diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/urwid/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/urwid/default.nix
index 129f4821e87..8d5b7ab76e5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/urwid/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/urwid/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi }:
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, fetchpatch }:
 
 buildPythonPackage (rec {
   pname = "urwid";
@@ -10,6 +10,19 @@ buildPythonPackage (rec {
     sha256 = "18cnd1wdjcas08x5qwa5ayw6jsfcn33w4d9f7q3s29fy6qzc1kng";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+   # fix tests
+   (fetchpatch {
+     url = "https://github.com/mwhudson/urwid/commit/4b0ed8b6030450e6d99909a7c683e9642e546387.patch";
+     sha256 = "0azpn0ylbg8mfpr0y27n4lnq0ph75a4d4m9wdv3napnhf1vh9ahx";
+   })
+   # fix tests
+   (fetchpatch {
+     url = "https://github.com/floppym/urwid/commit/f68f2cf089cfd5ec45863baf59a91d5aeb0cf5c3.patch";
+     sha256 = "1b3vz7mrwz2bqvdwvbyv2j835f9lzapgw0j2km4sam76bxmgfpgq";
+   })
+  ];
+
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "A full-featured console (xterm et al.) user interface library";
     homepage = http://excess.org/urwid;