diff --git a/gnu/packages/base.scm b/gnu/packages/base.scm
index d30299a7b6..b0ba565d3b 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/base.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/base.scm
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ command-line arguments, multiple languages, and so on.")
               "0gipv6bzkm1aihj0ncqpyh164xrzgcxcv9r1kwzyk2g1mzl1azk6"))
             (patches (search-patches "grep-timing-sensitive-test.patch"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (native-inputs `(("perl" ,perl)))             ;some of the tests require it
-   (inputs `(("pcre" ,pcre)))
+   (native-inputs (list perl))                   ;some of the tests require it
+   (inputs (list pcre))
    (arguments
     `(#:phases
       (modify-phases %standard-phases
@@ -161,8 +161,7 @@ including, for example, recursive directory searching.")
             (modules '((guix build utils)))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (synopsis "Stream editor")
-   (native-inputs
-    `(("perl" ,perl)))                            ;for tests
+   (native-inputs (list perl))                    ;for tests
    (description
     "Sed is a non-interactive, text stream editor.  It receives a text
 input from a file or from standard input and it then applies a series of text
@@ -215,7 +214,7 @@ implementation offers several extensions over the standard utility.")
    ;; When cross-compiling, the 'set-shell-file-name' phase needs to be able
    ;; to refer to the target Bash.
    (inputs (if (%current-target-system)
-               `(("bash" ,bash))
+               (list bash)
                '()))
 
    (synopsis "Managing tar archives")
@@ -248,7 +247,7 @@ standard utility.")
     (if (%current-target-system)
         `(#:configure-flags '("gl_cv_func_working_mktime=yes"))
         '()))
-   (native-inputs `(("ed" ,ed)))
+   (native-inputs (list ed))
    (synopsis "Apply differences to originals, with optional backups")
    (description
     "Patch is a program that applies changes to files based on differences
@@ -271,7 +270,7 @@ differences.")
              (base32
               "09isrg0isjinv8c535nxsi1s86wfdfzml80dbw41dj9x3hiad9xk"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (native-inputs `(("perl" ,perl)))
+   (native-inputs (list perl))
    (synopsis "Comparing and merging files")
    (description
     "GNU Diffutils is a package containing tools for finding the
@@ -330,16 +329,16 @@ used to apply commands with arbitrarily long arguments.")
               "1yjcrh5hw70c0yn8zw55pd6j51dj90anpq8mmg649ps9g3gdhn24"))
             (patches (search-patches "coreutils-ls.patch"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (inputs `(("acl"  ,acl)                        ; TODO: add SELinux
-             ("attr" ,attr)                       ;for xattrs in ls, mv, etc
-             ("gmp"  ,gmp)                        ;bignums in 'expr', yay!
+   (inputs `(,acl                                 ;TODO: add SELinux
+             ,attr                                ;for xattrs in ls, mv, etc
+             ,gmp                                 ;bignums in 'expr', yay!
 
