diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/haxor-news/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/haxor-news/default.nix
index 2f6df287197f1..0ed2e469cfa99 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/haxor-news/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/haxor-news/default.nix
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ buildPythonApplication rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook mock ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" "-v" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" "-v" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "https://github.com/donnemartin/haxor-news";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/hooks/unittest-check-hook.sh b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/hooks/unittest-check-hook.sh
index 3485fcc79452a..94cc8ff5cb834 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/hooks/unittest-check-hook.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/hooks/unittest-check-hook.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,13 @@ unittestCheckPhase() {
     echo "Executing unittestCheckPhase"
     runHook preCheck
 
-    eval "@pythonCheckInterpreter@ -m unittest discover $unittestFlagsArray"
+    # Old bash empty array hack
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2086
+    local flagsArray=(
+        ${unittestFlags:-} "${unittestFlagsArray[@]}"
+    )
+    echoCmd 'unittest check flags' "${flagsArray[@]}"
+    @pythonCheckInterpreter@ -m unittest discover "${flagsArray[@]}"
 
     runHook postCheck
     echo "Finished executing unittestCheckPhase"
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/arxiv2bib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/arxiv2bib/default.nix
index 54a6280017ae0..631c86ff713c8 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/arxiv2bib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/arxiv2bib/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   };
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook mock ];
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Get a BibTeX entry from an arXiv id number, using the arxiv.org API";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_tempfile/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_tempfile/default.nix
index ef4f64def3a7d..be78b77b6117a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_tempfile/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_tempfile/default.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = {
     description = "Backport of new features in Python's tempfile module";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_weakref/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_weakref/default.nix
index a0cbe6d4b8434..5a3fbc87476fb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_weakref/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/backports_weakref/default.nix
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Backports of new features in Python’s weakref module";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/bitstring/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/bitstring/default.nix
index c67b70778c89d..832a85059a5ae 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/bitstring/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/bitstring/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "test" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "test" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "bitstring" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/cvxopt/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/cvxopt/default.nix
index 31772c2693532..74e01459ddcfc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/cvxopt/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/cvxopt/default.nix
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "http://cvxopt.org/";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/fido2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/fido2/default.nix
index 26ccd95054ca6..81a17a0737dea 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/fido2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/fido2/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook mock pyfakefs ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-v" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-v" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "fido2" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/flask-babel/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/flask-babel/default.nix
index 9a2aef0570eca..230b4e6029d20 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/flask-babel/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/flask-babel/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     speaklater
   ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Adds i18n/l10n support to Flask applications";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/greenlet/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/greenlet/default.nix
index 12f3044f06801..aa9a627b91e95 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/greenlet/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/greenlet/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-v" "greenlet.tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-v" "greenlet.tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "https://github.com/python-greenlet/greenlet";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/isodate/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/isodate/default.nix
index ba507f168dbfd..6126b18ff2349 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/isodate/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/isodate/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "src/isodate/tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "src/isodate/tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "ISO 8601 date/time parser";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/jxmlease/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/jxmlease/default.nix
index 19b29bf763972..b0a7621baf9db 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/jxmlease/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/jxmlease/default.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-v" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-v" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Converts between XML and intelligent Python data structures";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mat2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mat2/default.nix
index 59a1dddc22bf6..3d43f02b8069f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mat2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mat2/default.nix
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-v" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-v" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "A handy tool to trash your metadata";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mkdocs/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mkdocs/default.nix
index 0fb61bd8a5996..0f0ba13586f7d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mkdocs/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mkdocs/default.nix
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     mock
   ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-v" "-p" "'*tests.py'" "mkdocs" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-v" "-p" "'*tests.py'" "mkdocs" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "mkdocs" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pycparser/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pycparser/default.nix
index 47f1a20fbb29f..9c7da82df3beb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pycparser/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pycparser/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "C parser in Python";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pysensors/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pysensors/default.nix
index e7d3697da0fbd..b6616ed536e50 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pysensors/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pysensors/default.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ buildPythonPackage {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ guibou ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyserial/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyserial/default.nix
index 7eed44d0fbb18..0fbabababb5b5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyserial/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyserial/default.nix
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "test" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "test" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [
     "serial"
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pytz/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pytz/default.nix
index 718ee964588e2..f956dffe3ad06 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pytz/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pytz/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "pytz/tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "pytz/tests" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "pytz" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/readlike/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/readlike/default.nix
index fae5b1a78720a..184acaa925f98 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/readlike/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/readlike/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "GNU Readline-like line editing module";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinx-testing/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinx-testing/default.nix
index daf90bb3b5030..8123a8890822f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinx-testing/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinx-testing/default.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook mock ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ sphinx six ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   # Test failures https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx-testing/issues/5
   doCheck = false;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinxcontrib-blockdiag/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinxcontrib-blockdiag/default.nix
index 61b44aa2b7042..9a75833d10f02 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinxcontrib-blockdiag/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sphinxcontrib-blockdiag/default.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Sphinx blockdiag extension";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/4.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/4.nix
index 5765dee4415af..48a805d78fefa 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/4.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/4.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   # We specify the name of the test files to prevent
   # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/14634
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "*_test.py" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "*_test.py" ];
 
   __darwinAllowLocalNetworking = true;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/5.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/5.nix
index 5dfb4f8054296..a14f6c3b8fed6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/5.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tornado/5.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   # We specify the name of the test files to prevent
   # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/14634
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "*_test.py" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "*_test.py" ];
 
   __darwinAllowLocalNetworking = true;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/trytond/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/trytond/default.nix
index ce39ed5d1a05c..46d9e8dd84463 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/trytond/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/trytond/default.nix
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     export DB_NAME=":memory:";
   '';
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "trytond.tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "trytond.tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "The server of the Tryton application platform";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/unidiff/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/unidiff/default.nix
index 2fea8dca66f24..bdef73fe68650 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/unidiff/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/unidiff/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "unidiff" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/untangle/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/untangle/default.nix
index 22472549e6ccc..8509a3cd96d26 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/untangle/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/untangle/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Convert XML documents into Python objects";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/vapoursynth/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/vapoursynth/default.nix
index 3a72e5c2d9d0b..2597506da796f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/vapoursynth/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/vapoursynth/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ buildPythonPackage {
     unittestCheckHook
   ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "$src/test" "-p" "'*test.py'" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "$src/test" "-p" "'*test.py'" ];
 
   passthru = {
     withPlugins = plugins:
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/webcolors/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/webcolors/default.nix
index 46498b5950a1a..a7b9dd497dc8b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/webcolors/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/webcolors/default.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "tests" ];
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [
     "webcolors"
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/zake/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/zake/default.nix
index f144bc9d2c43c..785cf7ef696b0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/zake/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/zake/default.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
       --replace "test_child_watch_no_create" "_test_child_watch_no_create"
   '';
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "zake/tests" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "zake/tests" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "https://github.com/yahoo/Zake";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/zope_copy/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/zope_copy/default.nix
index be4cdca72b658..9d82c0612510d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/zope_copy/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/zope_copy/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   doCheck = !isPy27; # namespace conflicts
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook zope_location zope_schema ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" "src/zope/copy" ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" "src/zope/copy" ];
 
   meta = {
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ domenkozar ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python2-modules/typing/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python2-modules/typing/default.nix
index a835be985ff49..c557c6ba08edb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python2-modules/typing/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python2-modules/typing/default.nix
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ in buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ unittestCheckHook ];
 
-  unittestFlagsArray = [ "-s" testDir ];
+  unittestFlags = [ "-s" testDir ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Backport of typing module to Python versions older than 3.5";