diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index 999b8e42120e..6477924a27a9 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -1806,7 +1806,7 @@ def subplot_mosaic(
 
 @overload
 def subplot_mosaic(
-    mosaic: list[HashableList[_T]],
+    mosaic: Sequence[HashableList[_T]],
     *,
     sharex: bool = ...,
     sharey: bool = ...,
@@ -1822,7 +1822,7 @@ def subplot_mosaic(
 
 @overload
 def subplot_mosaic(
-    mosaic: list[HashableList[Hashable]],
+    mosaic: Sequence[HashableList[Hashable]],
     *,
     sharex: bool = ...,
     sharey: bool = ...,
@@ -1837,7 +1837,7 @@ def subplot_mosaic(
 
 
 def subplot_mosaic(
-    mosaic: str | list[HashableList[_T]] | list[HashableList[Hashable]],
+    mosaic: str | Sequence[HashableList[_T]] | Sequence[HashableList[Hashable]],
     *,
     sharex: bool = False,
     sharey: bool = False,
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/typing.py b/lib/matplotlib/typing.py
index e29b08b437d6..cb5aab456e2a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/typing.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/typing.py
@@ -78,5 +78,5 @@
 )
 
 _HT = TypeVar("_HT", bound=Hashable)
-HashableList: TypeAlias = list[_HT | "HashableList[_HT]"]
+HashableList: TypeAlias = Sequence[_HT | "HashableList[_HT]"]
 """A nested list of Hashable values."""