diff --git a/internal/rosa/acl.go b/internal/rosa/acl.go
index 780ee0f6..1a76de35 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/acl.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/acl.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newAttr() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), &PackageAttr{
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"libgen-basename", `From 8a80d895dfd779373363c3a4b62ecce5a549efb2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: "Haelwenn (lanodan) Monnier" <contact@hacktivis.me>
 Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2024 10:17:10 +0100
diff --git a/internal/rosa/cmake.go b/internal/rosa/cmake.go
index 5e52fb2f..e7abffde 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/cmake.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/cmake.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newCMake() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		// expected to be writable in the copy made during bootstrap
 		Chmod: true,
 
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"bootstrap-test-no-openssl", `diff --git a/Tests/BootstrapTest.cmake b/Tests/BootstrapTest.cmake
 index 137de78bc1..b4da52e664 100644
 --- a/Tests/BootstrapTest.cmake
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ index 2ead810437..f85cbb8b1c 100644
 		OmitDefaults: true,
 
 		ConfigureName: "/usr/src/cmake/bootstrap",
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"prefix", "/system"},
 			{"parallel", `"$(nproc)"`},
 			{"--"},
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ type CMakeHelper struct {
 	Append []string
 
 	// CMake CACHE entries.
-	Cache [][2]string
+	Cache []KV
 	// Runs after install.
 	Script string
 
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ func (*CMakeHelper) wantsDir() string { return "/cure/" }
 func (attr *CMakeHelper) script(name string) string {
 	if attr == nil {
 		attr = &CMakeHelper{
-			Cache: [][2]string{
+			Cache: []KV{
 				{"CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE", "Release"},
 			},
 		}
diff --git a/internal/rosa/curl.go b/internal/rosa/curl.go
index 5e71c5e8..38046fd8 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/curl.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/curl.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newCurl() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 chmod +w tests/data && rm tests/data/test459
 `,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"with-openssl"},
 			{"with-ca-bundle", "/system/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt"},
 
diff --git a/internal/rosa/dtc.go b/internal/rosa/dtc.go
index dc341779..de1336e2 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/dtc.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/dtc.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newDTC() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		Writable: true,
 		Chmod:    true,
 	}, &MesonHelper{
-		Setup: [][2]string{
+		Setup: []KV{
 			{"Dyaml", "disabled"},
 			{"Dstatic-build", "true"},
 		},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/elfutils.go b/internal/rosa/elfutils.go
index 82796524..52351323 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/elfutils.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/elfutils.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newElfutils() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		// nonstandard glibc extension
 		SkipCheck: true,
 
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"enable-deterministic-archives"},
 		},
 	},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/etc.go b/internal/rosa/etc.go
index f6ef1fa5..17723a17 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/etc.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/etc.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func (a cureEtc) Cure(t *pkg.FContext) (err error) {
 	if err = os.MkdirAll(etc.String(), 0700); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-	for _, f := range [][2]string{
+	for _, f := range []KV{
 		{"hosts", "127.0.0.1 localhost cure cure-net\n"},
 		{"passwd", `root:x:0:0:System administrator:/proc/nonexistent:/bin/sh
 cure:x:1023:1023:Cure:/usr/src:/bin/sh
diff --git a/internal/rosa/fakeroot.go b/internal/rosa/fakeroot.go
index 7cd7110d..75544b29 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/fakeroot.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/fakeroot.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newFakeroot() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarBzip2,
 	), &PackageAttr{
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"remove-broken-docs", `diff --git a/doc/Makefile.am b/doc/Makefile.am
 index f135ad9..85c784c 100644
 --- a/doc/Makefile.am
diff --git a/internal/rosa/fuse.go b/internal/rosa/fuse.go
index c04e8de6..ee8ab579 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/fuse.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/fuse.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newFuse() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), nil, &MesonHelper{
-		Setup: [][2]string{
+		Setup: []KV{
 			{"Ddefault_library", "both"},
 			{"Dtests", "true"},
 			{"Duseroot", "false"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/gnu.go b/internal/rosa/gnu.go
index 5402049a..4d5cc865 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/gnu.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/gnu.go
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newBash() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		Flag: TEarly,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
 		Script: "ln -s bash /work/system/bin/sh\n",
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"without-bash-malloc"},
 		},
 	}), version
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ test_disable 'int main(){return 0;}' gnulib-tests/test-fchownat.c
 test_disable 'int main(){return 0;}' gnulib-tests/test-lchown.c
 `,
 
