diff --git a/pylib/gyp/__init__.py b/pylib/gyp/__init__.py
index adea2f0f..489146d6 100755
--- a/pylib/gyp/__init__.py
+++ b/pylib/gyp/__init__.py
@@ -205,8 +205,7 @@ def NameValueListToDict(name_value_list):
 
 
 def ShlexEnv(env_name):
-    flags = os.environ.get(env_name, [])
-    if flags:
+    if flags := os.environ.get(env_name) or []:
         flags = shlex.split(flags)
     return flags
 
@@ -525,7 +524,7 @@ def gyp_main(args):
         # If no format was given on the command line, then check the env variable.
         generate_formats = []
         if options.use_environment:
-            generate_formats = os.environ.get("GYP_GENERATORS", [])
+            generate_formats = os.environ.get("GYP_GENERATORS") or []
         if generate_formats:
             generate_formats = re.split(r"[\s,]", generate_formats)
         if generate_formats:
diff --git a/pylib/gyp/generator/ninja.py b/pylib/gyp/generator/ninja.py
index ae3dded9..4eb0577f 100644
--- a/pylib/gyp/generator/ninja.py
+++ b/pylib/gyp/generator/ninja.py
@@ -1465,7 +1465,7 @@ def WriteLinkForArch(
             # Respect environment variables related to build, but target-specific
             # flags can still override them.
             ldflags = env_ldflags + config.get("ldflags", [])
-            if is_executable and len(solibs):
+            if is_executable and solibs:
                 rpath = "lib/"
                 if self.toolset != "target":
                     rpath += self.toolset
@@ -1555,7 +1555,7 @@ def WriteLinkForArch(
             if pdbname:
                 output = [output, pdbname]
 
-        if len(solibs):
+        if solibs:
             extra_bindings.append(
                 ("solibs", gyp.common.EncodePOSIXShellList(sorted(solibs)))
             )
@@ -2085,7 +2085,7 @@ def CommandWithWrapper(cmd, wrappers, prog):
 
 def GetDefaultConcurrentLinks():
     """Returns a best-guess for a number of concurrent links."""
-    pool_size = int(os.environ.get("GYP_LINK_CONCURRENCY", 0))
+    pool_size = int(os.environ.get("GYP_LINK_CONCURRENCY") or 0)
     if pool_size:
         return pool_size
 
@@ -2112,7 +2112,7 @@ class MEMORYSTATUSEX(ctypes.Structure):
         # VS 2015 uses 20% more working set than VS 2013 and can consume all RAM
         # on a 64 GiB machine.
         mem_limit = max(1, stat.ullTotalPhys // (5 * (2 ** 30)))  # total / 5GiB
-        hard_cap = max(1, int(os.environ.get("GYP_LINK_CONCURRENCY_MAX", 2 ** 32)))
+        hard_cap = max(1, int(os.environ.get("GYP_LINK_CONCURRENCY_MAX") or 2 ** 32))
         return min(mem_limit, hard_cap)
     elif sys.platform.startswith("linux"):
         if os.path.exists("/proc/meminfo"):