diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpDefinition.h b/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpDefinition.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpDefinition.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpDefinition.h
@@ -322,12 +322,11 @@
 protected:
   /// Return the ultimate Operation being worked on.
   Operation *getOperation() {
-    // We have to cast up to the trait type, then to the concrete type, then to
+    // We have to cast up to the concrete trait type, then to
     // the BaseState class in explicit hops because the concrete type will
     // multiply derive from the (content free) TraitBase class, and we need to
     // be able to disambiguate the path for the C++ compiler.
-    auto *trait = static_cast<TraitType<ConcreteType> *>(this);
-    auto *concrete = static_cast<ConcreteType *>(trait);
+    auto *concrete = static_cast<ConcreteType *>(this);
     auto *base = static_cast<OpState *>(concrete);
     return base->getOperation();
   }