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"tests-fix-job-control", `From 21d287324aa43aa3a31f39619ade0deac7fd6013 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: =?UTF-8?q?P=C3=A1draig=20Brady?= <P@draigBrady.com>
 Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:44:41 +0000
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ index 9a395416b..fbb043312 100755
 
 		Flag: TEarly,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"enable-single-binary", "symlinks"},
 		},
 	},
@@ -720,7 +720,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newTar() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), nil, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"disable-acl"},
 			{"without-posix-acls"},
 			{"without-xattrs"},
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newGCC() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), &PackageAttr{
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"musl-off64_t-loff_t", `diff --git a/libgo/sysinfo.c b/libgo/sysinfo.c
 index 180f5c31d74..44d7ea73f7d 100644
 --- a/libgo/sysinfo.c
@@ -1062,7 +1062,7 @@ ln -s system/lib /work/
 		// it also saturates the CPU for a consequential amount of time.
 		Flag: TExclusive,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"disable-multilib"},
 			{"with-multilib-list", `""`},
 			{"enable-default-pie"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/gtk.go b/internal/rosa/gtk.go
index dddb2277..9339bd9e 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/gtk.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/gtk.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newGLib() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 			)),
 		},
 	}, &MesonHelper{
-		Setup: [][2]string{
+		Setup: []KV{
 			{"Ddefault_library", "both"},
 		},
 	},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/hakurei_current.go b/internal/rosa/hakurei_current.go
index a6eec7f1..4ad23772 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/hakurei_current.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/hakurei_current.go
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@ var hakureiSource = pkg.NewTar(pkg.NewFile(
 ), pkg.TarGzip)
 
 // hakureiPatches are patches applied against the compile-time source tree.
-var hakureiPatches [][2]string
+var hakureiPatches []KV
diff --git a/internal/rosa/hakurei_release.go b/internal/rosa/hakurei_release.go
index 8142e3bb..83d8cf94 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/hakurei_release.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/hakurei_release.go
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ var hakureiSource = pkg.NewHTTPGetTar(
 )
 
 // hakureiPatches are patches applied against a hakurei release.
-var hakureiPatches [][2]string
+var hakureiPatches []KV
diff --git a/internal/rosa/kernel.go b/internal/rosa/kernel.go
index d2b1743b..9b2fcfa6 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/kernel.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/kernel.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ exec /system/sbin/depmod -m /lib/modules "$@"
 `))),
 		},
 
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"f54a91f5337cd918eb86cf600320d25b6cfd8209", `From f54a91f5337cd918eb86cf600320d25b6cfd8209 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org>
 Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2025 19:58:10 +0900
diff --git a/internal/rosa/kmod.go b/internal/rosa/kmod.go
index 61346abe..ddb2a178 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/kmod.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/kmod.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newKmod() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), nil, &MesonHelper{
-		Setup: [][2]string{
+		Setup: []KV{
 			{"Dmoduledir", "/system/lib/modules"},
 			{"Dsysconfdir", "/system/etc"},
 			{"Dbashcompletiondir", "no"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/libseccomp.go b/internal/rosa/libseccomp.go
index 972fff21..0eb15c1e 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/libseccomp.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/libseccomp.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newLibseccomp() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 ln -s ../system/bin/bash /bin/
 `,
 
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"fix-export-oob-read", `diff --git a/src/api.c b/src/api.c
 index adccef3..65a277a 100644
 --- a/src/api.c
diff --git a/internal/rosa/llvm.go b/internal/rosa/llvm.go
index b654d20a..eca68989 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/llvm.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/llvm.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type llvmAttr struct {
 	// Concatenated with default environment for PackageAttr.Env.
 	env []string
 	// Concatenated with generated entries for CMakeHelper.Cache.
-	cmake [][2]string
+	cmake []KV
 	// Override CMakeHelper.Append.
 	append []string
 	// Passed through to PackageAttr.NonStage0.
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type llvmAttr struct {
 	script string
 
