diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/AspNetCore/test/AspNetCore.Tests/DeferOverHttpTests.cs b/src/HotChocolate/AspNetCore/test/AspNetCore.Tests/DeferOverHttpTests.cs
index 9c19eebbb5f..ca0dd6d36cf 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/AspNetCore/test/AspNetCore.Tests/DeferOverHttpTests.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/AspNetCore/test/AspNetCore.Tests/DeferOverHttpTests.cs
@@ -1293,6 +1293,21 @@ ... @defer(label: "b") {
             "Expected both labeled deferred payloads to include product.name.");
     }
 
+    private static void AssertContainsOverlapIncrementalLegacyPayload(string content)
+    {
+        const string subPathPayload =
+            "\"incremental\":[{\"data\":{\"name\":\"Abc\",\"description\":\"Abc desc\",\"reviews\":[{\"rating\":5}]},\"path\":[\"product\"],\"label\":\"foo\"}]";
+
+        const string rootPathPayload =
+            "\"incremental\":[{\"data\":{\"product\":{\"name\":\"Abc\",\"description\":\"Abc desc\",\"reviews\":[{\"rating\":5}]}},"
+            + "\"path\":[],\"label\":\"foo\"}]";
+
+        Assert.True(
+            content.Contains(subPathPayload, StringComparison.Ordinal)
+                || content.Contains(rootPathPayload, StringComparison.Ordinal),
+            "Expected overlap incremental payload in either legacy-compatible shape.");
+    }
+
     private TestServer CreateDeferServer(
         HttpTransportVersion serverTransportVersion = HttpTransportVersion.Latest)
     {
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Execution/Processing/VariableCoercionHelper.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Execution/Processing/VariableCoercionHelper.cs
index 94a97c4b0d0..cd2607955da 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Execution/Processing/VariableCoercionHelper.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Execution/Processing/VariableCoercionHelper.cs
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ private static IInputType AssertInputType(
         throw ThrowHelper.VariableIsNotAnInputType(variableDefinition);
     }
 
-    private IValueNode CoerceInputLiteral(
+    private static IValueNode CoerceInputLiteral(
         JsonElement inputValue,
         IInputType type,
         IFeatureProvider context,
@@ -227,18 +227,20 @@ private IValueNode CoerceInputLiteral(
                 }
 
             case TypeKind.List:
-                if (inputValue.ValueKind is not JsonValueKind.Array)
-                {
-                    throw new InvalidOperationException();
-                }
-
                 var items = new List<IValueNode>();
                 var elementType = type.ElementType().EnsureInputType();
                 var elementDepth = depth + 1;
 
-                foreach (var item in inputValue.EnumerateArray())
+                if (inputValue.ValueKind is JsonValueKind.Array)
+                {
+                    foreach (var item in inputValue.EnumerateArray())
+                    {
+                        items.Add(CoerceInputLiteral(item, elementType, context, elementDepth));
+                    }
+                }
+                else
                 {
-                    items.Add(CoerceInputLiteral(item, elementType, context, elementDepth));
+                    items.Add(CoerceInputLiteral(inputValue, elementType, context, elementDepth));
                 }
 
                 return new ListValueNode(items);
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs
index cc12911432b..a4e15986273 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs
@@ -475,21 +475,24 @@ private object DeserializeList(
         InputField? field,
         IFeatureProvider context)
     {
+        var list = CreateList(type);
+
         if (inputValue.ValueKind is JsonValueKind.Array)
         {
-            var list = CreateList(type);
-
             var i = 0;
             foreach (var element in inputValue.EnumerateArray())
             {
                 var newPath = path.Append(i++);
                 list.Add(Deserialize(element, type.ElementType, newPath, field, context));
             }
-
-            return list;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            var newPath = path.Append(0);
+            list.Add(Deserialize(inputValue, type.ElementType, newPath, field, context));
         }
 
