diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/nerd-font-patcher/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/nerd-font-patcher/default.nix
index e865479f8da0..21c77316c1ab 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/nerd-font-patcher/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/nerd-font-patcher/default.nix
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
     owner = "ryanoasis";
     repo = "nerd-fonts";
     rev = "v${version}";
-    sparseCheckout = ''
-      font-patcher
-      /src/glyphs
-    '';
+    sparseCheckout = [
+      "font-patcher"
+      "/src/glyphs"
+    ];
     sha256 = "sha256-boZUd1PM8puc9BTgOwCJpkfk6VMdXLsIyp+fQmW/ZqI=";
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/fetchgithub/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/fetchgithub/default.nix
index cfb6a6ca7cd8..fcde7447cbd3 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/fetchgithub/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/fetchgithub/default.nix
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 { owner, repo, rev, name ? "source"
 , fetchSubmodules ? false, leaveDotGit ? null
 , deepClone ? false, private ? false, forceFetchGit ? false
-, sparseCheckout ? ""
+, sparseCheckout ? []
 , githubBase ? "github.com", varPrefix ? null
 , meta ? { }
 , ... # For hash agility
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ let
   };
   passthruAttrs = removeAttrs args [ "owner" "repo" "rev" "fetchSubmodules" "forceFetchGit" "private" "githubBase" "varPrefix" ];
   varBase = "NIX${if varPrefix == null then "" else "_${varPrefix}"}_GITHUB_PRIVATE_";
-  useFetchGit = fetchSubmodules || (leaveDotGit == true) || deepClone || forceFetchGit || (sparseCheckout != "");
+  useFetchGit = fetchSubmodules || (leaveDotGit == true) || deepClone || forceFetchGit || !(sparseCheckout == "" || sparseCheckout == []);
   # We prefer fetchzip in cases we don't need submodules as the hash
   # is more stable in that case.
   fetcher = if useFetchGit then fetchgit else fetchzip;
diff --git a/pkgs/data/fonts/noto-fonts/default.nix b/pkgs/data/fonts/noto-fonts/default.nix
index 019ed1f371c0..da3b0f81d431 100644
--- a/pkgs/data/fonts/noto-fonts/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/data/fonts/noto-fonts/default.nix
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ let
         owner = "googlefonts";
         repo = "noto-cjk";
         inherit rev sha256;
-        sparseCheckout = "${typeface}/Variable/OTC";
+        sparseCheckout = [ "${typeface}/Variable/OTC" ];
       };
 
       installPhase = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/data/icons/beauty-line-icon-theme/default.nix b/pkgs/data/icons/beauty-line-icon-theme/default.nix
index 66e5ac57dd17..dc332b0fc328 100644
--- a/pkgs/data/icons/beauty-line-icon-theme/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/data/icons/beauty-line-icon-theme/default.nix
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation rec {
     owner = "gvolpe";
     repo = pname;
     rev = version;
-    sparseCheckout = ''
-      BeautyLine-V3
-    '';
+    sparseCheckout = [
+      "BeautyLine-V3"
+    ];
     sha256 = "sha256-IkkypAj250+OXbf19TampCnqYsSbJVIjeYlxJoyhpzk=";
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/data/misc/colemak-dh/default.nix b/pkgs/data/misc/colemak-dh/default.nix
index f36832ff42d8..261a7741f16f 100644
--- a/pkgs/data/misc/colemak-dh/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/data/misc/colemak-dh/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation rec {
     repo  = "mod-dh";
     rev = "e846a5bd24d59ed15ba70b3a9d5363a38ca51d09";
     sha256  = "sha256-RFOpN+tIMfakb7AZN0ock9eq2mytvL0DWedvQV67+ks=";
-    sparseCheckout = "console";
+    sparseCheckout = [ "console" ];
   };
 
   phases = [ "unpackPhase" "installPhase" ];
diff --git a/pkgs/games/itch/default.nix b/pkgs/games/itch/default.nix
index 7aed72dd531d..5776a1b43b2b 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/itch/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/itch/default.nix
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation rec {
         repo = pname;
         rev = "v${version}";
         hash = "sha256-DZBmf8fe0zw5uiQjNKXw8g/vU2hjNDa87z/7XuhyXog=";
-        inherit sparseCheckout;
+        sparseCheckout = [ sparseCheckout ];
       } + sparseCheckout;
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ copyDesktopItems makeWrapper ];