diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyregion/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyregion/default.nix
index dda3a3cd161..a2b0423e558 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyregion/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyregion/default.nix
@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 { lib
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchPypi
+, fetchpatch
 , pyparsing
 , numpy
 , cython
 , astropy
+, astropy-helpers
+, pytest
+, pytest-astropy
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "pyregion";
   version = "2.0";
 
-  doCheck = false; # tests require pytest-astropy
-
   src = fetchPypi {
     inherit pname version;
     sha256 = "a8ac5f764b53ec332f6bc43f6f2193ca13e8b7d5a3fb2e20ced6b2ea42a9d094";
@@ -25,6 +27,30 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     astropy
   ];
 
+  # Upstream patch needed for the test to pass
+  patches = [
+    (fetchpatch {
+      name = "conftest-astropy-3-fix.patch";
+      url = "https://github.com/astropy/pyregion/pull/136.patch";
+      sha256 = "13yxjxiqnhjy9gh24hvv6pnwx7qic2mcx3ccr1igjrc3f881d59m";
+	  })
+	];
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ astropy-helpers ];
+
+  checkInputs = [ pytest pytest-astropy ];
+
+  # Disable automatic update of the astropy-helper module
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace setup.cfg --replace "auto_use = True" "auto_use = False"
+  '';
+
+  # Tests must be run in the build directory
+  checkPhase = ''
+    cd build/lib.*
+    pytest
+  '';
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Python parser for ds9 region files";
     homepage = https://github.com/astropy/pyregion;