 	// Patch name and body pairs.
-	patches [][2]string
+	patches []KV
 }
 
 const (
@@ -94,43 +94,45 @@ func (t Toolchain) newLLVMVariant(variant string, attr *llvmAttr) pkg.Artifact {
 
 	var script string
 
-	cache := [][2]string{
+	cache := []KV{
 		{"CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE", "Release"},
 
 		{"LLVM_HOST_TRIPLE", `"${ROSA_TRIPLE}"`},
 		{"LLVM_DEFAULT_TARGET_TRIPLE", `"${ROSA_TRIPLE}"`},
 	}
 	if len(projects) > 0 {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"LLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS", `"${ROSA_LLVM_PROJECTS}"`})
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"LLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS", `"${ROSA_LLVM_PROJECTS}"`},
+		}...)
 	}
 	if len(runtimes) > 0 {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"LLVM_ENABLE_RUNTIMES", `"${ROSA_LLVM_RUNTIMES}"`})
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"LLVM_ENABLE_RUNTIMES", `"${ROSA_LLVM_RUNTIMES}"`},
+		}...)
 	}
 
 	cmakeAppend := []string{"llvm"}
 	if attr.append != nil {
 		cmakeAppend = attr.append
 	} else {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"LLVM_ENABLE_LIBCXX", "ON"},
-			[2]string{"LLVM_USE_LINKER", "lld"},
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"LLVM_ENABLE_LIBCXX", "ON"},
+			{"LLVM_USE_LINKER", "lld"},
 
-			[2]string{"LLVM_INSTALL_BINUTILS_SYMLINKS", "ON"},
-			[2]string{"LLVM_INSTALL_CCTOOLS_SYMLINKS", "ON"},
+			{"LLVM_INSTALL_BINUTILS_SYMLINKS", "ON"},
+			{"LLVM_INSTALL_CCTOOLS_SYMLINKS", "ON"},
 
-			[2]string{"LLVM_LIT_ARGS", "'--verbose'"},
-		)
+			{"LLVM_LIT_ARGS", "'--verbose'"},
+		}...)
 	}
 
 	if attr.flags&llvmProjectClang != 0 {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"CLANG_DEFAULT_LINKER", "lld"},
-			[2]string{"CLANG_DEFAULT_CXX_STDLIB", "libc++"},
-			[2]string{"CLANG_DEFAULT_RTLIB", "compiler-rt"},
-			[2]string{"CLANG_DEFAULT_UNWINDLIB", "libunwind"},
-		)
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"CLANG_DEFAULT_LINKER", "lld"},
+			{"CLANG_DEFAULT_CXX_STDLIB", "libc++"},
+			{"CLANG_DEFAULT_RTLIB", "compiler-rt"},
+			{"CLANG_DEFAULT_UNWINDLIB", "libunwind"},
+		}...)
 	}
 	if attr.flags&llvmProjectLld != 0 {
 		script += `
@@ -139,25 +141,27 @@ ln -s ld.lld /work/system/bin/ld
 	}
 	if attr.flags&llvmRuntimeCompilerRT != 0 {
 		if attr.append == nil {
-			cache = append(cache,
-				[2]string{"COMPILER_RT_USE_LLVM_UNWINDER", "ON"})
+			cache = append(cache, []KV{
+				{"COMPILER_RT_USE_LLVM_UNWINDER", "ON"},
+			}...)
 		}
 	}
 	if attr.flags&llvmRuntimeLibunwind != 0 {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"LIBUNWIND_USE_COMPILER_RT", "ON"})
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"LIBUNWIND_USE_COMPILER_RT", "ON"},
+		}...)
 	}
 	if attr.flags&llvmRuntimeLibcxx != 0 {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"LIBCXX_HAS_MUSL_LIBC", "ON"},
-			[2]string{"LIBCXX_USE_COMPILER_RT", "ON"},
-		)
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"LIBCXX_HAS_MUSL_LIBC", "ON"},
+			{"LIBCXX_USE_COMPILER_RT", "ON"},
+		}...)
 	}
 	if attr.flags&llvmRuntimeLibcxxABI != 0 {
-		cache = append(cache,
-			[2]string{"LIBCXXABI_USE_COMPILER_RT", "ON"},
-			[2]string{"LIBCXXABI_USE_LLVM_UNWINDER", "ON"},
-		)
+		cache = append(cache, []KV{
+			{"LIBCXXABI_USE_COMPILER_RT", "ON"},
+			{"LIBCXXABI_USE_LLVM_UNWINDER", "ON"},
+		}...)
 	}
 