              ;; Do not use libcap when cross-compiling since it's not quite
              ;; cross-compilable; and use it only for supported systems.
              ,@(if (and (not (%current-target-system))
                         (member (%current-system)
                                 (package-supported-systems libcap)))
-                   `(("libcap" ,libcap)) ;capability support in 'ls', etc.
+                   `(,libcap)                ;capability support in 'ls', etc.
                    '())))
    (native-inputs
     ;; Perl is needed to run tests in native builds, and to run the bundled
@@ -348,7 +347,7 @@ used to apply commands with arbitrarily long arguments.")
     ;; for help2man.
     (if (%current-target-system)
         '()
-        `(("perl" ,perl))))
+        (list perl)))
    (outputs '("out" "debug"))
    (arguments
     `(#:parallel-build? #f            ; help2man may be called too early
@@ -443,8 +442,8 @@ standard.")
               "06cfqzpqsvdnsxbysl5p2fgdgxgl9y4p7scpnrfa8z2zgkjdspz0"))
             (patches (search-patches "make-impure-dirs.patch"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))  ; to detect Guile
-   (inputs `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
+   (native-inputs (list pkg-config))              ;to detect Guile
+   (inputs (list guile-3.0))
    (outputs '("out" "debug"))
    (arguments
     `(,@(if (hurd-target?)
@@ -1148,8 +1147,7 @@ to the @code{share/locale} sub-directory of this package.")
                                                          locale ".UTF-8")))
                                ',locales)
                      #t))))
-    (native-inputs `(("glibc" ,glibc)
-                     ("gzip" ,gzip)))
+    (native-inputs (list glibc gzip))
     (synopsis (if default-locales?
                   (P_ "Small sample of UTF-8 locales")
                   (P_ "Customized sample of UTF-8 locales")))
@@ -1202,17 +1200,15 @@ command.")
   (package (inherit glibc)
     (name "glibc-hurd-headers")
     (outputs '("out"))
-    (propagated-inputs `(("gnumach-headers" ,gnumach-headers)
-                         ("hurd-headers" ,hurd-headers)))
+    (propagated-inputs (list gnumach-headers hurd-headers))
     (native-inputs
-     `(("mig" ,(if (%current-target-system)
-                   ;; XXX: When targeting i586-pc-gnu, we need a 32-bit MiG,
-                   ;; hence this hack.
-                   (package
-                     (inherit mig)
-                     (arguments `(#:system "i686-linux")))
-                   mig))
-       ,@(package-native-inputs glibc)))
+     (modify-inputs (package-native-inputs glibc)
+       (prepend (if (%current-target-system)
+                    ;; XXX: When targeting i586-pc-gnu, we need a 32-bit MiG,
+                    ;; hence this hack.
+                    (package (inherit mig)
+                             (arguments `(#:system "i686-linux")))
+                    mig))))
     (arguments
      (substitute-keyword-arguments (package-arguments glibc)
        ;; We just pass the flags really needed to build the headers.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/guile.scm b/gnu/packages/guile.scm
index 68ee7bddf5..33736cdbc6 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/guile.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/guile.scm
@@ -112,13 +112,11 @@
                       `(("self" ,this-package))
                       '()))
 
-   (inputs `(("gawk" ,gawk)
-             ("readline" ,readline)))
+   (inputs (list gawk readline))
 
    ;; Since `guile-1.8.pc' has "Libs: ... -lgmp -lltdl", these must be
    ;; propagated.
-   (propagated-inputs `(("gmp" ,gmp)
-                        ("libltdl" ,libltdl)))
+   (propagated-inputs (list gmp libltdl))
 
    (native-search-paths
     (list (search-path-specification
@@ -403,14 +401,14 @@ without requiring the source code to be rewritten.")
                  (delete-file "test-suite/tests/version.test")
                  #t))))))
       (native-inputs
-       `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-         ("automake" ,automake)
-         ("libtool" ,libtool)
-         ("flex" ,flex)
-         ("gettext" ,gnu-gettext)
-         ("texinfo" ,texinfo)
-         ("gperf" ,gperf)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs guile-3.0)))
+       (modify-inputs (package-native-inputs guile-3.0)
+         (prepend autoconf
+                  automake
+                  libtool
+                  flex
+                  gnu-gettext
+                  texinfo
+                  gperf)))
       (synopsis "Development version of GNU Guile"))))
 
 (define* (make-guile-readline guile #:optional (name "guile-readline"))
@@ -596,9 +594,8 @@ GNU@tie{}Guile.  Use the @code{(ice-9 readline)} module and call its
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (arguments
      `(#:make-flags '("GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE=0")))   ;to prevent guild warnings
-    (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-                     ("guile" ,guile-2.2)))
-    (inputs `(("guile" ,guile-2.2)))
+    (native-inputs (list pkg-config guile-2.2))
+    (inputs (list guile-2.2))
     (synopsis "JSON module for Guile")
     (description
      "Guile-JSON supports parsing and building JSON documents according to the
@@ -636,9 +633,8 @@ specification.  These are the main features:
               (sha256
                (base32
                 "0nj0684qgh6ppkbdyxqfyjwsv2qbyairxpi8fzrhsi3xnc7jn4im"))))
-    (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-                     ("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
-    (inputs `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)))))
+    (native-inputs (list pkg-config guile-3.0))
+    (inputs (list guile-3.0))))
 
