diff --git a/mercurial/templater.py b/mercurial/templater.py
--- a/mercurial/templater.py
+++ b/mercurial/templater.py
@@ -797,10 +797,14 @@ def ifcontains(context, mapping, args):
         raise error.ParseError(_("ifcontains expects three or four arguments"))
 
     haystack = evalfuncarg(context, mapping, args[1])
-    needle = evalastype(context, mapping, args[0],
-                        getattr(haystack, 'keytype', None) or bytes)
+    try:
+        needle = evalastype(context, mapping, args[0],
+                            getattr(haystack, 'keytype', None) or bytes)
+        found = (needle in haystack)
+    except error.ParseError:
+        found = False
 
-    if needle in haystack:
+    if found:
         yield evalrawexp(context, mapping, args[2])
     elif len(args) == 4:
         yield evalrawexp(context, mapping, args[3])
diff --git a/tests/test-command-template.t b/tests/test-command-template.t
--- a/tests/test-command-template.t
+++ b/tests/test-command-template.t
@@ -3948,6 +3948,9 @@ Test revset function
   1 match rev
   0 not match rev
 
+  $ hg log -T '{ifcontains(desc, revset(":"), "", "type not match")}\n' -l1
+  type not match
+
   $ hg log --template '{rev} Parents: {revset("parents(%s)", rev)}\n'
   2 Parents: 1
   1 Parents: 0