diff --git a/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPage.php b/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPage.php
index 6f785f403ac..a5003f12a3d 100644
--- a/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPage.php
+++ b/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPage.php
@@ -41,11 +41,14 @@ use MediaWiki\User\UserIdentityUtils;
 use MWExceptionHandler;
 use OOUI\IconWidget;
 use RecentChange;
+use Wikimedia\Rdbms\AndExpressionGroup;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\DBQueryTimeoutError;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\FakeResultWrapper;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IExpression;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IReadableDatabase;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IResultWrapper;
+use Wikimedia\Rdbms\OrExpressionGroup;
+use Wikimedia\Rdbms\RawSQLValue;
 
 /**
  * Special page which uses a ChangesList to show query results.
@@ -382,13 +385,8 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 						'queryCallable' => static function ( string $specialClassName, IContextSource $ctx,
 							IReadableDatabase $dbr, &$tables, &$fields, &$conds, &$query_options, &$join_conds
 						) use ( $nonRevisionTypes ) {
-							$conds[] = $dbr->makeList(
-								[
-									'rc_this_oldid <> page_latest',
-									'rc_type' => $nonRevisionTypes,
-								],
-								LIST_OR
-							);
+							$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'rc_this_oldid', '!=', new RawSQLValue( 'page_latest' ) )
+								->or( 'rc_type', '=', $nonRevisionTypes );
 						},
 						'cssClassSuffix' => 'last',
 						'isRowApplicableCallable' => static function ( IContextSource $ctx, RecentChange $rc ) {
@@ -403,13 +401,8 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 						'queryCallable' => static function ( string $specialClassName, IContextSource $ctx,
 							IReadableDatabase $dbr, &$tables, &$fields, &$conds, &$query_options, &$join_conds
 						) use ( $nonRevisionTypes ) {
-							$conds[] = $dbr->makeList(
-								[
-									'rc_this_oldid = page_latest',
-									'rc_type' => $nonRevisionTypes,
-								],
-								LIST_OR
-							);
+							$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'rc_this_oldid', '=', new RawSQLValue( 'page_latest' ) )
+								->or( 'rc_type', '=', $nonRevisionTypes );
 						},
 						'cssClassSuffix' => 'previous',
 						'isRowApplicableCallable' => static function ( IContextSource $ctx, RecentChange $rc ) {
@@ -486,13 +479,8 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 						'queryCallable' => static function ( string $specialClassName, IContextSource $ctx,
 							IReadableDatabase $dbr, &$tables, &$fields, &$conds, &$query_options, &$join_conds
 						) {
-							$conds[] = $dbr->makeList(
-								[
-									$dbr->expr( 'rc_log_type', '!=', 'newusers' ),
-									'rc_log_type' => null
-								],
-								IReadableDatabase::LIST_OR
-							);
+							$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'rc_log_type', '!=', 'newusers' )
+								->or( 'rc_log_type', '=', null );
 						},
 						'cssClassSuffix' => 'src-mw-newuserlog',
 						'isRowApplicableCallable' => static function ( IContextSource $ctx, RecentChange $rc ) {
@@ -1527,15 +1515,9 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 					$namespaces = array_unique( array_merge( $namespaces, $associatedNamespaces ) );
 				}
 
-				if ( count( $namespaces ) === 1 ) {
-					$operator = $opts[ 'invert' ] ? '!=' : '=';
-					$value = $dbr->addQuotes( reset( $namespaces ) );
-				} else {
-					$operator = $opts[ 'invert' ] ? 'NOT IN' : 'IN';
-					sort( $namespaces );
-					$value = '(' . $dbr->makeList( $namespaces ) . ')';
-				}
-				$conds[] = "rc_namespace $operator $value";
+				$operator = $opts[ 'invert' ] ? '!=' : '=';
+				sort( $namespaces );
+				$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'rc_namespace', $operator, $namespaces );
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -1831,9 +1813,10 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 	 * @param string $level 'learner' or 'experienced'
 	 * @param int $now Current time as UNIX timestamp (if 0, uses actual time)
 	 * @param IReadableDatabase $dbr
+	 * @param bool $asNotCondition
 	 * @return IExpression
 	 */
-	private function getExperienceExpr( $level, $now, IReadableDatabase $dbr ): IExpression {
+	private function getExperienceExpr( $level, $now, IReadableDatabase $dbr, $asNotCondition = false ): IExpression {
 		$config = $this->getConfig();
 
 		$configSince = [
@@ -1851,6 +1834,10 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 			'experienced' => $config->get( MainConfigNames::ExperiencedUserEdits ),
 		][$level];
 
