diff --git a/maintainers/scripts/check-hydra-by-maintainer.nix b/maintainers/scripts/check-hydra-by-maintainer.nix
index 29e7d146456c..21e16c88c340 100644
--- a/maintainers/scripts/check-hydra-by-maintainer.nix
+++ b/maintainers/scripts/check-hydra-by-maintainer.nix
@@ -68,9 +68,6 @@ pkgs.stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   '';
   shellHook =
     let
-      # trying to only add spaces as necessary for optional args
-      # with optStr don't need spaces between nix templating
-      optStr = cond: string: lib.optionalString cond "${string} ";
       args = [
         "hydra-check"
       ]
diff --git a/maintainers/scripts/update-ruby-packages.checks.nix b/maintainers/scripts/update-ruby-packages.checks.nix
index 8df808beae69..d08c695f0e1d 100644
--- a/maintainers/scripts/update-ruby-packages.checks.nix
+++ b/maintainers/scripts/update-ruby-packages.checks.nix
@@ -17,12 +17,9 @@ in
 let
   inherit (builtins)
     attrNames
-    concatStrings
     filter
-    genList
     isNull
     length
-    stringLength
     toJSON
     ;
   inherit (pkgs.lib)