diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/betamax-matchers/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/betamax-matchers/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..762154ac45d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/betamax-matchers/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi
+, betamax, requests_toolbelt }:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "betamax-matchers";
+  version = "0.4.0";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "07qpwjyq2i2aqhz5iwghnj4pqr2ys5n45v1vmpcfx9r5mhwrsq43";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ betamax requests_toolbelt ];
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    homepage = https://github.com/sigmavirus24/betamax_matchers;
+    description = "A group of experimental matchers for Betamax";
+    license = licenses.asl20;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ pSub ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/betamax-serializers/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/betamax-serializers/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2ad23f1f9e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/betamax-serializers/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi
+, betamax, pyyaml }:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "betamax-serializers";
+  version = "0.2.0";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "1yqzwx204m4lxlpg04cwv6iwzmcpdzr19wvj97vvxchp0g4qg83d";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ betamax pyyaml ];
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    homepage = https://gitlab.com/betamax/serializers;
+    description = "A set of third-party serializers for Betamax";
+    license = licenses.asl20;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/praw/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/praw/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c0be1009b06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/praw/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub
+, requests, decorator, flake8, mock, six, update_checker, pytestrunner, prawcore
+, pytest, betamax, betamax-serializers, betamax-matchers, requests_toolbelt
+}:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "praw";
+  version = "5.2.0";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "praw-dev";
+    repo = "praw";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "0nwfadczxa1fyq65zc3sfv8g2r4w3xrx3bdi5fv9xpn97wh2ifgw";
+  };
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    requests
+    decorator
+    flake8
+    mock
+    six
+    update_checker
+    pytestrunner
+    prawcore
+  ];
+
+  checkInputs = [
+    pytest
+    betamax
+    betamax-serializers
+    betamax-matchers
+    requests_toolbelt
+  ];
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "Python Reddit API wrapper";
+    homepage = http://praw.readthedocs.org/;
+    license = licenses.gpl3;
+    platforms = platforms.all;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ jgeerds ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/prawcore/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/prawcore/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..eb3fb784dc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/prawcore/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchFromGitHub
+, requests
+, testfixtures, mock, requests_toolbelt
+, betamax, betamax-serializers, betamax-matchers
+}:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "prawcore";
+  version = "0.12.0";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "praw-dev";
+    repo = "prawcore";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "1z5fz6v4bv6xw84l4q3rpw3j63bb2dldl0fd6ckz8wqlpb2l45br";
+  };
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    requests
+  ];
+
+  checkInputs = [
+    testfixtures
+    mock
+    betamax
+    betamax-serializers
+    betamax-matchers
+    requests_toolbelt
+  ];
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "Low-level communication layer for PRAW";
+    homepage = http://praw.readthedocs.org/;
+    license = licenses.gpl3;
+    platforms = platforms.all;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ jgeerds ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/sybil/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sybil/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b1fe22df476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/sybil/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonApplication, fetchPypi
+, pytest, nose }:
+
+buildPythonApplication rec {
+  pname   = "sybil";
+  version = "1.0.5";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "0x8qd5p5qliv8wmdglda2iy3f70i4jg8zqyk8yhklm5hrxm8jdl6";
+  };
+
+  checkInputs = [ pytest nose ];
+
+  checkPhase = ''
+    py.test tests
+  '';
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "Automated testing for the examples in your documentation.";
+    homepage    = https://github.com/cjw296/sybil/;
+    license     = licenses.mit;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/testfixtures/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/testfixtures/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..23b5a5aa9e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/testfixtures/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi
+, mock, manuel, pytest, sybil, zope_component, django }:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "testfixtures";
+  version = "5.3.0";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "1xfar653qmikwb94xj3f0xfp8dh2llxjsxipx1272d8qwl0aknnx";
+  };
+
+  checkInputs = [ mock manuel pytest sybil zope_component ];
+
+  checkPhase = ''
+    # django is too much hasle to setup at the moment
+    pytest --ignore=testfixtures/tests/test_django testfixtures/tests
+  '';
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    homepage = "https://github.com/Simplistix/testfixtures";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/update_checker/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/update_checker/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ad401d80190
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/update_checker/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, requests}:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "update_checker";
+  version = "0.16";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "1f38l40d32dm0avcidf3dmikma8z0la84yngj88v4xygzi399qvh";
+  };
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ requests ];
+
+  # requires network
+  doCheck = false;
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "A python module that will check for package updates";
+    homepage = https://github.com/bboe/update_checker;
+    license = licenses.bsd2;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 8cba91324a0..9941a80dd6b 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -1311,24 +1311,9 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
-  betamax-matchers = buildPythonPackage rec {
-    name = "betamax-matchers-${version}";
-    version = "0.3.0";
+  betamax-matchers = callPackage ../development/python-modules/betamax-matchers { };
 
