diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/zig/hook.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/zig/hook.nix
index 254a64597dd3..3d3e6f9ffee5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/zig/hook.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/zig/hook.nix
@@ -10,10 +10,13 @@ makeSetupHook {
 
   substitutions = {
     zig_default_flags =
-      if lib.versionAtLeast zig.version "0.11" then
-        "-Doptimize=ReleaseSafe -Dcpu=baseline"
-      else
-        "-Drelease-safe=true -Dcpu=baseline";
+      let
+        cpu = "-Dcpu=baseline";
+        releaseType = if lib.versionAtLeast zig.version "0.11"
+                      then "-Doptimize=ReleaseSafe"
+                      else "-Drelease-safe=true";
+      in
+        lib.concatStringsSep " " [ cpu releaseType ];
   };
 
   passthru = { inherit zig; };