diff --git a/nix/buildLisp/default.nix b/nix/buildLisp/default.nix
index b8f3402ad..6df152274 100644
--- a/nix/buildLisp/default.nix
+++ b/nix/buildLisp/default.nix
@@ -167,10 +167,7 @@ let
   let lispDeps = filter (d: !d.lispBinary) (allDeps deps);
   in writeShellScriptBin "sbcl" ''
     export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${lib.makeLibraryPath (allNative [] lispDeps)};
-    exec ${sbcl}/bin/sbcl ${
-      if deps == [] then ""
-      else "--load ${writeText "load.lisp" (genLoadLisp lispDeps)}"
-    } $@
+    exec ${sbcl}/bin/sbcl ${lib.optionalString (deps != []) "--load ${writeText "load.lisp" (genLoadLisp lispDeps)}"} $@
   '';
 in {
   library = makeOverridable library;