diff --git a/hgext/remotefilelog/__init__.py b/hgext/remotefilelog/__init__.py
--- a/hgext/remotefilelog/__init__.py
+++ b/hgext/remotefilelog/__init__.py
@@ -480,16 +480,16 @@
 
 # prefetch files before update
 def applyupdates(
-    orig, repo, actions, wctx, mctx, overwrite, wantfiledata, **opts
+    orig, repo, mresult, wctx, mctx, overwrite, wantfiledata, **opts
 ):
     if isenabled(repo):
         manifest = mctx.manifest()
         files = []
-        for f, args, msg in actions[mergestatemod.ACTION_GET]:
+        for f, args, msg in mresult.getactions([mergestatemod.ACTION_GET]):
             files.append((f, hex(manifest[f])))
         # batch fetch the needed files from the server
         repo.fileservice.prefetch(files)
-    return orig(repo, actions, wctx, mctx, overwrite, wantfiledata, **opts)
+    return orig(repo, mresult, wctx, mctx, overwrite, wantfiledata, **opts)
 
 
 # Prefetch merge checkunknownfiles
diff --git a/mercurial/merge.py b/mercurial/merge.py
--- a/mercurial/merge.py
+++ b/mercurial/merge.py
@@ -1328,7 +1328,7 @@
 
 def applyupdates(
     repo,
-    actions,
+    mresult,
     wctx,
     mctx,
     overwrite,
@@ -1338,6 +1338,7 @@
 ):
     """apply the merge action list to the working directory
 
+    mresult is a mergeresult object representing result of the merge
     wctx is the working copy context
     mctx is the context to be merged into the working copy
     commitinfo is a mapping of information which needs to be stored somewhere
@@ -1349,6 +1350,7 @@
     batchget.
     """
 
+    actions = mresult.actionsdict
     _prefetchfiles(repo, mctx, actions)
 
     updated, merged, removed = 0, 0, 0
@@ -1613,6 +1615,8 @@
         mfiles = {a[0] for a in actions[mergestatemod.ACTION_MERGE]}
         for k, acts in pycompat.iteritems(extraactions):
             actions[k].extend(acts)
+            for a in acts:
+                mresult.addfile(a[0], k, *a[1:])
             if k == mergestatemod.ACTION_GET and wantfiledata:
                 # no filedata until mergestate is updated to provide it
                 for a in acts:
@@ -1638,6 +1642,9 @@
         actions[mergestatemod.ACTION_MERGE] = [
             a for a in actions[mergestatemod.ACTION_MERGE] if a[0] in mfiles
         ]
+        for a in mresult.getactions([mergestatemod.ACTION_MERGE]):
+            if a[0] not in mfiles:
+                mresult.removefile(a[0])
 
     progress.complete()
     assert len(getfiledata) == (
@@ -2016,7 +2023,7 @@
         wantfiledata = updatedirstate and not branchmerge
         stats, getfiledata = applyupdates(
             repo,
-            actions,
+            mresult,
             wc,
             p2,
             overwrite,
@@ -2029,7 +2036,7 @@
             with repo.dirstate.parentchange():
                 repo.setparents(fp1, fp2)
                 mergestatemod.recordupdates(
-                    repo, actions, branchmerge, getfiledata
+                    repo, mresult.actionsdict, branchmerge, getfiledata
                 )
                 # update completed, clear state
                 util.unlink(repo.vfs.join(b'updatestate'))
diff --git a/mercurial/narrowspec.py b/mercurial/narrowspec.py
--- a/mercurial/narrowspec.py
+++ b/mercurial/narrowspec.py
@@ -272,15 +272,19 @@
 
 
 def _writeaddedfiles(repo, pctx, files):
-    actions = merge.emptyactions()
-    addgaction = actions[mergestatemod.ACTION_GET].append
+    mresult = merge.mergeresult()
     mf = repo[b'.'].manifest()
     for f in files:
         if not repo.wvfs.exists(f):
-            addgaction((f, (mf.flags(f), False), b"narrowspec updated"))
+            mresult.addfile(
+                f,
+                mergestatemod.ACTION_GET,
+                (mf.flags(f), False),
+                b"narrowspec updated",
+            )
     merge.applyupdates(
         repo,
-        actions,
+        mresult,
         wctx=repo[None],
         mctx=repo[b'.'],
         overwrite=False,
diff --git a/mercurial/sparse.py b/mercurial/sparse.py
--- a/mercurial/sparse.py
+++ b/mercurial/sparse.py
@@ -269,19 +269,17 @@
 
