diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/xpybutil/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/xpybutil/default.nix
index 60c96582ea6..07cfc96e7fd 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/xpybutil/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/xpybutil/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub, xcffib, pillow }:
+{ lib, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub, xcffib, pillow, nose }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "xpybutil";
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   # pillow is a dependency in image.py which is not listed in setup.py
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ xcffib pillow ];
 
+  checkInputs = [ nose ];
+
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "https://github.com/BurntSushi/xpybutil";
     description = "An incomplete xcb-util port plus some extras";