diff --git a/mercurial/commands.py b/mercurial/commands.py
index fe22d86a8992c5e442a45a3bfd673ca59129214a_bWVyY3VyaWFsL2NvbW1hbmRzLnB5..711de9dcb1d37f639ceb36ef4dd7d366df3da20a_bWVyY3VyaWFsL2NvbW1hbmRzLnB5 100644
--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -260,6 +260,9 @@
 
     Returns 0 on success.
     """
+    if not pats:
+        raise util.Abort(_('at least one filename or pattern is required'))
+
     if opts.get('follow'):
         # --follow is deprecated and now just an alias for -f/--file
         # to mimic the behavior of Mercurial before version 1.5
@@ -267,10 +270,6 @@
 
     datefunc = ui.quiet and util.shortdate or util.datestr
     getdate = util.cachefunc(lambda x: datefunc(x[0].date()))
-
-    if not pats:
-        raise util.Abort(_('at least one filename or pattern is required'))
-
     hexfn = ui.debugflag and hex or short
 
     opmap = [('user', ' ', lambda x: ui.shortuser(x[0].user())),