-    src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-       url = "mirror://pypi/b/betamax-matchers/${name}.tar.gz";
-      sha256 = "039kvqsdcvvlfxjc3n1x2xvjg6qkqbql0p7rc4z7bnxm9kcm88la";
-    };
-
-    buildInputs = with self; [ betamax requests_toolbelt ];
-
-    meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-      homepage = https://github.com/sigmavirus24/betamax_matchers;
-      description = "A group of experimental matchers for Betamax";
-      license = licenses.asl20;
-      maintainers = with maintainers; [ pSub ];
-    };
-  };
+  betamax-serializers = callPackage ../development/python-modules/betamax-serializers { };
 
   bibtexparser = callPackage ../development/python-modules/bibtexparser { };
 
@@ -15066,34 +15051,9 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
-  praw = buildPythonPackage rec {
-    name = "praw-3.5.0";
+  praw = callPackage ../development/python-modules/praw { };
 
-    src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-      url = "mirror://pypi/p/praw/${name}.zip";
-      sha256 = "1hwdzqbrjdkicqhyxpcpsmld21k0ndpy8d2gk6l5mv9isw3dm8qa";
-    };
-
-    propagatedBuildInputs = with self; [
-      requests
-      decorator
-      flake8
-      mock
-      six
-      update_checker
-    ];
-
-    # can't find the tests module?
-    doCheck = false;
-
-    meta = {
-      description = "Python Reddit API wrapper";
-      homepage = http://praw.readthedocs.org/;
-      license = licenses.gpl3;
-      platforms = platforms.all;
-      maintainers = with maintainers; [ jgeerds ];
-    };
-  };
+  prawcore = callPackage ../development/python-modules/prawcore { };
 
   premailer = callPackage ../development/python-modules/premailer { };
 
@@ -19733,6 +19693,8 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
+  sybil = callPackage ../development/python-modules/sybil { };
+
   syncthing-gtk = buildPythonPackage rec {
     version = "0.9.2.3";
     name = "syncthing-gtk-${version}";
@@ -20556,24 +20518,7 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
-  update_checker = buildPythonPackage rec {
-    name = "update_checker-0.11";
-
-    src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-      url = "mirror://pypi/u/update_checker/${name}.tar.gz";
-      sha256 = "681bc7c26cffd1564eb6f0f3170d975a31c2a9f2224a32f80fe954232b86f173";
-    };
-
-    propagatedBuildInputs = with self; [ requests ];
-
-    doCheck = false;
-
-    meta = {
-      description = "A python module that will check for package updates";
-      homepage = https://github.com/bboe/update_checker;
-      license = licenses.bsd2;
-    };
-  };
+  update_checker = callPackage ../development/python-modules/update_checker {};
 
   uritemplate = buildPythonPackage rec {
     name = "uritemplate-${version}";
@@ -21809,30 +21754,7 @@ EOF
     };
   };
 
-  testfixtures = buildPythonPackage rec {
-    name = "testfixtures-${version}";
-    version = "4.5.0";
-
-    src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-      url = "mirror://pypi/t/testfixtures/testfixtures-${version}.tar.gz";
-      sha256 = "0my8zq9d27mc7j78pz9971cn5wz6zi4vxlqa50szr2vq9j2xxkll";
-    };
-
-    buildInputs = with self; [ nose mock manuel ];
-
-    checkPhase = ''
-      nosetests -v
-    '';
-
-    # Test suite seems broken
-    # TypeError: TestSuite() missing 1 required positional argument: 'm'
-    # Haven't checked with newer version
-    doCheck = false;
-
-    meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-      homepage = "https://github.com/Simplistix/testfixtures";
-    };
-  };
+  testfixtures = callPackage ../development/python-modules/testfixtures {};
 
   tissue = buildPythonPackage rec {
     name = "tissue-0.9.2";