diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-compat/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-compat/default.nix
index 22f78533142..59103191285 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-compat/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-compat/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchurl,
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub, python,
   django, django_nose, six
 }:
 buildPythonPackage rec {
@@ -6,19 +6,38 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   name = "${pname}-${version}";
   version = "1.0.14";
 
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://pypi/d/django-compat/${name}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "18y5bxxmafcd4np42mzbalva5lpssq0b8ki7zckbzvdv2mnv43xj";
+  # the pypi packages don't include everything required for the tests
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "arteria";
+    repo = "django-compat";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "11g6ra6djkchqk44v8k7biaxd1v69qyyyask5l92vmrvb0qiwvm8";
   };
 
-  doCheck = false;
+  checkPhase = ''
+    runHook preCheck
 
-  buildInputs = [ django_nose ];
+    # we have to do a little bit of tinkering to convince the tests to run against the installed package, not the
+    # source directory
+    mkdir -p testbase/compat
+    pushd testbase
+    # note we're not copying the direct contents of compat/ (notably __init__.py) so python won't recognize this as a
+    # package, but the tests need to be in a specific path for the test templates to get picked up.
+    cp -r ../compat/tests compat/
+    cp ../runtests.py .
+    ${python.interpreter} runtests.py compat/tests
+    popd
+
+    runHook postCheck
+  '';
+
+  checkInputs = [ django_nose ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ django six ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Forward and backwards compatibility layer for Django 1.4, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10 and 1.11";
     homepage = https://github.com/arteria/django-compat;
     license = licenses.mit;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ ris ];
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-hijack/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-hijack/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8eb98924491
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/django-hijack/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub, python,
+  django, django_compat, django_nose
+}:
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  name = "django-hijack-${version}";
+  version = "2.1.4";
+
+  # the pypi packages don't include everything required for the tests
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "arteria";
+    repo = "django-hijack";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "1wbm6l8mzpkj4wsj4fyfamzpzi3day2v1cva5j89v4dn4403jq21";
+  };
+
+  checkInputs = [ django_nose ];
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ django django_compat ];
+
+  checkPhase = ''
+    runHook preCheck
+
+    # we have to do a little bit of tinkering to convince the tests to run against the installed package, not the
+    # source directory
+    mkdir testbase
+    pushd testbase
+    cp ../runtests.py .
+    ${python.interpreter} runtests.py hijack
+    popd
+
+    runHook postCheck
+  '';
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "Allows superusers to hijack (=login as) and work on behalf of another user";
+    homepage = https://github.com/arteria/django-hijack;
+    license = licenses.mit;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ ris ];
+  };
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 2cea5eaab39..aae6e2f743c 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -10181,26 +10181,10 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
-  # This package likely needs an older version of Django.
+  # This package may need an older version of Django.
   # Override the package set and set e.g. `django = super.django_1_9`.
   # See the Nixpkgs manual for examples on how to override the package set.
-  django_hijack = buildPythonPackage rec {
-    name = "django-hijack-${version}";
-    version = "2.0.7";
-
-    src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-      url = "mirror://pypi/d/django-hijack/${name}.tar.gz";
-      sha256 = "0rpi1bkfx74xfbb2nk874kfdra1jcqp2vzky1r3z7zidlc9kah04";
-    };
-
-    propagatedBuildInputs = with self; [ django django_compat ];
-
-    meta = {
-      description = "Allows superusers to hijack (=login as) and work on behalf of another user";
-      homepage = https://github.com/arteria/django-hijack;
-      license = licenses.mit;
-    };
-  };
+  django_hijack = callPackage ../development/python-modules/django-hijack { };
 
   django_nose = buildPythonPackage rec {
     name = "django-nose-${version}";