--- a/mercurial/util.py	Wed Mar 29 14:56:58 2017 +0530
+++ b/mercurial/util.py	Wed Mar 29 12:21:15 2017 -0700
@@ -1129,10 +1129,9 @@
     if hardlink is None:
         hardlink = (os.stat(src).st_dev ==
                     os.stat(os.path.dirname(dst)).st_dev)
-    if hardlink:
-        topic = _('linking')
-    else:
-        topic = _('copying')
+
+    gettopic = lambda: hardlink and _('linking') or _('copying')
+    topic = gettopic()
 
     if os.path.isdir(src):
         os.mkdir(dst)