diff --git a/pygmt/helpers/utils.py b/pygmt/helpers/utils.py
index 27c6f28db90..0fcd61d6673 100644
--- a/pygmt/helpers/utils.py
+++ b/pygmt/helpers/utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 import sys
 import time
 import webbrowser
-from collections.abc import Iterable
+from collections.abc import Iterable, Sequence
+from typing import Any
 
 import xarray as xr
 from pygmt.exceptions import GMTInvalidInput
@@ -320,9 +321,9 @@ def non_ascii_to_octal(argstr):
 
 
 def build_arg_list(
-    kwdict: dict,
-    confdict: dict | None = None,
-    infile: str | pathlib.PurePath | list[str | pathlib.PurePath] | None = None,
+    kwdict: dict[str, Any],
+    confdict: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+    infile: str | pathlib.PurePath | Sequence[str | pathlib.PurePath] | None = None,
     outfile: str | pathlib.PurePath | None = None,
 ) -> list[str]:
     r"""
@@ -332,8 +333,8 @@ def build_arg_list(
     representation using the ``kwargs_to_strings`` decorator. The only exceptions are
     ``True``, ``False`` and ``None``.
 
-    Any lists or tuples left will be interpreted as multiple entries for the same
-    command line option. For example, the kwargs entry ``"B": ["xa", "yaf"]`` will be
+    Any remaining lists or tuples will be interpreted as multiple entries for the same
+    parameter. For example, the kwargs entry ``"B": ["xa", "yaf"]`` will be
     converted to ``["-Bxa", "-Byaf"]``.
 
     Parameters
@@ -398,7 +399,7 @@ def build_arg_list(
     for key, value in kwdict.items():
         if len(key) > 2:  # Raise an exception for unrecognized options
             raise GMTInvalidInput(f"Unrecognized parameter '{key}'.")
-        if value is None or value is False:  # Exclude arguments that are None and False
+        if value is None or value is False:  # Exclude arguments that are None or False
             pass
         elif value is True:
             gmt_args.append(f"-{key}")
@@ -417,7 +418,7 @@ def build_arg_list(
         else:
             gmt_args = [str(_file) for _file in infile] + gmt_args
     if outfile:
-        gmt_args.append("->" + str(outfile))
+        gmt_args.append(f"->{outfile}")
     return gmt_args