diff --git a/src/nix/flake.cc b/src/nix/flake.cc
index 1ed071ec8..3f9f8f99b 100644
--- a/src/nix/flake.cc
+++ b/src/nix/flake.cc
@@ -1214,7 +1214,7 @@ struct CmdFlakeShow : FlakeCommand, MixJSON
             auto attrPathS = state->symbols.resolve(attrPath);
 
             Activity act(*logger, lvlInfo, actUnknown,
-                fmt("evaluating '%s'", dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
+                fmt("evaluating '%s'", concatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
 
             try {
                 auto recurse = [&]()
@@ -1294,7 +1294,7 @@ struct CmdFlakeShow : FlakeCommand, MixJSON
                         if (!json)
                             logger->cout(fmt("%s " ANSI_WARNING "omitted" ANSI_NORMAL " (use '--all-systems' to show)", headerPrefix));
                         else {
-                            logger->warn(fmt("%s omitted (use '--all-systems' to show)", dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
+                            logger->warn(fmt("%s omitted (use '--all-systems' to show)", concatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
                         }
                     } else {
                         if (visitor.isDerivation())
@@ -1318,13 +1318,13 @@ struct CmdFlakeShow : FlakeCommand, MixJSON
                         if (!json)
                             logger->cout(fmt("%s " ANSI_WARNING "omitted" ANSI_NORMAL " (use '--legacy' to show)", headerPrefix));
                         else {
-                            logger->warn(fmt("%s omitted (use '--legacy' to show)", dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
+                            logger->warn(fmt("%s omitted (use '--legacy' to show)", concatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
                         }
                     } else if (!showAllSystems && std::string(attrPathS[1]) != localSystem) {
                         if (!json)
                             logger->cout(fmt("%s " ANSI_WARNING "omitted" ANSI_NORMAL " (use '--all-systems' to show)", headerPrefix));
                         else {
-                            logger->warn(fmt("%s omitted (use '--all-systems' to show)", dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
+                            logger->warn(fmt("%s omitted (use '--all-systems' to show)", concatStringsSep(".", attrPathS)));
                         }
                     } else {
                         if (visitor.isDerivation())
diff --git a/src/nix/search.cc b/src/nix/search.cc
index 7c46f9fec..7f8504d3f 100644
--- a/src/nix/search.cc
+++ b/src/nix/search.cc
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ struct CmdSearch : InstallableValueCommand, MixJSON
                     auto aDescription = aMeta ? aMeta->maybeGetAttr(state->sDescription) : nullptr;
                     auto description = aDescription ? aDescription->getString() : "";
                     std::replace(description.begin(), description.end(), '\n', ' ');
-                    auto attrPath2 = dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(".", attrPathS);
+                    auto attrPath2 = concatStringsSep(".", attrPathS);
 
                     std::vector<std::smatch> attrPathMatches;
                     std::vector<std::smatch> descriptionMatches;