 	return t.NewPackage("llvm", llvmVersion, pkg.NewHTTPGetTar(
@@ -208,7 +212,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newLLVM() (musl, compilerRT, runtimes, clang pkg.Artifact) {
 		panic("unsupported target " + runtime.GOARCH)
 	}
 
-	minimalDeps := [][2]string{
+	minimalDeps := []KV{
 		{"LLVM_ENABLE_ZLIB", "OFF"},
 		{"LLVM_ENABLE_ZSTD", "OFF"},
 		{"LLVM_ENABLE_LIBXML2", "OFF"},
@@ -222,7 +226,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newLLVM() (musl, compilerRT, runtimes, clang pkg.Artifact) {
 		env: stage0ExclConcat(t, []string{},
 			"LDFLAGS="+earlyLDFLAGS(false),
 		),
-		cmake: [][2]string{
+		cmake: []KV{
 			// libc++ not yet available
 			{"CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_TARGET", ""},
 
@@ -272,7 +276,7 @@ ln -s \
 			"LDFLAGS="+earlyLDFLAGS(false),
 		),
 		flags: llvmRuntimeLibunwind | llvmRuntimeLibcxx | llvmRuntimeLibcxxABI,
-		cmake: slices.Concat([][2]string{
+		cmake: slices.Concat([]KV{
 			// libc++ not yet available
 			{"CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_WORKS", "ON"},
 
@@ -293,7 +297,7 @@ ln -s \
 			"CXXFLAGS="+earlyCXXFLAGS(),
 			"LDFLAGS="+earlyLDFLAGS(false),
 		),
-		cmake: slices.Concat([][2]string{
+		cmake: slices.Concat([]KV{
 			{"LLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD", target},
 			{"CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING", "OFF"},
 			{"CXX_SUPPORTS_CUSTOM_LINKER", "ON"},
@@ -310,7 +314,7 @@ ln -s clang++ /work/system/bin/c++
 ninja check-all
 `,
 
-		patches: slices.Concat([][2]string{
+		patches: slices.Concat([]KV{
 			{"add-rosa-vendor", `diff --git a/llvm/include/llvm/TargetParser/Triple.h b/llvm/include/llvm/TargetParser/Triple.h
 index 9c83abeeb3b1..5acfe5836a23 100644
 --- a/llvm/include/llvm/TargetParser/Triple.h
diff --git a/internal/rosa/llvm_amd64.go b/internal/rosa/llvm_amd64.go
index febdbbdd..dc28c367 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/llvm_amd64.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/llvm_amd64.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 package rosa
 
 // clangPatches are patches applied to the LLVM source tree for building clang.
-var clangPatches [][2]string
+var clangPatches []KV
diff --git a/internal/rosa/llvm_arm64.go b/internal/rosa/llvm_arm64.go
index 79876699..4ce6646b 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/llvm_arm64.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/llvm_arm64.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package rosa
 
 // clangPatches are patches applied to the LLVM source tree for building clang.
-var clangPatches [][2]string
+var clangPatches []KV
 
