ As a convenience, the plugin applies patterns for the ``artist`` field to the
 ``albumartist`` field as well. (Otherwise, you would probably want to duplicate
 every rule for ``artist`` and ``albumartist``.)
 
-Note that this plugin only applies to path templating; it does not modify files'
+Note that this plugin only applies to templating; it does not modify files'
 metadata tags or the values tracked by beets' library database.