diff --git a/src/libutil/strings.cc b/src/libutil/strings.cc
index 15937d415..7ec618bf4 100644
--- a/src/libutil/strings.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/strings.cc
@@ -9,4 +9,11 @@ template std::string concatStringsSep(std::string_view, const Strings &);
 template std::string concatStringsSep(std::string_view, const StringSet &);
 template std::string concatStringsSep(std::string_view, const std::vector<std::string> &);
 
+typedef std::string_view strings_2[2];
+template std::string concatStringsSep(std::string_view, const strings_2 &);
+typedef std::string_view strings_3[3];
+template std::string concatStringsSep(std::string_view, const strings_3 &);
+typedef std::string_view strings_4[4];
+template std::string concatStringsSep(std::string_view, const strings_4 &);
+
 } // namespace nix
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index 971ecf63b..877d15279 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 #include <sstream>
 #include <optional>
 
+#include "strings.hh"
+
 namespace nix {
 
 void initLibUtil();
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ auto concatStrings(Parts && ... parts)
     -> std::enable_if_t<(... && std::is_convertible_v<Parts, std::string_view>), std::string>
 {
     std::string_view views[sizeof...(parts)] = { parts... };
-    return dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep({}, views);
+    return concatStringsSep({}, views);
 }