diff -r dc36535a5edc -r 9db77d46de79 mercurial/encoding.py
--- a/mercurial/encoding.py	Mon Jan 06 14:07:43 2025 -0500
+++ b/mercurial/encoding.py	Mon Jan 06 14:15:40 2025 -0500
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@
     chars = chars[:i]
     if leftside:
         chars.reverse()
-    u = u''.join(chars).encode(_sysstr(encoding))
+    u = ''.join(chars).encode(_sysstr(encoding))
     if leftside:
         return ellipsis + u
     return u + ellipsis