 (define-public guile3.0-json
   (deprecated-package "guile3.0-json" guile-json-3))
@@ -697,10 +693,8 @@ specification.  These are the main features:
                          (format #f "(dynamic-link \"~a/lib/libgdbm.so\")"
                                  (assoc-ref inputs "gdbm"))))
                       #t)))))
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
-    (inputs
-     `(("gdbm" ,gdbm)))
+    (native-inputs (list guile-3.0))
+    (inputs (list gdbm))
     (home-page "https://github.com/ijp/guile-gdbm")
     (synopsis "Guile bindings to the GDBM library via Guile's FFI")
     (description
@@ -731,14 +725,8 @@ Guile's foreign function interface.")
                 "1nryy9j3bk34i0alkmc9bmqsm0ayz92k1cdf752mvhyjjn8nr928"))
               (file-name (string-append name "-" version "-checkout"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-       ("automake" ,automake)
-       ("guile" ,guile-3.0)
-       ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)
-       ("sqlite" ,sqlite)))
+    (native-inputs (list autoconf automake guile-3.0 pkg-config))
+    (inputs (list guile-3.0 sqlite))
     (synopsis "Access SQLite databases from Guile")
     (description
      "This package provides Guile bindings to the SQLite database system.")
@@ -778,13 +766,8 @@ Guile's foreign function interface.")
                              (doc (string-append out "/share/doc/" package)))
                         (install-file "README.md" doc)
                         #t))))))
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-       ("automake" ,automake)
-       ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-       ("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
+    (native-inputs (list autoconf automake pkg-config guile-3.0))
+    (inputs (list guile-3.0))
     (synopsis "Structured access to bytevector contents for Guile")
     (description
      "Guile bytestructures offers a system imitating the type system
@@ -821,17 +804,11 @@ type system, elevating types to first-class status.")
     (arguments
      `(#:make-flags '("GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE=0")))     ; to prevent guild warnings
     (native-inputs
-     `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-       ("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-       ("automake" ,automake)
-       ("texinfo" ,texinfo)
-       ("guile" ,guile-3.0)
-       ("guile-bytestructures" ,guile-bytestructures)))
+     (list pkg-config autoconf automake texinfo guile-3.0 guile-bytestructures))
     (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)
-       ("libgit2" ,libgit2)))
+     (list guile-3.0 libgit2))
     (propagated-inputs
-     `(("guile-bytestructures" ,guile-bytestructures)))
+     (list guile-bytestructures))
     (synopsis "Guile bindings for libgit2")
     (description
      "This package provides Guile bindings to libgit2, a library to
@@ -868,16 +845,8 @@ manipulate repositories of the Git version control system.")
     (arguments
      '(#:make-flags
        '("GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE=0"))) ;to prevent guild warnings
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-       ("automake" ,automake)
-       ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-       ,@(if (%current-target-system)
-             `(("guile" ,guile-3.0))   ;for 'guild compile' and 'guile-3.0.pc'
-             '())))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)
-       ("zlib" ,zlib)))
+    (native-inputs (list autoconf automake pkg-config guile-3.0))
+    (inputs (list guile-3.0 zlib))
     (synopsis "Guile bindings to zlib")
     (description
      "This package provides Guile bindings for zlib, a lossless
@@ -907,16 +876,8 @@ Guile's foreign function interface.")
     (arguments
      '(#:make-flags
        '("GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE=0"))) ;to prevent guild warnings
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-       ("automake" ,automake)
-       ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-       ,@(if (%current-target-system)
-             `(("guile" ,guile-3.0))   ;for 'guild compile' and 'guile-3.0.pc'
-             '())))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)
-       ("lzlib" ,lzlib)))
+    (native-inputs (list autoconf automake pkg-config guile-3.0))
+    (inputs (list guile-3.0 lzlib))
     (synopsis "Guile bindings to lzlib")
     (description
      "This package provides Guile bindings for lzlib, a C library for
@@ -942,14 +903,8 @@ pure Scheme by using Guile's foreign function interface.")
                (base32
                 "1c8l7829b5yx8wdc0mrhzjfwb6h9hb7cd8dfxcr71a7vlsi86310"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
-       ("automake" ,automake)
-       ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
-       ("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
-    (inputs
-     `(("zstd" ,zstd "lib")
-       ("guile" ,guile-3.0)))
+    (native-inputs (list autoconf automake pkg-config guile-3.0))
+    (inputs (list `(,zstd "lib") guile-3.0))
     (synopsis "GNU Guile bindings to the zstd compression library")
     (description
      "This package provides a GNU Guile interface to the zstd (``zstandard'')
diff --git a/gnu/packages/mes.scm b/gnu/packages/mes.scm
index 750ec2e67a..bad4ce49b3 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/mes.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/mes.scm
@@ -55,8 +55,7 @@
                (base32
                 "0lkd9lyspvhxlfs0496gsllwinh62jk9wij6gpadvx9gwz6yavd9"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-2.2)))
+    (native-inputs (list guile-2.2))
     (synopsis "LALR(1) Parser Generator in Guile")
     (description
      "NYACC is an LALR(1) parser generator implemented in Guile.
@@ -91,10 +90,8 @@ extensive examples, including parsers for the Javascript and C99 languages.")
                     (("^DOCDIR =.*")
                      "DOCDIR = @prefix@/share/doc/$(PACKAGE_TARNAME)\n"))
                   #t))))
-    (native-inputs
-     `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-2.2)))))
+    (native-inputs (list pkg-config))
+    (inputs (list guile-2.2))))
 