-        throw ParseList_InvalidValueKind(type, path);
+        return list;
     }
 
     private object DeserializeObject(JsonElement inputValue, InputObjectType type, Path path, IFeatureProvider context)
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Execution.Tests/Processing/VariableCoercionHelperTests.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Execution.Tests/Processing/VariableCoercionHelperTests.cs
index 9c02a7321b9..37be9a71ce7 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Execution.Tests/Processing/VariableCoercionHelperTests.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Execution.Tests/Processing/VariableCoercionHelperTests.cs
@@ -574,6 +574,107 @@ void Action() => helper.CoerceVariableValues(
                 """);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void Single_Value_Can_Be_Coerced_Into_List_Variable()
+    {
+        // arrange
+        var schema = SchemaBuilder.New().AddStarWarsTypes().Create();
+
+        var variableDefinitions = new List<VariableDefinitionNode>
+        {
+            new(null,
+                new VariableNode("abc"),
+                description: null,
+                new ListTypeNode(new NamedTypeNode("String")),
+                null,
+                Array.Empty<DirectiveNode>())
+        };
+
+        var variableValues = JsonDocument.Parse("""{"abc": "xyz"}""");
+        var coercedValues = new Dictionary<string, VariableValue>();
+        var featureProvider = new MockFeatureProvider();
+        var helper = new VariableCoercionHelper(new());
+
+        // act
+        helper.CoerceVariableValues(
+            schema, variableDefinitions, variableValues.RootElement, coercedValues, featureProvider);
+
+        // assert
+        var entry = Assert.Single(coercedValues);
+        Assert.Equal("abc", entry.Key);
+
+        var runtimeValues = Assert.IsAssignableFrom<System.Collections.IList>(entry.Value.RuntimeValue);
+        var runtimeValue = Assert.Single(runtimeValues.Cast<object?>());
+        Assert.Equal("xyz", runtimeValue);
+
+        entry.Value.ValueLiteral.MatchInlineSnapshot(
+            """
+            [
+              "xyz"
+            ]
+            """);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void StringValue_Representing_EnumValue_In_Single_Object_For_List_ShouldBe_Rewritten()
+    {
+        // arrange
+        var schema = SchemaBuilder.New()
+            .AddDocumentFromString(
+                @"
+                    type Query {
+                        test(list: [FooInput]): String
+                    }
+
+                    input FooInput {
+                        enum: TestEnum
+                    }
+
+                    enum TestEnum {
+                        Foo
+                        Bar
+                    }")
+            .Use(_ => _ => default)
+            .Create();
+
+        var variableDefinitions = new List<VariableDefinitionNode>
+        {
+            new(null,
+                new VariableNode("abc"),
+                description: null,
+                new ListTypeNode(new NamedTypeNode("FooInput")),
+                null,
+                Array.Empty<DirectiveNode>())
+        };
+
+        var variableValues = JsonDocument.Parse(
+            """
+            {
+              "abc": { "enum": "Foo" }
+            }
+            """);
+
+        var coercedValues = new Dictionary<string, VariableValue>();
+        var featureProvider = new MockFeatureProvider();
+        var helper = new VariableCoercionHelper(new());
+
+        // act
+        helper.CoerceVariableValues(
+            schema, variableDefinitions, variableValues.RootElement, coercedValues, featureProvider);
+
+        // assert
+        var entry = Assert.Single(coercedValues);
+        Assert.Equal("abc", entry.Key);
+        entry.Value.ValueLiteral.MatchInlineSnapshot(
+            """
+            [
+              {
+                enum: Foo
+              }
+            ]
+            """);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void StringValues_Representing_EnumValues_In_Lists_ShouldBe_Rewritten()
     {
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs
index 02cd1b9266f..f0c0733e2e6 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs
@@ -400,6 +400,25 @@ public void Parse_InputObject_NullableEnumList()
             t => Assert.Equal(Bar.Baz, t));
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void Deserialize_List_Can_Be_Coerced_From_Single_Value()
+    {
+        // arrange
+        var parser = new InputParser(new DefaultTypeConverter());
+        var type = (IType)new ListType(new BooleanType());
+        var inputValue = JsonDocument.Parse("true");
+
+        var context = new Mock<IFeatureProvider>();
+        context.Setup(t => t.Features).Returns(FeatureCollection.Empty);
+
+        // act
+        var runtimeValue =
+            parser.ParseInputValue(inputValue.RootElement, type, context.Object, Path.Root.Append("root"));
+
+        // assert
+        Assert.Collection(Assert.IsType<List<bool?>>(runtimeValue), Assert.True);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task Integration_InputObjectDefaultValue_ValueIsInitialized()
     {