diff --git a/src/sparsematrix.jl b/src/sparsematrix.jl
index 51ff5caf..f51a8fec 100644
--- a/src/sparsematrix.jl
+++ b/src/sparsematrix.jl
@@ -1069,7 +1069,7 @@ julia> sparse(Is, Js, Vs)
  ⋅  ⋅  3
 ```
 """
-function sparse(I::AbstractVector{Ti}, J::AbstractVector{Ti}, V::AbstractVector{Tv}, m::Integer, n::Integer, combine) where {Tv,Ti<:Integer}
+function sparse(I::AbstractVector{Ti}, J::AbstractVector{Ti}, V::AbstractVector{Tv}, m::Integer, n::Integer, combine::F) where {Tv,Ti<:Integer,F}
     require_one_based_indexing(I, J, V)
     coolen = length(I)
     if length(J) != coolen || length(V) != coolen
@@ -1110,7 +1110,7 @@ function sparse(I::AbstractVector{Ti}, J::AbstractVector{Ti}, V::AbstractVector{
     end
 end
 
-sparse(I::AbstractVector, J::AbstractVector, V::AbstractVector, m::Integer, n::Integer, combine) =
+sparse(I::AbstractVector, J::AbstractVector, V::AbstractVector, m::Integer, n::Integer, combine::F) where {F} =
     sparse(AbstractVector{Int}(I), AbstractVector{Int}(J), V, m, n, combine)
 
 """
@@ -4238,6 +4238,14 @@ end
 _nzvals(v::AbstractSparseVector) = nonzeros(v)
 _nzvals(v::AbstractVector) = v
 
+# Promoted element type of the diagonals, mirroring `Base.promote_eltypeof`
+spdiagm_eltype(p::Pair) = eltype(p.second)
+spdiagm_eltype(p::Pair, q::Pair, rest::Pair...) =
+    (@inline; promote_type(promote_type(eltype(p.second), eltype(q.second)),
+                           spdiagm_eltype(rest...)))
+spdiagm_eltype(p::Pair, q::Pair) = promote_type(eltype(p.second), eltype(q.second))
+spdiagm_eltype(kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector{T}}...) where {T} = T
+
 function spdiagm_internal(kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector}...)
     ncoeffs = 0
     for p in kv
@@ -4245,7 +4253,7 @@ function spdiagm_internal(kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector}...)
     end
     I = Vector{Int}(undef, ncoeffs)
     J = Vector{Int}(undef, ncoeffs)
-    V = Vector{promote_type(map(x -> eltype(x.second), kv)...)}(undef, ncoeffs)
+    V = Vector{spdiagm_eltype(kv...)}(undef, ncoeffs)
     i = 0
     m = 0
     n = 0
diff --git a/test/linalg.jl b/test/linalg.jl
index 758ed3cb..16291ce3 100644
--- a/test/linalg.jl
+++ b/test/linalg.jl
@@ -598,6 +598,10 @@ end
     # promotion
     @test spdiagm(0 => [1,2], 1 => [3.5], -1 => [4+5im]) == [1 3.5; 4+5im 2]
 
+    # sparse eltypes should infer well, even for a `Vararg` tail of unknown length
+    @test Base.infer_return_type(SparseArrays.spdiagm_eltype,
+              Tuple{Vararg{Pair{Int,Vector{Float64}}}}) === Core.Typeof(Float64)
+
     # convenience constructor
     @test spdiagm(x)::SparseMatrixCSC == diagm(x)
     @test nnz(spdiagm(x)) == count(!iszero, x)