diff --git a/mercurial/commands.py b/mercurial/commands.py
--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -6034,7 +6034,7 @@ def rename(ui, repo, *pats, **opts):
     """
     context = lambda repo: repo.dirstate.changing_files(repo)
     rev = opts.get('at_rev')
-    ctx = None
+
     if rev:
         ctx = logcmdutil.revsingle(repo, rev)
         if ctx.rev() is not None: