diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
index adbe62dd494..35e9e3828d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ let
       sha256 = "0w11jw3fb5sslf0f72kxy7llxgk1ia3a6bcw0c9kmvxrlj355mx2";
     };
 
-    patches = (optional stdenv.isCygwin ./coreutils-8.23-4.cygwin.patch) ++
-              (optional stdenv.isArm (fetchurl {
+    patches = if stdenv.isCygwin then ./coreutils-8.23-4.cygwin.patch else
+              (if stdenv.isArm then (fetchurl {
                   url = "http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/patch/?id=3ba68f9e64fa2eb8af22d510437a0c6441feb5e0";
                   sha256 = "1dnlszhc8lihhg801i9sz896mlrgfsjfcz62636prb27k5hmixqz";
                   name = "coreutils-tail-inotify-race.patch";
-              }));
+              }) else null);
 
     # The test tends to fail on btrfs and maybe other unusual filesystems.
     postPatch = stdenv.lib.optionalString (!stdenv.isDarwin) ''