+		if ( $asNotCondition ) {
+			return $dbr->expr( 'user_editcount', '<', intval( $editCutoff ) )
+				->or( 'user_registration', '>', $dbr->timestamp( $timeCutoff ) );
+		}
 		return $dbr->expr( 'user_editcount', '>=', intval( $editCutoff ) )->andExpr(
 			// Users who don't have user_registration set are very old, so we assume they're above any cutoff
 			$dbr->expr( 'user_registration', '=', null )
@@ -1878,10 +1865,12 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 	) {
 		$selected = array_fill_keys( $selectedExpLevels, true );
 
-		$isUnregistered = $this->getRegisteredExpr( false, $dbr )->toSql( $dbr );
-		$isRegistered = $this->getRegisteredExpr( true, $dbr )->toSql( $dbr );
-		$aboveNewcomer = $this->getExperienceExpr( 'learner', $now, $dbr )->toSql( $dbr );
-		$aboveLearner = $this->getExperienceExpr( 'experienced', $now, $dbr )->toSql( $dbr );
+		$isUnregistered = $this->getRegisteredExpr( false, $dbr );
+		$isRegistered = $this->getRegisteredExpr( true, $dbr );
+		$aboveNewcomer = $this->getExperienceExpr( 'learner', $now, $dbr );
+		$notAboveNewcomer = $this->getExperienceExpr( 'learner', $now, $dbr, true );
+		$aboveLearner = $this->getExperienceExpr( 'experienced', $now, $dbr );
+		$notAboveLearner = $this->getExperienceExpr( 'experienced', $now, $dbr, true );
 
 		// We need to select some range of user experience levels, from the following table:
 		// | Unregistered |     --------- Registered ---------     |
@@ -1890,15 +1879,12 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 		// We just need to define a condition for each of the columns, figure out which are selected,
 		// and then OR them together.
 		$columnConds = [
-			'unregistered' => [ $isUnregistered ],
-			'registered' => [ $isRegistered ],
-			'newcomer' => [ $isRegistered, "NOT ( $aboveNewcomer )" ],
-			'learner' => [ $isRegistered, $aboveNewcomer, "NOT ( $aboveLearner )" ],
-			'experienced' => [ $isRegistered, $aboveLearner ],
+			'unregistered' => $isUnregistered,
+			'registered' => $isRegistered,
+			'newcomer' => new AndExpressionGroup( $isRegistered, $notAboveNewcomer ),
+			'learner' => new AndExpressionGroup( $isRegistered, $aboveNewcomer, $notAboveLearner ),
+			'experienced' => new AndExpressionGroup( $isRegistered, $aboveLearner ),
 		];
-		foreach ( $columnConds as &$nestedConds ) {
-			$nestedConds = $dbr->makeList( $nestedConds, IReadableDatabase::LIST_AND );
-		}
 
 		// There are some cases where we can easily optimize away some queries:
 		// | Unregistered |     --------- Registered ---------     |
@@ -1924,7 +1910,7 @@ abstract class ChangesListSpecialPage extends SpecialPage {
 			return;
 		}
 		$selectedColumnConds = array_values( array_intersect_key( $columnConds, $selected ) );
-		$conds[] = $dbr->makeList( $selectedColumnConds, IReadableDatabase::LIST_OR );
+		$conds[] = new OrExpressionGroup( ...$selectedColumnConds );
 
 		// Add necessary tables to the queries.
 		$join_conds['recentchanges_actor'] = [ 'JOIN', 'actor_id=rc_actor' ];
diff --git a/includes/specials/SpecialRecentChanges.php b/includes/specials/SpecialRecentChanges.php
index 38178d586ef..f68ad4a9e21 100644
--- a/includes/specials/SpecialRecentChanges.php
+++ b/includes/specials/SpecialRecentChanges.php
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ use OOUI\HtmlSnippet;
 use RecentChange;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IReadableDatabase;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IResultWrapper;
+use Wikimedia\Rdbms\RawSQLExpression;
 
 /**
  * List of the last changes made to the wiki
@@ -136,16 +137,18 @@ class SpecialRecentChanges extends ChangesListSpecialPage {
 				IReadableDatabase $dbr, &$tables, &$fields, &$conds, &$query_options, &$join_conds, $selectedValues
 			) {
 				sort( $selectedValues );
-				$notwatchedCond = 'wl_user IS NULL';
-				$watchedCond = 'wl_user IS NOT NULL';
+				$notwatchedCond = $dbr->expr( 'wl_user', '=', null );
+				$watchedCond = $dbr->expr( 'wl_user', '!=', null );
 				if ( $this->getConfig()->get( MainConfigNames::WatchlistExpiry ) ) {
 					// Expired watchlist items stay in the DB after their expiry time until they're purged,
 					// so it's not enough to only check for wl_user.
-					$quotedNow = $dbr->addQuotes( $dbr->timestamp() );
-					$notwatchedCond = "wl_user IS NULL OR ( we_expiry IS NOT NULL AND we_expiry < $quotedNow )";
-					$watchedCond = "wl_user IS NOT NULL AND ( we_expiry IS NULL OR we_expiry >= $quotedNow )";
+					$dbNow = $dbr->timestamp();
+					$notwatchedCond = $notwatchedCond
+						->orExpr( $dbr->expr( 'we_expiry', '!=', null )->and( 'we_expiry', '<', $dbNow ) );
+					$watchedCond = $watchedCond
+						->andExpr( $dbr->expr( 'we_expiry', '=', null )->or( 'we_expiry', '>=', $dbNow ) );
 				}
-				$newCond = 'rc_timestamp >= wl_notificationtimestamp';
+				$newCond = new RawSQLExpression( 'rc_timestamp >= wl_notificationtimestamp' );
 