 // one version behind, latest fails 5 tests with 2 flaky on arm64
 const (
diff --git a/internal/rosa/make.go b/internal/rosa/make.go
index 92fa1028..3930c3c3 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/make.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/make.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ type MakeHelper struct {
 	// Alternative name for the configure script.
 	ConfigureName string
 	// Flags passed to the configure script.
-	Configure [][2]string
+	Configure []KV
 	// Host target triple, zero value is equivalent to the Rosa OS triple.
 	Host string
 	// Target triple, zero value is equivalent to the Rosa OS triple.
diff --git a/internal/rosa/meson.go b/internal/rosa/meson.go
index ed8cde96..63b945ae 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/meson.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/meson.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ type MesonHelper struct {
 	Script string
 
 	// Flags passed to the setup command.
-	Setup [][2]string
+	Setup []KV
 	// Whether to skip meson test.
 	SkipTest bool
 }
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ meson test \
 cd "$(mktemp -d)"
 meson setup \
 	` + strings.Join(slices.Collect(func(yield func(string) bool) {
-		for _, v := range append([][2]string{
+		for _, v := range append([]KV{
 			{"prefix", "/system"},
 			{"buildtype", "release"},
 		}, attr.Setup...) {
diff --git a/internal/rosa/ncurses.go b/internal/rosa/ncurses.go
index f1599111..be8a8e0d 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/ncurses.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/ncurses.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newNcurses() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		// "tests" are actual demo programs, not a test suite.
 		SkipCheck: true,
 
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"with-pkg-config"},
 			{"enable-pc-files"},
 		},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/openssl.go b/internal/rosa/openssl.go
index 2c823300..42ec982b 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/openssl.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/openssl.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newOpenSSL() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		OmitDefaults: true,
 
 		ConfigureName: "/usr/src/openssl/Configure",
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"prefix", "/system"},
 			{"libdir", "lib"},
 			{"openssldir", "etc/ssl"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/pcre2.go b/internal/rosa/pcre2.go
index 3bc241b5..cb4091f9 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/pcre2.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/pcre2.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newPCRE2() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 ln -s ../system/bin/toybox /bin/echo
 `,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"enable-jit"},
 			{"enable-pcre2-8"},
 			{"enable-pcre2-16"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/perl.go b/internal/rosa/perl.go
index f5aaceba..e26b9c21 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/perl.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/perl.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ rm -f /system/bin/ps # perl does not like toybox ps
 		InPlace:      true,
 
 		ConfigureName: "./Configure",
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"-des"},
 			{"Dprefix", "/system"},
 			{"Dcc", "clang"},
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func init() {
 func (t Toolchain) newViaPerlModuleBuild(
 	name, version string,
 	source pkg.Artifact,
-	patches [][2]string,
+	patches []KV,
 	extra ...PArtifact,
 ) pkg.Artifact {
 	if name == "" || version == "" {
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ func init() {
 func (t Toolchain) newViaPerlMakeMaker(
 	name, version string,
 	source pkg.Artifact,
-	patches [][2]string,
+	patches []KV,
 	extra ...PArtifact,
 ) pkg.Artifact {
 	return t.NewPackage("perl-"+name, version, source, &PackageAttr{
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newViaPerlMakeMaker(
 		InPlace:      true,
 
 		ConfigureName: "perl Makefile.PL",
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"PREFIX", "/system"},
 		},
 		Check: []string{"test"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/pkg-config.go b/internal/rosa/pkg-config.go
index 594e7706..d8c59813 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/pkg-config.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/pkg-config.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newPkgConfig() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), nil, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"CFLAGS", "'-Wno-int-conversion'"},
 			{"with-internal-glib"},
 		},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/procps.go b/internal/rosa/procps.go
index bd7b7594..e7a70882 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/procps.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/procps.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newProcps() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		pkg.TarBzip2,
 	), nil, &MakeHelper{
 		Generate: "./autogen.sh",
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"without-ncurses"},
 		},
 	},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/qemu.go b/internal/rosa/qemu.go
index 3472b6ef..40e95c8a 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/qemu.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/qemu.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newQEMU() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarBzip2,
 	), &PackageAttr{
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"disable-mcast-test", `diff --git a/tests/qtest/netdev-socket.c b/tests/qtest/netdev-socket.c
 index b731af0ad9..b5cbed4801 100644
 --- a/tests/qtest/netdev-socket.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ _notrun 'appears to spuriously fail on zfs'
 EOF
 `,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"disable-download"},
 			{"disable-docs"},
 
diff --git a/internal/rosa/rosa.go b/internal/rosa/rosa.go
index b6a2c023..3b05b368 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/rosa.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/rosa.go
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ func mustDecode(s string) pkg.Checksum {
 	return pkg.MustDecode(s)
 }
 
