diff --git a/sopel/bot.py b/sopel/bot.py
index 86bae49a14..a59ae9ed53 100644
--- a/sopel/bot.py
+++ b/sopel/bot.py
@@ -305,26 +305,26 @@ def say(self, text, recipient, max_messages=1):
 
             recipient_id = Identifier(recipient)
 
-            recipient = self.stack.setdefault(recipient_id, {
+            recipient_stack = self.stack.setdefault(recipient_id, {
                 'messages': [],
                 'flood_left': self.config.core.flood_burst_lines,
             })
 
-            if not recipient['flood_left']:
-                elapsed = time.time() - recipient['messages'][-1][0]
-                recipient['flood_left'] = min(
+            if not recipient_stack['flood_left']:
+                elapsed = time.time() - recipient_stack['messages'][-1][0]
+                recipient_stack['flood_left'] = min(
                     self.config.core.flood_burst_lines,
                     int(elapsed) * self.config.core.flood_refill_rate)
 
-            if not recipient['flood_left']:
-                elapsed = time.time() - recipient['messages'][-1][0]
+            if not recipient_stack['flood_left']:
+                elapsed = time.time() - recipient_stack['messages'][-1][0]
                 penalty = float(max(0, len(text) - 50)) / 70
                 wait = self.config.core.flood_empty_wait + penalty
                 if elapsed < wait:
                     time.sleep(wait - elapsed)
 
                 # Loop detection
-                messages = [m[1] for m in recipient['messages'][-8:]]
+                messages = [m[1] for m in recipient_stack['messages'][-8:]]
 
                 # If what we about to send repeated at least 5 times in the
                 # last 2 minutes, replace with '...'
@@ -335,9 +335,9 @@ def say(self, text, recipient, max_messages=1):
                         return
 
             self.write(('PRIVMSG', recipient), text)
-            recipient['flood_left'] = max(0, recipient['flood_left'] - 1)
-            recipient['messages'].append((time.time(), self.safe(text)))
-            recipient['messages'] = recipient['messages'][-10:]
+            recipient_stack['flood_left'] = max(0, recipient_stack['flood_left'] - 1)
+            recipient_stack['messages'].append((time.time(), self.safe(text)))
+            recipient_stack['messages'] = recipient_stack['messages'][-10:]
         finally:
             self.sending.release()
         # Now that we've sent the first part, we need to send the rest. Doing