diff --git a/Lib/collections.py b/Lib/collections.py
index 9edc294ef0e..20cc6003bc5 100644
--- a/Lib/collections.py
+++ b/Lib/collections.py
@@ -452,12 +452,11 @@ class Counter(dict):
 
         '''
         if iterable is not None:
+            self_get = self.get
             if isinstance(iterable, Mapping):
-                self_get = self.get
                 for elem, count in iterable.items():
                     self[elem] = self_get(elem, 0) - count
             else:
-                self_get = self.get
                 for elem in iterable:
                     self[elem] = self_get(elem, 0) - 1
         if kwds: