diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/bonfire/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/bonfire/default.nix
index 2bde876c68c..930d4dfaaba 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/bonfire/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/bonfire/default.nix
@@ -30,7 +30,12 @@ buildPythonApplication rec {
       --replace "data_files = *.rst, *.txt" ""
   '';
 
-  buildInputs = [ httpretty pytest_3 pytestcov ];
+  buildInputs = [ httpretty pytest pytestcov ];
+
+  preCheck = ''
+    # fix compatibility with pytest 4
+    substituteInPlace setup.cfg --replace "[pytest]" "[tool:pytest]"
+  '';
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ arrow click keyring parsedatetime requests six termcolor ];