diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.65.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.65.nix
index 427ef072ffe..9837e1c6919 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.65.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.65.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,4 @@ callPackage ./generic.nix (args // rec {
     sha256 = "9807a5d16566c57fd74fb522764e0b134a8bbe6b6e8967b83afefd30dcd3be81";
   };
 
-  enableNumpy = args.enableNumpy or true;
-
 })
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.66.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.66.nix
index a89ae84db38..3fd9c160824 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.66.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.66.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,4 @@ callPackage ./generic.nix (args // rec {
     sha256 = "5721818253e6a0989583192f96782c4a98eb6204965316df9f5ad75819225ca9";
   };
 
-  enableNumpy = args.enableNumpy or true;
-
 })
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix
index adb7ca665cc..6ea7dba0cb1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 , enableShared ? !(hostPlatform.libc == "msvcrt") # problems for now
 , enableStatic ? !enableShared
 , enablePython ? hostPlatform == buildPlatform
-, enableNumpy ? false
+, enableNumpy ? enablePython && stdenv.lib.versionAtLeast version "1.65"
 , taggedLayout ? ((enableRelease && enableDebug) || (enableSingleThreaded && enableMultiThreaded) || (enableShared && enableStatic))
 , patches ? []
 , mpi ? null