 (define-public nyacc
   (package
@@ -115,8 +112,7 @@ extensive examples, including parsers for the Javascript and C99 languages.")
                      "GUILE_GLOBAL_SITE=\
 $prefix/share/guile/site/$GUILE_EFFECTIVE_VERSION\n"))
                   #t))))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-3.0)))))
+    (inputs (list guile-3.0))))
 
 (define-public nyacc-1.00.2
   (package
@@ -144,8 +140,7 @@ $prefix/share/guile/site/$GUILE_EFFECTIVE_VERSION\n"))
               (sha256
                (base32
                 "065ksalfllbdrzl12dz9d9dcxrv97wqxblslngsc6kajvnvlyvpk"))))
-    (inputs
-     `(("guile" ,guile-2.2)))))
+    (inputs (list guile-2.2))))
 
 (define-public mes-0.19
   ;; Mes used for bootstrap.
@@ -161,9 +156,7 @@ $prefix/share/guile/site/$GUILE_EFFECTIVE_VERSION\n"))
                 "15h4yhaywdc0djpjlin2jz1kzahpqxfki0r0aav1qm9nxxmnp1l0"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (supported-systems '("i686-linux" "x86_64-linux"))
-    (propagated-inputs
-     `(("mescc-tools" ,mescc-tools-0.5.2)
-       ("nyacc" ,nyacc-0.86)))
+    (propagated-inputs (list mescc-tools-0.5.2 nyacc-0.86))
     (native-inputs
      `(("guile" ,guile-2.2)
        ,@(let ((target-system (or (%current-target-system)
@@ -204,9 +197,7 @@ Guile.")
                (base32
                 "0mnryfkl0dwbr5gxp16j5s95gw7z1vm1fqa1pxabp0aiar1hw53s"))))
     (supported-systems '("armhf-linux" "i686-linux" "x86_64-linux"))
-    (propagated-inputs
-     `(("mescc-tools" ,mescc-tools)
-       ("nyacc" ,nyacc-1.00.2)))
+    (propagated-inputs (list mescc-tools nyacc-1.00.2))
     (native-search-paths
      (list (search-path-specification
             (variable "C_INCLUDE_PATH")
@@ -376,7 +367,7 @@ get_machine.")
                  (base32
                   "0yyc0fcbbxi9jqa1n76x0rwspdrwmc8g09jlmsw9c35nflrhmz8q"))))
       (native-inputs
-       `(("mescc-tools" ,mescc-tools)))
+       (list mescc-tools))
       (build-system gnu-build-system)
       (arguments
        `(#:make-flags (list (string-append "PREFIX=" (assoc-ref %outputs "out")))
