--- a/cubicweb/devtools/devctl.py	Wed Nov 16 17:12:09 2016 +0100
+++ b/cubicweb/devtools/devctl.py	Wed Nov 16 14:38:11 2016 +0100
@@ -569,8 +569,12 @@
     cubedir = osp.abspath(osp.normpath(cubedir))
     workdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
     try:
-        distname = osp.basename(cubedir)
-        cubename = distname.split('_')[-1]
+        cubename = osp.basename(cubedir)
+        if cubename.startswith('cubicweb_'):  # new layout
+            distname = cubename
+            cubename = cubename[len('cubicweb_'):]
+        else:
+            distname = 'cubicweb_' + cubename
         print('cubedir', cubedir)
         extract_cls = I18nCubeMessageExtractor
         try:

--- a/cubicweb/devtools/test/unittest_i18n.py	Wed Nov 16 17:12:09 2016 +0100
+++ b/cubicweb/devtools/test/unittest_i18n.py	Wed Nov 16 14:38:11 2016 +0100
@@ -136,11 +136,11 @@
 
     @patch('pkg_resources.load_entry_point', return_value=FakeMessageExtractor)
     def test_cube_custom_extractor(self, mock_load_entry_point):
-        for distname, cubedir in [
-            ('cubicweb_i18ntestcube',
-             osp.join(DATADIR, 'libpython', 'cubicweb_i18ntestcube')),
+        distname = 'cubicweb_i18ntestcube'  # same for new and legacy layout
+        for cubedir in [
+            osp.join(DATADIR, 'libpython', 'cubicweb_i18ntestcube'),
             # Legacy cubes.
-            ('i18ntestcube', osp.join(DATADIR, 'cubes', 'i18ntestcube')),
+            osp.join(DATADIR, 'cubes', 'i18ntestcube'),
         ]:
             with self.subTest(cubedir=cubedir):
                 with capture_stdout() as stream: