diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index aec55e5..ebfebcd 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -127,7 +127,6 @@ struct Opts {
     impure: bool,
     #[arg(
         long,
-        value_parser = crate::util::parse_key_val::<String, String>,
         help = "Passes an arbitrary option to Nix commands",
         long_help = r#"Passes arbitrary options to Nix commands
 
@@ -135,9 +134,9 @@ This only works when building locally.
 "#,
         global = true,
         num_args = 2,
-        value_names = ["NAME, VALUE"],
+        value_names = ["NAME", "VALUE"],
     )]
-    nix_option: Vec<(String, String)>,
+    nix_option: Vec<String>,
     #[arg(
         long,
         value_name = "WHEN",
@@ -263,8 +262,11 @@ async fn get_hive(opts: &Opts) -> ColmenaResult<Hive> {
         hive.set_impure(true);
     }
 
-    for (name, value) in opts.nix_option.iter().cloned() {
-        hive.add_nix_option(name, value);
+    for chunks in opts.nix_option.chunks_exact(2) {
+        let [name, value] = chunks else {
+            unreachable!()
+        };
+        hive.add_nix_option(name.clone(), value.clone());
     }
 
     Ok(hive)
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index 1a07f9a..ffbfef5 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 use std::convert::TryFrom;
-use std::error::Error;
 
 use std::process::Stdio;
 
@@ -192,20 +191,6 @@ impl CommandExt for CommandExecution {
     }
 }
 
-/// Parse a single key-value pair
-pub fn parse_key_val<T, U>(s: &str) -> Result<(T, U), Box<dyn Error + Send + Sync + 'static>>
-where
-    T: std::str::FromStr,
-    T::Err: Error + Send + Sync + 'static,
-    U: std::str::FromStr,
-    U::Err: Error + Send + Sync + 'static,
-{
-    let pos = s
-        .find('=')
-        .ok_or_else(|| format!("invalid KEY=value: no `=` found in `{s}`"))?;
-    Ok((s[..pos].parse()?, s[pos + 1..].parse()?))
-}
-
 pub async fn capture_stream<R>(
     mut stream: BufReader<R>,
     job: Option<JobHandle>,