diff --git a/python/mlx/utils.py b/python/mlx/utils.py
index daa387420..137a8aae4 100644
--- a/python/mlx/utils.py
+++ b/python/mlx/utils.py
@@ -39,13 +39,9 @@ def tree_map(fn, tree, *rest, is_leaf=None):
     """
     if is_leaf is not None and is_leaf(tree):
         return fn(tree, *rest)
-    elif isinstance(tree, list):
-        return [
-            tree_map(fn, child, *(r[i] for r in rest), is_leaf=is_leaf)
-            for i, child in enumerate(tree)
-        ]
-    elif isinstance(tree, tuple):
-        return tuple(
+    elif isinstance(tree, (list, tuple)):
+        TreeType = type(tree)
+        return TreeType(
             tree_map(fn, child, *(r[i] for r in rest), is_leaf=is_leaf)
             for i, child in enumerate(tree)
         )
@@ -141,8 +137,8 @@ def tree_unflatten(tree):
         keys = sorted((int(idx), idx) for idx in children.keys())
         l = []
         for i, k in keys:
-            while i > len(l):
-                l.append({})
+            # if i <= len(l), no {} will be appended.
+            l.extend([{} for _ in range(i - len(l))])
             l.append(tree_unflatten(children[k]))
         return l
     else: