diff -r 80b37d26097f -r 921a72735482 mercurial/smartset.py
--- a/mercurial/smartset.py	Thu Feb 02 17:35:31 2023 +0100
+++ b/mercurial/smartset.py	Thu Feb 02 17:35:38 2023 +0100
@@ -670,7 +670,7 @@
         if self._ascending:
             attr = 'fastasc'
         else:
-            attr = b'fastdesc'
+            attr = 'fastdesc'
         it = getattr(self, attr)
         if it is not None:
             return it()