diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
index 07f413733..8ad657fe5 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
     compat_etree_Element,
     compat_etree_fromstring,
     compat_getpass,
-    compat_integer_types,
     compat_http_client,
     compat_os_name,
     compat_str,
@@ -79,6 +78,7 @@
     urljoin,
     url_basename,
     url_or_none,
+    variadic,
     xpath_element,
     xpath_text,
     xpath_with_ns,
@@ -628,14 +628,10 @@ def __can_accept_status_code(err, expected_status):
         assert isinstance(err, compat_urllib_error.HTTPError)
         if expected_status is None:
             return False
-        if isinstance(expected_status, compat_integer_types):
-            return err.code == expected_status
-        elif isinstance(expected_status, (list, tuple)):
-            return err.code in expected_status
         elif callable(expected_status):
             return expected_status(err.code) is True
         else:
-            assert False
+            return err.code in variadic(expected_status)
 
     def _request_webpage(self, url_or_request, video_id, note=None, errnote=None, fatal=True, data=None, headers={}, query={}, expected_status=None):
         """
@@ -1207,8 +1203,7 @@ def _meta_regex(prop):
                     [^>]+?content=(["\'])(?P<content>.*?)\2''' % re.escape(prop)
 
     def _og_search_property(self, prop, html, name=None, **kargs):
-        if not isinstance(prop, (list, tuple)):
-            prop = [prop]
+        prop = variadic(prop)
         if name is None:
             name = 'OpenGraph %s' % prop[0]
         og_regexes = []
@@ -1238,8 +1233,7 @@ def _og_search_url(self, html, **kargs):
         return self._og_search_property('url', html, **kargs)
 
     def _html_search_meta(self, name, html, display_name=None, fatal=False, **kwargs):
-        if not isinstance(name, (list, tuple)):
-            name = [name]
+        name = variadic(name)
         if display_name is None:
             display_name = name[0]
         return self._html_search_regex(
diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py
index 12e10143c..1261f438e 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     std_headers,
     try_get,
     url_or_none,
+    variadic,
 )
 
 
@@ -188,9 +189,7 @@ def _real_extract(self, url):
             uploader_id = media.get('owner', {}).get('username')
 
             def get_count(keys, kind):
-                if not isinstance(keys, (list, tuple)):
-                    keys = [keys]
-                for key in keys:
+                for key in variadic(keys):
                     count = int_or_none(try_get(
                         media, (lambda x: x['edge_media_%s' % key]['count'],
                                 lambda x: x['%ss' % kind]['count'])))
diff --git a/yt_dlp/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py b/yt_dlp/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py
index 0d5e78f3d..fcc32ca03 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     process_communicate_or_kill,
     replace_extension,
     traverse_obj,
+    variadic,
 )
 
 
@@ -533,15 +534,9 @@ def run(self, info):
         def add(meta_list, info_list=None):
             if not meta_list:
                 return
-            if not info_list:
-                info_list = meta_list
-            if not isinstance(meta_list, (list, tuple)):
-                meta_list = (meta_list,)
-            if not isinstance(info_list, (list, tuple)):
-                info_list = (info_list,)
-            for info_f in info_list:
+            for info_f in variadic(info_list or meta_list):
                 if isinstance(info.get(info_f), (compat_str, compat_numeric_types)):
-                    for meta_f in meta_list:
+                    for meta_f in variadic(meta_list):
                         metadata[meta_f] = info[info_f]
                     break
 
diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils.py b/yt_dlp/utils.py
index f0d0097bb..888cfbb7e 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils.py
@@ -4289,9 +4289,7 @@ def dict_get(d, key_or_keys, default=None, skip_false_values=True):
 
 
 def try_get(src, getter, expected_type=None):
-    if not isinstance(getter, (list, tuple)):
-        getter = [getter]
-    for get in getter:
+    for get in variadic(getter):
         try:
             v = get(src)
         except (AttributeError, KeyError, TypeError, IndexError):
@@ -4964,11 +4962,9 @@ def cli_configuration_args(argdict, keys, default=[], use_compat=True):
 
     assert isinstance(keys, (list, tuple))
     for key_list in keys:
-        if isinstance(key_list, compat_str):
-            key_list = (key_list,)
         arg_list = list(filter(
             lambda x: x is not None,
-            [argdict.get(key.lower()) for key in key_list]))
+            [argdict.get(key.lower()) for key in variadic(key_list)]))
         if arg_list:
             return [arg for args in arg_list for arg in args]
     return default
@@ -6265,3 +6261,7 @@ def traverse_dict(dictn, keys, casesense=True):
     ''' For backward compatibility. Do not use '''
     return traverse_obj(dictn, keys, casesense=casesense,
                         is_user_input=True, traverse_string=True)
+
+
+def variadic(x, allowed_types=str):
+    return x if isinstance(x, collections.Iterable) and not isinstance(x, allowed_types) else (x,)