diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_pubsub/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_pubsub/default.nix
index b1e4eae52ad..56a95692846 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_pubsub/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_pubsub/default.nix
@@ -20,10 +20,14 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   checkInputs = [ pytest mock ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ enum34 grpc_google_iam_v1 google_api_core ];
 
+  # tests don't clean up file descriptors correctly
+  doCheck = false;
   checkPhase = ''
     pytest tests/unit
   '';
 
+  pythonImportsCheck = [ "google.cloud.pubsub" ];
+
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Google Cloud Pub/Sub API client library";
     homepage = "https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/google-cloud-python";