diff --git a/gnu/packages/distributed.scm b/gnu/packages/distributed.scm
index ef896ef53e..e7d41b0508 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/distributed.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/distributed.scm
@@ -94,9 +94,5 @@ resources).  It supports virtualized, parallel, and GPU-based applications.")
       #~(list "--disable-client"
               "--disable-manager")
       #:parallel-build? #f))
-    (inputs `(("openssl" ,openssl)
-              ("curl" ,curl)
-              ("mariadb:dev" ,mariadb "dev")
-              ("zlib" ,zlib)))
-    (propagated-inputs `(("python" ,python-wrapper)
-                         ("perl" ,perl)))))
+    (inputs (list curl `(,mariadb "dev") openssl zlib))
+    (propagated-inputs (list perl python-wrapper))))