diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/excluding_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/excluding_test.rb
index f314b0a197..fd10e24d63 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/excluding_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/excluding_test.rb
@@ -8,39 +8,29 @@ class ExcludingTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
   fixtures :posts, :comments
 
   def test_result_set_does_not_include_single_excluded_record
-    post = posts(:welcome)
-
-    assert_not_includes Post.excluding(post).to_a, post
+    assert_not_includes Post.excluding(posts(:welcome)).to_a, posts(:welcome)
   end
 
   def test_result_set_does_not_include_collection_of_excluded_records
-    post_welcome = posts(:welcome)
-    post_thinking = posts(:thinking)
+    post_welcome, post_thinking = posts(:welcome, :thinking)
 
     relation = Post.excluding(post_welcome, post_thinking)
-
     assert_not_includes relation.to_a, post_welcome
     assert_not_includes relation.to_a, post_thinking
   end
 
   def test_result_set_through_association_does_not_include_single_excluded_record
-    post = posts(:welcome)
-    comment_greetings = comments(:greetings)
-    comment_more_greetings = comments(:more_greetings)
-
-    relation = post.comments.excluding(comment_greetings)
+    comment_greetings, comment_more_greetings = comments(:greetings, :more_greetings)
 
+    relation = posts(:welcome).comments.excluding(comment_greetings)
     assert_not_includes relation.to_a, comment_greetings
     assert_includes relation.to_a, comment_more_greetings
   end
 
   def test_result_set_through_association_does_not_include_collection_of_excluded_records
-    post = posts(:welcome)
-    comment_greetings = comments(:greetings)
-    comment_more_greetings = comments(:more_greetings)
-
-    relation = post.comments.excluding([comment_greetings, comment_more_greetings])
+    comment_greetings, comment_more_greetings = comments(:greetings, :more_greetings)
 
+    relation = posts(:welcome).comments.excluding([ comment_greetings, comment_more_greetings ])
     assert_not_includes relation.to_a, comment_greetings
     assert_not_includes relation.to_a, comment_more_greetings
   end
@@ -53,19 +43,12 @@ class ExcludingTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
   end
 
   def test_raises_on_record_from_different_class
-    post = posts(:welcome)
-    comment = comments(:greetings)
-
-    exception = assert_raises ArgumentError do
-      Post.excluding(post, comment)
-    end
-    assert_equal "You must only pass a single or collection of Post objects to #excluding.", exception.message
+    error = assert_raises(ArgumentError) { Post.excluding(posts(:welcome), comments(:greetings)) }
+    assert_equal "You must only pass a single or collection of Post objects to #excluding.", error.message
   end
 
   def test_result_set_does_not_include_without_record
-    post = posts(:welcome)
-
-    assert_not_includes Post.without(post).to_a, post
+    assert_not_includes Post.without(posts(:welcome)).to_a, posts(:welcome)
   end
 
   private