diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 84f14198f82..b160fde0179 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -1075,11 +1075,9 @@ struct ExprParseFile : Expr, gc
 {
     // FIXME: make this a reference (see below).
     SourcePath path;
-    bool mustBeTrivial;
 
-    ExprParseFile(SourcePath & path, bool mustBeTrivial)
+    ExprParseFile(SourcePath & path)
         : path(path)
-        , mustBeTrivial(mustBeTrivial)
     {
     }
 
@@ -1096,11 +1094,6 @@ struct ExprParseFile : Expr, gc
                           state, *e, state.baseEnv, e->getPos(), "while evaluating the file '%s':", path.to_string())
                     : nullptr;
 
-            // Enforce that 'flake.nix' is a direct attrset, not a
-            // computation.
-            if (mustBeTrivial && !(dynamic_cast<ExprAttrs *>(e)))
-                state.error<EvalError>("file '%s' must be an attribute set", path).debugThrow();
-
             state.eval(e, v);
         } catch (Error & e) {
             state.addErrorTrace(e, "while evaluating the file '%s':", path.to_string());
@@ -1109,7 +1102,7 @@ struct ExprParseFile : Expr, gc
     }
 };
 
-void EvalState::evalFile(const SourcePath & path, Value & v, bool mustBeTrivial)
+void EvalState::evalFile(const SourcePath & path, Value & v)
 {
     auto resolvedPath = getConcurrent(*importResolutionCache, path);
 
@@ -1129,7 +1122,7 @@ void EvalState::evalFile(const SourcePath & path, Value & v, bool mustBeTrivial)
     // https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/13930 is merged. That will ensure
     // the post-condition that `expr` is unreachable after
     // `forceValue()` returns.
-    auto expr = new ExprParseFile{*resolvedPath, mustBeTrivial};
+    auto expr = new ExprParseFile{*resolvedPath};
 
     fileEvalCache->try_emplace_and_cvisit(
         *resolvedPath,
diff --git a/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/eval.hh b/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/eval.hh
index 29acb4547aa..58458dc9755 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/eval.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/eval.hh
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ public:
      * form. Optionally enforce that the top-level expression is
      * trivial (i.e. doesn't require arbitrary computation).
      */
-    void evalFile(const SourcePath & path, Value & v, bool mustBeTrivial = false);
+    void evalFile(const SourcePath & path, Value & v);
 
     void resetFileCache();
 
diff --git a/src/libflake/flake.cc b/src/libflake/flake.cc
index be3b667d2da..4cd39c0f625 100644
--- a/src/libflake/flake.cc
+++ b/src/libflake/flake.cc
@@ -69,15 +69,9 @@ using namespace flake;
 
 namespace flake {
 
-static void forceTrivialValue(EvalState & state, Value & value, const PosIdx pos)
-{
-    if (value.isThunk() && value.isTrivial())
-        state.forceValue(value, pos);
-}
-
 static void expectType(EvalState & state, ValueType type, Value & value, const PosIdx pos)
 {
-    forceTrivialValue(state, value, pos);
+    state.forceValue(value, pos);
     if (value.type() != type)
         throw Error("expected %s but got %s at %s", showType(type), showType(value.type()), state.positions[pos]);
 }
@@ -151,7 +145,7 @@ static FlakeInput parseFlakeInput(
     for (auto & attr : *value->attrs()) {
         try {
             if (attr.name == sUrl) {
-                forceTrivialValue(state, *attr.value, pos);
+                state.forceValue(*attr.value, pos);
                 if (attr.value->type() == nString)
                     url = attr.value->string_view();
                 else if (attr.value->type() == nPath) {
@@ -224,6 +218,7 @@ static std::pair<std::map<FlakeId, FlakeInput>, fetchers::Attrs> parseFlakeInput
     expectType(state, nAttrs, *value, pos);
 
     for (auto & inputAttr : *value->attrs()) {
+        state.forceValue(*inputAttr.value, pos);
         auto inputName = state.symbols[inputAttr.name];
         if (inputName == "self") {
             if (!allowSelf)
@@ -251,9 +246,8 @@ static Flake readFlake(
     auto flakeDir = rootDir / CanonPath(resolvedRef.subdir);
     auto flakePath = flakeDir / "flake.nix";
 
-    // NOTE evalFile forces vInfo to be an attrset because mustBeTrivial is true.
     Value vInfo;
-    state.evalFile(flakePath, vInfo, true);
+    state.evalFile(flakePath, vInfo);
 
     Flake flake{
         .originalRef = originalRef,
@@ -302,7 +296,7 @@ static Flake readFlake(
         expectType(state, nAttrs, *nixConfig->value, nixConfig->pos);
 
         for (auto & setting : *nixConfig->value->attrs()) {
-            forceTrivialValue(state, *setting.value, setting.pos);
+            state.forceValue(*setting.value, setting.pos);
             if (setting.value->type() == nString)
                 flake.config.settings.emplace(
                     state.symbols[setting.name], std::string(state.forceStringNoCtx(*setting.value, setting.pos, "")));