diff --git a/mercurial/debugcommands.py b/mercurial/debugcommands.py
--- a/mercurial/debugcommands.py
+++ b/mercurial/debugcommands.py
@@ -481,8 +481,8 @@
             ui.warn(_(b"%s in manifest1, but listed as state %s") % (f, state))
             errors += 1
     if errors:
-        error = _(b".hg/dirstate inconsistent with current parent's manifest")
-        raise error.Abort(error)
+        errstr = _(b".hg/dirstate inconsistent with current parent's manifest")
+        raise error.Abort(errstr)
 
 
 @command(