 				if ( $selectedValues === [ 'notwatched' ] ) {
 					$conds[] = $notwatchedCond;
@@ -158,10 +161,8 @@ class SpecialRecentChanges extends ChangesListSpecialPage {
 				}
 
 				if ( $selectedValues === [ 'watchednew' ] ) {
-					$conds[] = $dbr->makeList( [
-						$watchedCond,
-						$newCond
-					], LIST_AND );
+					$conds[] = $watchedCond
+						->andExpr( $newCond );
 					return;
 				}
 
@@ -171,13 +172,11 @@ class SpecialRecentChanges extends ChangesListSpecialPage {
 				}
 
 				if ( $selectedValues === [ 'notwatched', 'watchednew' ] ) {
-					$conds[] = $dbr->makeList( [
-						$notwatchedCond,
-						$dbr->makeList( [
-							$watchedCond,
-							$newCond
-						], LIST_AND )
-					], LIST_OR );
+					$conds[] = $notwatchedCond
+						->orExpr(
+							$watchedCond
+								->andExpr( $newCond )
+						);
 					return;
 				}
 
diff --git a/includes/specials/SpecialWatchlist.php b/includes/specials/SpecialWatchlist.php
index 0ed504fc611..b46d2e68845 100644
--- a/includes/specials/SpecialWatchlist.php
+++ b/includes/specials/SpecialWatchlist.php
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ use RecentChange;
 use UserNotLoggedIn;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IReadableDatabase;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IResultWrapper;
+use Wikimedia\Rdbms\RawSQLExpression;
+use Wikimedia\Rdbms\RawSQLValue;
 
 /**
  * @defgroup Watchlist Users watchlist handling
@@ -229,13 +231,8 @@ class SpecialWatchlist extends ChangesListSpecialPage {
 						$nonRevisionTypes = [ RC_LOG ];
 						$this->getHookRunner()->onSpecialWatchlistGetNonRevisionTypes( $nonRevisionTypes );
 						if ( $nonRevisionTypes ) {
-							$conds[] = $dbr->makeList(
-								[
-									'rc_this_oldid=page_latest',
-									'rc_type' => $nonRevisionTypes,
-								],
-								LIST_OR
-							);
+							$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'rc_this_oldid', '=', new RawSQLValue( 'page_latest' ) )
+								->or( 'rc_type', '=', $nonRevisionTypes );
 						}
 					},
 				]
@@ -288,15 +285,11 @@ class SpecialWatchlist extends ChangesListSpecialPage {
 				$selectedValues
 			) {
 				if ( $selectedValues === [ 'seen' ] ) {
-					$conds[] = $dbr->makeList( [
-						'wl_notificationtimestamp' => null,
-						'rc_timestamp < wl_notificationtimestamp'
-					], LIST_OR );
+					$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'wl_notificationtimestamp', '=', null )
+						->orExpr( new RawSQLExpression( 'rc_timestamp < wl_notificationtimestamp' ) );
 				} elseif ( $selectedValues === [ 'unseen' ] ) {
-					$conds[] = $dbr->makeList( [
-						'wl_notificationtimestamp IS NOT NULL',
-						'rc_timestamp >= wl_notificationtimestamp'
-					], LIST_AND );
+					$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'wl_notificationtimestamp', '!=', null )
+						->andExpr( new RawSQLExpression( 'rc_timestamp >= wl_notificationtimestamp' ) );
 				}
 			}
 		] ) );
@@ -461,10 +454,8 @@ class SpecialWatchlist extends ChangesListSpecialPage {
 			$bitmask = 0;
 		}
 		if ( $bitmask ) {
-			$conds[] = $dbr->makeList( [
-				'rc_type != ' . RC_LOG,
-				$dbr->bitAnd( 'rc_deleted', $bitmask ) . " != $bitmask",
-			], LIST_OR );
+			$conds[] = $dbr->expr( 'rc_type', '!=', RC_LOG )
+				->orExpr( new RawSQLExpression( $dbr->bitAnd( 'rc_deleted', $bitmask ) . " != $bitmask" ) );
 		}
 
