diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/base.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/base.nix
index 06f53423219..0a5cc01d929 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/base.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/base.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 { lib
+, callPackage
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchPypi
 , installShellFiles
-, ansible-collections
 , cryptography
 , jinja2
 , junit-xml
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@
 , xmltodict
 }:
 
+let
+  ansible-collections = callPackage ./collections.nix {
+    version = "3.4.0"; # must be < 4.0
+    sha256 = "096rbgz730njk0pg8qnc27mmz110wqrw354ca9gasb7rqg0f4d6a";
+  };
+in
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "ansible-base";
   version = "2.10.11";
@@ -69,6 +75,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   # internal import errors, missing dependencies
   doCheck = false;
 
+  passthru = {
+    collections = ansible-collections;
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Radically simple IT automation";
     homepage = "https://www.ansible.com";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/collections.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/collections.nix
index 9547b9a0918..05aa0b2b294 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/collections.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/collections.nix
@@ -14,21 +14,23 @@
 , xmltodict
 , withJunos ? false
 , withNetbox ? false
+
+, version
+, sha256
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "ansible";
-  version = "3.4.0";
+  inherit version;
   format = "setuptools";
 
   src = fetchPypi {
-    inherit pname version;
-    sha256 = "096rbgz730njk0pg8qnc27mmz110wqrw354ca9gasb7rqg0f4d6a";
+    inherit pname version sha256;
   };
 
   postPatch = ''
     # make ansible-base depend on ansible-collection, not the other way around
-    sed -i '/ansible-base/d' setup.py
+    sed -Ei '/ansible-(base|core)/d' setup.py
   '';
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = lib.unique ([
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/core.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/core.nix
index 45ce2b8778a..4dd606c9adb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/core.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ansible/core.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 { lib
+, callPackage
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchPypi
 , installShellFiles
-, ansible-collections
 , cryptography
 , jinja2
 , junit-xml
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@
 , xmltodict
 }:
 
+let
+  ansible-collections = callPackage ./collections.nix {
+    version = "4.1.0";
+    sha256 = "0rrivq1g0vizah8zmf012lzig2xxfk5x1371k16s3nn4zfkwqqgm";
+  };
+in
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "ansible-core";
   version = "2.11.2";
@@ -74,6 +80,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   # internal import errors, missing dependencies
   doCheck = false;
 
+  passthru = {
+    collections = ansible-collections;
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Radically simple IT automation";
     homepage = "https://www.ansible.com";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 5b189058c73..6b9878b363d 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -415,8 +415,6 @@ in {
 
   ansible-base = callPackage ../development/python-modules/ansible/base.nix { };
 
-  ansible-collections = callPackage ../development/python-modules/ansible/collections.nix { };
-
   ansible-core = callPackage ../development/python-modules/ansible/core.nix { };
 
   ansible-kernel = callPackage ../development/python-modules/ansible-kernel { };