+// KV is a key-value pair of strings.
+type KV [2]string
+
 var (
 	// AbsUsrSrc is the conventional directory to place source code under.
 	AbsUsrSrc = fhs.AbsUsr.Append("src")
@@ -364,7 +367,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) NewPatchedSource(
 	name, version string,
 	source pkg.Artifact,
 	passthrough bool,
-	patches ...[2]string,
+	patches ...KV,
 ) pkg.Artifact {
 	if passthrough && len(patches) == 0 {
 		return source
@@ -446,7 +449,7 @@ type PackageAttr struct {
 	ScriptEarly string
 
 	// Passed to [Toolchain.NewPatchedSource].
-	Patches [][2]string
+	Patches []KV
 	// Kind of source artifact.
 	SourceKind int
 
diff --git a/internal/rosa/rsync.go b/internal/rosa/rsync.go
index 041264b8..1bf5cf60 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/rsync.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/rsync.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newRsync() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 	), &PackageAttr{
 		Flag: TEarly,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"disable-openssl"},
 			{"disable-xxhash"},
 			{"disable-zstd"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/strace.go b/internal/rosa/strace.go
index 0cae379f..3bc4428e 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/strace.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/strace.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ sed -i 's/unsigned int msg_len;$/uint32_t msg_len;/g' \
 	tests/nlattr.c
 `,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			// tests broken on clang
 			{"disable-gcc-Werror"},
 
diff --git a/internal/rosa/util-linux.go b/internal/rosa/util-linux.go
index 57c2e61e..35e21b66 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/util-linux.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/util-linux.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newUtilLinux() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 ln -s ../system/bin/bash /bin/
 `,
 	}, &MakeHelper{
-		Configure: [][2]string{
+		Configure: []KV{
 			{"disable-use-tty-group"},
 			{"disable-makeinstall-setuid"},
 			{"disable-makeinstall-chown"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/wayland.go b/internal/rosa/wayland.go
index 5b7f4545..a529a968 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/wayland.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/wayland.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ chmod +w tests tests/sanity-test.c
 echo 'int main(){}' > tests/sanity-test.c
 `,
 	}, &MesonHelper{
-		Setup: [][2]string{
+		Setup: []KV{
 			{"Ddefault_library", "both"},
 			{"Ddocumentation", "false"},
 			{"Dtests", "true"},
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newWaylandProtocols() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarBzip2,
 	), &PackageAttr{
-		Patches: [][2]string{
+		Patches: []KV{
 			{"build-only", `From 8b4c76275fa1b6e0a99a53494151d9a2c907144d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: "A. Wilcox" <AWilcox@Wilcox-Tech.com>
 Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2024 11:27:25 -0600
diff --git a/internal/rosa/zlib.go b/internal/rosa/zlib.go
index 00cef53f..3d5d14f0 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/zlib.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/zlib.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newZlib() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		mustDecode(checksum),
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), nil, &CMakeHelper{
-		Cache: [][2]string{
+		Cache: []KV{
 			{"CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE", "Release"},
 
 			{"ZLIB_BUILD_TESTING", "OFF"},
diff --git a/internal/rosa/zstd.go b/internal/rosa/zstd.go
index 85a5b173..9e39d3cf 100644
--- a/internal/rosa/zstd.go
+++ b/internal/rosa/zstd.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ func (t Toolchain) newZstd() (pkg.Artifact, string) {
 		pkg.TarGzip,
 	), nil, &CMakeHelper{
 		Append: []string{"build", "cmake"},
-		Cache: [][2]string{
+		Cache: []KV{
 			{"CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE", "Release"},
 		},
 	}), version