diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/auto-patchelf.sh b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/auto-patchelf.sh
index 59b596d27172..392163646aa8 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/auto-patchelf.sh
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/auto-patchelf.sh
@@ -53,19 +53,11 @@ autoPatchelf() {
         esac
     done
 
-    if [ -n "$__structuredAttrs" ]; then
-        local ignoreMissingDepsArray=( "${autoPatchelfIgnoreMissingDeps[@]}" )
-        local appendRunpathsArray=( "${appendRunpaths[@]}" )
-        local runtimeDependenciesArray=( "${runtimeDependencies[@]}" )
-        local patchelfFlagsArray=( "${patchelfFlags[@]}" )
-        local autoPatchelfFlagsArray=( "${autoPatchelfFlags[@]}" )
-    else
-        readarray -td' ' ignoreMissingDepsArray < <(echo -n "$autoPatchelfIgnoreMissingDeps")
-        local appendRunpathsArray=($appendRunpaths)
-        local runtimeDependenciesArray=($runtimeDependencies)
-        local patchelfFlagsArray=($patchelfFlags)
-        local autoPatchelfFlagsArray=($autoPatchelfFlags)
-    fi
+    concatTo ignoreMissingDepsArray autoPatchelfIgnoreMissingDeps
+    concatTo appendRunpathsArray appendRunpaths
+    concatTo runtimeDependenciesArray runtimeDependencies
+    concatTo patchelfFlagsArray patchelfFlags
+    concatTo autoPatchelfFlagsArray autoPatchelfFlags
 
     # Check if ignoreMissingDepsArray contains "1" and if so, replace it with
     # "*", printing a deprecation warning.
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
index 3c197171e801..230c18c3e364 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
@@ -389,6 +389,8 @@ appendToVar() {
 # Arrays are simply concatenated, strings are split on whitespace.
 # Default values can be passed via name=default.
 concatTo() {
+    local -
+    set -o noglob
     local -n targetref="$1"; shift
     local arg default name type
     for arg in "$@"; do
diff --git a/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix b/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix
index 6ed430f5da3f..0a0e5930d9d4 100644
--- a/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ let
       ({
         inherit name;
 
-        string = "a b";
+        string = "a *";
         list = ["c" "d"];
 
         passAsFile = [ "buildCommand" ] ++ lib.optionals (extraAttrs ? extraTest) [ "extraTest" ];
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ let
           concatTo flagsArray string list notset=e=f empty_array=g empty_string=h
           declare -p flagsArray
           [[ "''${flagsArray[0]}" == "a" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsArray[0]' was not 'a'" && false)
-          [[ "''${flagsArray[1]}" == "b" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsArray[1]' was not 'b'" && false)
+          [[ "''${flagsArray[1]}" == "*" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsArray[1]' was not '*'" && false)
           [[ "''${flagsArray[2]}" == "c" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsArray[2]' was not 'c'" && false)
           [[ "''${flagsArray[3]}" == "d" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsArray[3]' was not 'd'" && false)
           [[ "''${flagsArray[4]}" == "e=f" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsArray[4]' was not 'e=f'" && false)
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ let
           concatTo nonExistant string list notset=e=f empty_array=g empty_string=h
           declare -p nonExistant
           [[ "''${nonExistant[0]}" == "a" ]] || (echo "'\$nonExistant[0]' was not 'a'" && false)
-          [[ "''${nonExistant[1]}" == "b" ]] || (echo "'\$nonExistant[1]' was not 'b'" && false)
+          [[ "''${nonExistant[1]}" == "*" ]] || (echo "'\$nonExistant[1]' was not '*'" && false)
           [[ "''${nonExistant[2]}" == "c" ]] || (echo "'\$nonExistant[2]' was not 'c'" && false)
           [[ "''${nonExistant[3]}" == "d" ]] || (echo "'\$nonExistant[3]' was not 'd'" && false)
           [[ "''${nonExistant[4]}" == "e=f" ]] || (echo "'\$nonExistant[4]' was not 'e=f'" && false)
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ in
           concatTo flagsWithSpaces string listWithSpaces
           declare -p flagsWithSpaces
           [[ "''${flagsWithSpaces[0]}" == "a" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsWithSpaces[0]' was not 'a'" && false)
-          [[ "''${flagsWithSpaces[1]}" == "b" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsWithSpaces[1]' was not 'b'" && false)
+          [[ "''${flagsWithSpaces[1]}" == "*" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsWithSpaces[1]' was not '*'" && false)
           [[ "''${flagsWithSpaces[2]}" == "c c" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsWithSpaces[2]' was not 'c c'" && false)
           [[ "''${flagsWithSpaces[3]}" == "d d" ]] || (echo "'\$flagsWithSpaces[3]' was not 'd d'" && false)
         '';