     sparsematch = matcher(repo, includetemp=False)
     dirstate = repo.dirstate
-    actions = []
+    mresult = mergemod.mergeresult()
     dropped = []
     tempincludes = readtemporaryincludes(repo)
     for file in tempincludes:
         if file in dirstate and not sparsematch(file):
             message = _(b'dropping temporarily included sparse files')
-            actions.append((file, None, message))
+            mresult.addfile(file, b'r', None, message)
             dropped.append(file)
 
-    typeactions = mergemod.emptyactions()
-    typeactions[b'r'] = actions
     mergemod.applyupdates(
-        repo, typeactions, repo[None], repo[b'.'], False, wantfiledata=False
+        repo, mresult, repo[None], repo[b'.'], False, wantfiledata=False
     )
 
     # Fix dirstate
@@ -429,22 +427,25 @@
         addtemporaryincludes(repo, temporaryfiles)
 
         # Add the new files to the working copy so they can be merged, etc
-        actions = []
+        tmresult = mergemod.mergeresult()
         message = b'temporarily adding to sparse checkout'
         wctxmanifest = repo[None].manifest()
         for file in temporaryfiles:
             if file in wctxmanifest:
                 fctx = repo[None][file]
-                actions.append((file, (fctx.flags(), False), message))
+                tmresult.addfile(
+                    file,
+                    mergestatemod.ACTION_GET,
+                    (fctx.flags(), False),
+                    message,
+                )
 
-        typeactions = mergemod.emptyactions()
-        typeactions[mergestatemod.ACTION_GET] = actions
         mergemod.applyupdates(
-            repo, typeactions, repo[None], repo[b'.'], False, wantfiledata=False
+            repo, tmresult, repo[None], repo[b'.'], False, wantfiledata=False
         )
 
         dirstate = repo.dirstate
-        for file, flags, msg in actions:
+        for file, flags, msg in tmresult.getactions([mergestatemod.ACTION_GET]):
             dirstate.normal(file)
 
     profiles = activeconfig(repo)[2]
@@ -497,7 +498,7 @@
             _(b'could not update sparseness due to pending changes')
         )
 
-    # Calculate actions
+    # Calculate merge result
     dirstate = repo.dirstate
     ctx = repo[b'.']
     added = []
@@ -505,8 +506,7 @@
     dropped = []
     mf = ctx.manifest()
     files = set(mf)
-
-    actions = {}
+    mresult = mergemod.mergeresult()
 
     for file in files:
         old = origsparsematch(file)
@@ -516,17 +516,17 @@
         if (new and not old) or (old and new and not file in dirstate):
             fl = mf.flags(file)
             if repo.wvfs.exists(file):
-                actions[file] = (b'e', (fl,), b'')
+                mresult.addfile(file, b'e', (fl,), b'')
                 lookup.append(file)
             else:
-                actions[file] = (b'g', (fl, False), b'')
+                mresult.addfile(file, b'g', (fl, False), b'')
                 added.append(file)
         # Drop files that are newly excluded, or that still exist in
         # the dirstate.
         elif (old and not new) or (not old and not new and file in dirstate):
             dropped.append(file)
             if file not in pending:
-                actions[file] = (b'r', [], b'')
+                mresult.addfile(file, b'r', [], b'')
 
     # Verify there are no pending changes in newly included files
     abort = False
@@ -550,13 +550,8 @@
             if old and not new:
                 dropped.append(file)
 
-    # Apply changes to disk
-    typeactions = mergemod.emptyactions()
-    for f, (m, args, msg) in pycompat.iteritems(actions):
-        typeactions[m].append((f, args, msg))
-
     mergemod.applyupdates(
-        repo, typeactions, repo[None], repo[b'.'], False, wantfiledata=False
+        repo, mresult, repo[None], repo[b'.'], False, wantfiledata=False
     )
 
     # Fix dirstate