diff --git a/mercurial/templatekw.py b/mercurial/templatekw.py
--- a/mercurial/templatekw.py
+++ b/mercurial/templatekw.py
@@ -419,9 +419,7 @@
     else:
         merge_nodes = cache.get(b'merge_nodes')
         if merge_nodes is None:
-            from . import mergestate as mergestatemod
-
-            mergestate = mergestatemod.mergestate.read(repo)
+            mergestate = repo[None].mergestate()
             if mergestate.active():
                 merge_nodes = (mergestate.local, mergestate.other)
             else: