diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/operand.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/operand.go
index 19326b8342..a5b2729451 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/operand.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/operand.go
@@ -176,17 +176,14 @@ func operandString(x *operand, qf Qualifier) string {
 	if hasType {
 		if x.typ != Typ[Invalid] {
 			var intro string
-			var tpar *TypeParam
 			if isGeneric(x.typ) {
 				intro = " of parameterized type "
-			} else if tpar = asTypeParam(x.typ); tpar != nil {
-				intro = " of type parameter "
 			} else {
 				intro = " of type "
 			}
 			buf.WriteString(intro)
 			WriteType(&buf, x.typ, qf)
-			if tpar != nil {
+			if tpar := asTypeParam(x.typ); tpar != nil {
 				buf.WriteString(" constrained by ")
 				WriteType(&buf, tpar.bound, qf) // do not compute interface type sets here
 			}