diff --git a/IPython/html/services/contents/checkpoints.py b/IPython/html/services/contents/checkpoints.py
index 6cea13c1d..d87b7cc95 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/contents/checkpoints.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/contents/checkpoints.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ Classes for managing Checkpoints.
 # Copyright (c) IPython Development Team.
 # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
+from tornado.web import HTTPError
+
 from IPython.config.configurable import LoggingConfigurable
 
 
@@ -59,17 +61,18 @@ class GenericCheckpointsMixin(object):
     Provides a ContentsManager-agnostic implementation of `create_checkpoint`
     and `restore_checkpoint` in terms of the following operations:
 
-    create_file_checkpoint(self, content, format, path)
-    create_notebook_checkpoint(self, nb, path)
-    get_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path, type)
+    - create_file_checkpoint(self, content, format, path)
+    - create_notebook_checkpoint(self, nb, path)
+    - get_file_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path)
+    - get_notebook_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path)
 
     To create a generic CheckpointManager, add this mixin to a class that
     implement the above three methods plus the remaining Checkpoints API
     methods:
 
-    delete_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path)
-    list_checkpoints(self, path)
-    rename_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, old_path, new_path)
+    - delete_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path)
+    - list_checkpoints(self, path)
+    - rename_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, old_path, new_path)
     """
 
     def create_checkpoint(self, contents_mgr, path):
@@ -86,11 +89,18 @@ class GenericCheckpointsMixin(object):
                 model['format'],
                 path,
             )
+        else:
+            raise HTTPError(500, u'Unexpected type %s' % type)
 
     def restore_checkpoint(self, contents_mgr, checkpoint_id, path):
         """Restore a checkpoint."""
         type = contents_mgr.get(path, content=False)['type']
-        model = self.get_checkpoint(checkpoint_id, path, type)
+        if type == 'notebook':
+            model = self.get_notebook_checkpoint(checkpoint_id, path)
+        elif type == 'file':
+            model = self.get_file_checkpoint(checkpoint_id, path)
+        else:
+            raise HTTPError(500, u'Unexpected type %s' % type)
         contents_mgr.save(model, path)
 
     # Required Methods
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/contents/filecheckpoints.py b/IPython/html/services/contents/filecheckpoints.py
index 17774836e..425bae359 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/contents/filecheckpoints.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/contents/filecheckpoints.py
@@ -167,31 +167,34 @@ class GenericFileCheckpoints(GenericCheckpointsMixin, FileCheckpoints):
         # return the checkpoint info
         return self.checkpoint_model(checkpoint_id, os_checkpoint_path)
 
-    def get_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path, type):
-        """Get the content of a checkpoint.
+    def get_notebook_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path):
 
-        Returns a model suitable for passing to ContentsManager.save.
-        """
         path = path.strip('/')
         self.log.info("restoring %s from checkpoint %s", path, checkpoint_id)
         os_checkpoint_path = self.checkpoint_path(checkpoint_id, path)
+
         if not os.path.isfile(os_checkpoint_path):
             self.no_such_checkpoint(path, checkpoint_id)
 
-        if type == 'notebook':
-            return {
-                'type': type,
-                'content': self._read_notebook(
-                    os_checkpoint_path,
-                    as_version=4,
-                ),
-            }
-        elif type == 'file':
-            content, format = self._read_file(os_checkpoint_path, format=None)
-            return {
-                'type': type,
-                'content': content,
-                'format': format,
-            }
-        else:
-            raise HTTPError(500, u'Unexpected type %s' % type)
+        return {
+            'type': 'notebook',
+            'content': self._read_notebook(
+                os_checkpoint_path,
+                as_version=4,
+            ),
+        }
+
+    def get_file_checkpoint(self, checkpoint_id, path):
+        path = path.strip('/')
+        self.log.info("restoring %s from checkpoint %s", path, checkpoint_id)
+        os_checkpoint_path = self.checkpoint_path(checkpoint_id, path)
+
+        if not os.path.isfile(os_checkpoint_path):
+            self.no_such_checkpoint(path, checkpoint_id)
+
+        content, format = self._read_file(os_checkpoint_path, format=None)
+        return {
+            'type': 'file',
+            'content': content,
+            'format': format,
+        }