diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/default.nix
index 36bd8336269..6f333e13c2b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ let
   opString = lib.optionalString;
   patchSet = import ./rvm-patchsets.nix { inherit fetchFromGitHub; };
   config = import ./config.nix { inherit fetchFromSavannah; };
-  rubygems = import ./rubygems.nix { inherit stdenv lib fetchurl fetchpatch; };
+  rubygems = import ./rubygems { inherit stdenv lib fetchurl fetchpatch; };
 
   # Contains the ruby version heuristics
   rubyVersion = import ./ruby-version.nix { inherit lib; };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0001-add-post-extract-hook.patch b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0001-add-post-extract-hook.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..84d1d52409e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0001-add-post-extract-hook.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+From a6485cfcdf51ff8be452980f93cebfea97f34dec Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: zimbatm <zimbatm@zimbatm.com>
+Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2016 09:32:34 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH 1/3] add post-extract hook
+
+Allows nix to execute scripts just after the gem extraction
+---
+ lib/rubygems/installer.rb | 10 +++++++++-
+ 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/lib/rubygems/installer.rb b/lib/rubygems/installer.rb
+index d26b1e88..bf18fb7f 100644
+--- a/lib/rubygems/installer.rb
++++ b/lib/rubygems/installer.rb
+@@ -848,7 +848,15 @@ TEXT
+   # Ensures that files can't be installed outside the gem directory.
+ 
+   def extract_files
+-    @package.extract_files gem_dir
++    ret = @package.extract_files gem_dir
++    if ENV['NIX_POST_EXTRACT_FILES_HOOK']
++      puts
++      puts "running NIX_POST_EXTRACT_FILES_HOOK #{ENV['NIX_POST_EXTRACT_FILES_HOOK']} #{gem_dir}"
++      system(ENV['NIX_POST_EXTRACT_FILES_HOOK'], gem_dir.to_s)
++      puts "running NIX_POST_EXTRACT_FILES_HOOK done"
++      puts
++    end
++    ret
+   end
+ 
+   ##
+-- 
+2.21.0
+
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0002-binaries-with-env-shebang.patch b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0002-binaries-with-env-shebang.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d6eba67e106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0002-binaries-with-env-shebang.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+From 2e1328bcdddd35e557eabdff83ac07f3591dc693 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: zimbatm <zimbatm@zimbatm.com>
+Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2016 19:37:05 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH 2/3] binaries with env shebang
+
+By default, don't point to the absolute ruby derivation path. As a user
+installing a gem in the home, it would freeze the selected ruby version
+to the currently-installed ruby derivation.
+---
+ lib/rubygems/dependency_installer.rb | 2 +-
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/lib/rubygems/dependency_installer.rb b/lib/rubygems/dependency_installer.rb
+index 34620860..00ab31d9 100644
+--- a/lib/rubygems/dependency_installer.rb
++++ b/lib/rubygems/dependency_installer.rb
+@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Gem::DependencyInstaller
+   extend Gem::Deprecate
+ 
+   DEFAULT_OPTIONS = { # :nodoc:
+-    :env_shebang         => false,
++    :env_shebang         => true,
+     :document            => %w[ri],
+     :domain              => :both, # HACK dup
+     :force               => false,
+-- 
+2.21.0
+
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0003-gem-install-default-to-user.patch b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0003-gem-install-default-to-user.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..138d432c820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/0003-gem-install-default-to-user.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+From d69249d0ff210316121b44d971ddd2439b1bc393 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: zimbatm <zimbatm@zimbatm.com>
+Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2016 09:40:39 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH 3/3] gem install default to user
+
+Default to not installing gems to the read-only system derivation.
+---
+ lib/rubygems/path_support.rb | 2 +-
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/lib/rubygems/path_support.rb b/lib/rubygems/path_support.rb
+index ed680d65..749b9ea6 100644
+--- a/lib/rubygems/path_support.rb
++++ b/lib/rubygems/path_support.rb
+@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class Gem::PathSupport
+   # hashtable, or defaults to ENV, the system environment.
+   #
+   def initialize(env)
+-    @home = env["GEM_HOME"] || Gem.default_dir
++    @home = env["GEM_HOME"] || Gem.user_dir
+ 
+     if File::ALT_SEPARATOR
+       @home = @home.gsub(File::ALT_SEPARATOR, File::SEPARATOR)
+-- 
+2.21.0
+
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/default.nix
similarity index 65%
rename from pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems.nix
rename to pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/default.nix
index 6b9eff718c7..db28cbe28fa 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/ruby/rubygems/default.nix
@@ -2,18 +2,17 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "rubygems";
-  version = "2.7.7";
+  version = "3.0.3";
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://rubygems.org/rubygems/rubygems-${version}.tgz";
-    sha256 = "1jsmmd31j8j066b83lin4bbqz19jhrirarzb41f3sjhfdjiwkcjc";
+    sha256 = "0b6b9ads8522804xv8b8498gqwsv4qawv13f81kyc7g966y7lfmy";
   };
 
   patches = [
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://github.com/zimbatm/rubygems/compare/v2.6.6...v2.6.6-nix.patch";
-      sha256 = "0297rdb1m6v75q8665ry9id1s74p9305dv32l95ssf198liaihhd";
-    })
+    ./0001-add-post-extract-hook.patch
+    ./0002-binaries-with-env-shebang.patch
+    ./0003-gem-install-default-to-user.patch
   ];
 
   installPhase = ''