diff --git a/lib/options.nix b/lib/options.nix
index 71e02db58f6..ecbd81cd997 100644
--- a/lib/options.nix
+++ b/lib/options.nix
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@ rec {
           internal = opt.internal or false;
           visible = opt.visible or true;
         }
-        // optionalAttrs (opt ? example) { example = scrubOptionValue opt.example; }
-        // optionalAttrs (opt ? default) { default = scrubOptionValue opt.default; }
-        // optionalAttrs (opt ? defaultText) { default = opt.defaultText; };
+        // (if opt ? example then { example = scrubOptionValue opt.example; } else {})
+        // (if opt ? default then { default = scrubOptionValue opt.default; } else {})
+        // (if opt ? defaultText then { default = opt.defaultText; } else {});
 
         subOptions =
           let ss = opt.type.getSubOptions opt.loc;
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
index 29e4455f7cb..399843c2760 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
@@ -115,12 +115,12 @@ let
               __ignoreNulls = true;
 
               # Inputs built by the cross compiler.
-              buildInputs = lib.optionals (crossConfig != null) (buildInputs ++ extraBuildInputs);
-              propagatedBuildInputs = lib.optionals (crossConfig != null) propagatedBuildInputs;
+              buildInputs = if crossConfig != null then buildInputs ++ extraBuildInputs else [];
+              propagatedBuildInputs = if crossConfig != null then propagatedBuildInputs else [];
               # Inputs built by the usual native compiler.
-              nativeBuildInputs = nativeBuildInputs ++ lib.optionals (crossConfig == null) (buildInputs ++ extraBuildInputs);
+              nativeBuildInputs = nativeBuildInputs ++ (if crossConfig == null then buildInputs ++ extraBuildInputs else []);
               propagatedNativeBuildInputs = propagatedNativeBuildInputs ++
-                lib.optionals (crossConfig == null) propagatedBuildInputs;
+                (if crossConfig == null then propagatedBuildInputs else []);
           }))) (
           {
             # The meta attribute is passed in the resulting attribute set,