diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 07f53a56c7..703393084d 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -589,7 +589,6 @@ Expr strictEvalExpr(EvalState & state, Expr e)
     e = evalExpr(state, e);
 
     ATermList as;
-
     if (matchAttrs(e, as)) {
         ATermList as2 = ATempty;
         for (ATermIterator i(as); i; ++i) {
@@ -599,10 +598,17 @@ Expr strictEvalExpr(EvalState & state, Expr e)
         }
         return makeAttrs(ATreverse(as2));
     }
-
+    
+    ATermList es;
+    if (matchList(e, es)) {
+        ATermList es2 = ATempty;
+        for (ATermIterator i(es); i; ++i)
+            es2 = ATinsert(es2, strictEvalExpr(state, *i));
+        return makeList(ATreverse(es2));
+    }
+    
     ATermList formals;
     ATerm body, pos;
-
     if (matchFunction(e, formals, body, pos)) {
         ATermList formals2 = ATempty;
         
diff --git a/src/nix-instantiate/main.cc b/src/nix-instantiate/main.cc
index 5eaaf5b2a8..6a0586a2d8 100644
--- a/src/nix-instantiate/main.cc
+++ b/src/nix-instantiate/main.cc
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ static void printTermAsXML(Expr e, XMLWriter & doc)
     XMLAttrs attrs;
     ATerm s;
     int i;
-    ATermList as, formals;
+    ATermList as, es, formals;
     ATerm body, pos;
 
     if (matchStr(e, s))
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ static void printTermAsXML(Expr e, XMLWriter & doc)
         }
     }
 
+    else if (matchList(e, es)) {
+        XMLOpenElement _(doc, "list");
+        for (ATermIterator i(es); i; ++i)
+            printTermAsXML(*i, doc);
+    }
+
     else if (matchFunction(e, formals, body, pos)) {
         XMLOpenElement _(doc, "function");