diff --git a/lib/default.nix b/lib/default.nix
index 68e5b8dea1eb..f0f136adbc41 100644
--- a/lib/default.nix
+++ b/lib/default.nix
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ let
 
     inherit (builtins) add addErrorContext attrNames concatLists
       deepSeq elem elemAt filter genericClosure genList getAttr
-      hasAttr head isAttrs isBool isInt isList isString length
+      hasAttr head isAttrs isBool isInt isList isPath isString length
       lessThan listToAttrs pathExists readFile replaceStrings seq
       stringLength sub substring tail trace;
     inherit (self.trivial) id const pipe concat or and bitAnd bitOr bitXor
@@ -96,14 +96,16 @@ let
       concatImapStringsSep makeSearchPath makeSearchPathOutput
       makeLibraryPath makeBinPath optionalString
       hasInfix hasPrefix hasSuffix stringToCharacters stringAsChars escape
-      escapeShellArg escapeShellArgs isValidPosixName toShellVar toShellVars
+      escapeShellArg escapeShellArgs
+      isStorePath isStringLike
+      isValidPosixName toShellVar toShellVars
       escapeRegex escapeXML replaceChars lowerChars
       upperChars toLower toUpper addContextFrom splitString
       removePrefix removeSuffix versionOlder versionAtLeast
       getName getVersion
       mesonOption mesonBool mesonEnable
       nameFromURL enableFeature enableFeatureAs withFeature
-      withFeatureAs fixedWidthString fixedWidthNumber isStorePath
+      withFeatureAs fixedWidthString fixedWidthNumber
       toInt toIntBase10 readPathsFromFile fileContents;
     inherit (self.stringsWithDeps) textClosureList textClosureMap
       noDepEntry fullDepEntry packEntry stringAfter;
diff --git a/lib/strings.nix b/lib/strings.nix
index 20f6db08cebc..2188fcb1dbfd 100644
--- a/lib/strings.nix
+++ b/lib/strings.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ rec {
     isInt
     isList
     isAttrs
+    isPath
     isString
     match
     parseDrvName
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ rec {
   */
   toShellVar = name: value:
     lib.throwIfNot (isValidPosixName name) "toShellVar: ${name} is not a valid shell variable name" (
-    if isAttrs value && ! isCoercibleToString value then
+    if isAttrs value && ! isStringLike value then
       "declare -A ${name}=(${
         concatStringsSep " " (lib.mapAttrsToList (n: v:
           "[${escapeShellArg n}]=${escapeShellArg v}"
@@ -798,10 +799,31 @@ rec {
   in lib.warnIf (!precise) "Imprecise conversion from float to string ${result}"
     result;
 
-  /* Check whether a value can be coerced to a string */
-  isCoercibleToString = x:
-    elem (typeOf x) [ "path" "string" "null" "int" "float" "bool" ] ||
-    (isList x && lib.all isCoercibleToString x) ||
+  /* Soft-deprecated function. While the original implementation is available as
+     isConvertibleWithToString, consider using isStringLike instead, if suitable. */
+  isCoercibleToString = lib.warnIf (lib.isInOldestRelease 2305)
+    "lib.strings.isCoercibleToString is deprecated in favor of either isStringLike or isConvertibleWithToString. Only use the latter if it needs to return true for null, numbers, booleans and list of similarly coercibles."
+    isConvertibleWithToString;
+
+  /* Check whether a list or other value can be passed to toString.
+
+     Many types of value are coercible to string this way, including int, float,
+     null, bool, list of similarly coercible values.
+  */
+  isConvertibleWithToString = x:
+    isStringLike x ||
+    elem (typeOf x) [ "null" "int" "float" "bool" ] ||
+    (isList x && lib.all isConvertibleWithToString x);
+
+  /* Check whether a value can be coerced to a string.
+     The value must be a string, path, or attribute set.
+
+     String-like values can be used without explicit conversion in
+     string interpolations and in most functions that expect a string.
+   */
+  isStringLike = x:
+    isString x ||
+    isPath x ||
     x ? outPath ||
     x ? __toString;
 
@@ -818,7 +840,7 @@ rec {
        => false
   */
   isStorePath = x:
-    if !(isList x) && isCoercibleToString x then
+    if isStringLike x then
       let str = toString x; in
       substring 0 1 str == "/"
       && dirOf str == storeDir
diff --git a/lib/types.nix b/lib/types.nix
index e741bec6c29d..666e6502d161 100644
--- a/lib/types.nix
+++ b/lib/types.nix
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ let
     concatStringsSep
     escapeNixString
     hasInfix
-    isCoercibleToString
+    isStringLike
     ;
   inherit (lib.trivial)
     boolToString
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ rec {
       merge = loc: defs:
         let
           getType = value:
-            if isAttrs value && isCoercibleToString value
+            if isAttrs value && isStringLike value
             then "stringCoercibleSet"
             else builtins.typeOf value;
 
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ rec {
     path = mkOptionType {
       name = "path";
       descriptionClass = "noun";
-      check = x: isCoercibleToString x && builtins.substring 0 1 (toString x) == "/";
+      check = x: isStringLike x && builtins.substring 0 1 (toString x) == "/";
       merge = mergeEqualOption;
     };
 
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix
index 10db7cdfb33c..9863cc8e574c 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ let
         else if isDerivation v then toString v
         else if builtins.isPath v then toString v
         else if isString v then v
-        else if strings.isCoercibleToString v then toString v
+        else if strings.isConvertibleWithToString v then toString v
         else abort "The nix conf value: ${toPretty {} v} can not be encoded";
 
       mkKeyValue = k: v: "${escape [ "=" ] k} = ${mkValueString v}";
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/system/self-deploy.nix b/nixos/modules/services/system/self-deploy.nix
index 9b1ebfd37522..16a793a42253 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/system/self-deploy.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/system/self-deploy.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ let
     in
     lib.concatStrings (lib.mapAttrsToList toArg args);
 
-  isPathType = x: lib.strings.isCoercibleToString x && builtins.substring 0 1 (toString x) == "/";
+  isPathType = x: lib.types.path.check x;
 
 in
 {