diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/4.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/4.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bffd7c790be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/4.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{ lib
+, buildPythonPackage
+, fetchPypi
+, glibcLocales
+, pytest
+, mock
+, ipython_genutils
+, decorator
+, enum34
+, pythonOlder
+, six
+}:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "traitlets";
+  version = "4.3.3";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "d023ee369ddd2763310e4c3eae1ff649689440d4ae59d7485eb4cfbbe3e359f7";
+  };
+
+  checkInputs = [ glibcLocales pytest mock ];
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ ipython_genutils decorator six ] ++ lib.optional (pythonOlder "3.4") enum34;
+
+  checkPhase = ''
+    LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8" py.test
+  '';
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "Traitlets Python config system";
+    homepage = "http://ipython.org/";
+    license = lib.licenses.bsd3;
+    maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/default.nix
index 5d304c61f5c..3bc05897af6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/traitlets/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 { lib
 , buildPythonPackage
-, isPy27
 , fetchPypi
 , glibcLocales
 , pytest
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "traitlets";
   version = "5.0.5";
-  disabled = isPy27;
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
   src = fetchPypi {
     inherit pname version;
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   };
 
   checkInputs = [ glibcLocales pytest mock ];
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [ ipython_genutils decorator six ] ++ lib.optional (pythonOlder "3.4") enum34;
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ ipython_genutils decorator six ];
 
   checkPhase = ''
     LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8" py.test
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 447bbcbbdbe..421aca7033a 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -7437,7 +7437,10 @@ in {
 
   trackpy = callPackage ../development/python-modules/trackpy { };
 
-  traitlets = callPackage ../development/python-modules/traitlets { };
+  traitlets = if pythonOlder "3.7" then
+    callPackage ../development/python-modules/traitlets/4.nix { }
+  else
+    callPackage ../development/python-modules/traitlets { };
 
   traits = callPackage ../development/python-modules/traits { };