 		$tagFilter = $opts['tagfilter'] !== '' ? explode( '|', $opts['tagfilter'] ) : [];
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPageTest.php b/tests/phpunit/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPageTest.php
index 4f14f959f38..4caf7178af1 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPageTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/includes/specialpage/ChangesListSpecialPageTest.php
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 		$this->assertConditions(
 			[
 				# expected
-				'((actor_user IS NOT NULL))',
+				'(actor_user IS NOT NULL)',
 			],
 			[
 				'userExpLevel' => 'newcomer;learner;experienced',
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 		$this->assertConditions(
 			[
 				# expected
-				'((actor_user IS NOT NULL))',
+				'(actor_user IS NOT NULL)',
 			],
 			[
 				'userExpLevel' => 'registered',
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 		$this->assertConditions(
 			[
 				# expected
-				"(((actor_user IS NOT NULL AND $tempUserMatchPattern)))",
+				"((actor_user IS NOT NULL AND $tempUserMatchPattern))",
 			],
 			[
 				'userExpLevel' => 'registered',
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 		$this->assertConditions(
 			[
 				# expected
-				'((actor_user IS NULL))'
+				'(actor_user IS NULL)'
 			],
 			[
 				'userExpLevel' => 'unregistered',
@@ -625,7 +625,7 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 		$this->assertConditions(
 			[
 				# expected
-				"(((actor_user IS NULL OR $tempUserMatchPattern)))",
+				"((actor_user IS NULL OR $tempUserMatchPattern))",
 			],
 			[
 				'userExpLevel' => 'unregistered',
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 		$this->assertConditions(
 			[
 				# expected
-				'((actor_user IS NOT NULL))',
+				'(actor_user IS NOT NULL)',
 			],
 			[
 				'userExpLevel' => 'registered;learner',
@@ -650,21 +650,21 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 
 	public function testFilterUserExpLevelUnregisteredOrExperienced() {
 		$this->disableAutoCreateTempUser();
-		$conds = $this->buildQuery( [ 'userExpLevel' => 'unregistered;experienced' ] );
+		[ $cond ] = $this->buildQuery( [ 'userExpLevel' => 'unregistered;experienced' ] );
 		$this->assertMatchesRegularExpression(
-			'/\(\(actor_user IS NULL\)\) OR '
-				. '\(\(actor_user IS NOT NULL\) AND \(\('
+			'/\(actor_user IS NULL OR '
+				. '\(actor_user IS NOT NULL AND \('
 					. 'user_editcount >= 500 AND \(user_registration IS NULL OR '
 					. 'user_registration <= \'[^\']+\'\)'
 				. '\)\)\)/',
-			reset( $conds ),
+			$cond->toSql( $this->getDb() ),
 			"rc conditions: userExpLevel=unregistered;experienced"
 		);
 	}
 
 	public function testFilterUserExpLevelUnregisteredOrExperiencedWhenTemporaryAccountsEnabled() {
 		$this->enableAutoCreateTempUser();
-		$conds = $this->buildQuery( [ 'userExpLevel' => 'unregistered;experienced' ] );
+		[ $cond ] = $this->buildQuery( [ 'userExpLevel' => 'unregistered;experienced' ] );
 		$notLikeTempUserMatchExpression = $this->getServiceContainer()->getTempUserConfig()
 			->getMatchCondition( $this->getDb(), 'actor_name', IExpression::NOT_LIKE )
 			->toSql( $this->getDb() );
@@ -674,12 +674,12 @@ class ChangesListSpecialPageTest extends AbstractChangesListSpecialPageTestCase
 			->toSql( $this->getDb() );
 		$likeTempUserMatchExpression = preg_quote( $likeTempUserMatchExpression );
 		$this->assertMatchesRegularExpression(
-			"/\(\(\(actor_user IS NULL OR $likeTempUserMatchExpression\)\)\) OR "
-				. "\(\(\(actor_user IS NOT NULL AND $notLikeTempUserMatchExpression\)\) AND \(\("
+			"/\(\(actor_user IS NULL OR $likeTempUserMatchExpression\) OR "
+				. "\(\(actor_user IS NOT NULL AND $notLikeTempUserMatchExpression\) AND \("
 					. 'user_editcount >= 500 AND \(user_registration IS NULL OR '
 					. 'user_registration <= \'[^\']+\'\)'
 				. '\)\)\)/',
-			reset( $conds ),
+			$cond->toSql( $this->getDb() ),
 			"rc conditions: userExpLevel=unregistered;experienced"
 		);
 	}