diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/3.5.0.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/3.5.0.nix
index 35fca306d6c..ef89c0bfee2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/3.5.0.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/3.5.0.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,22 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, gfortran, atlas, cmake, python, shared ? false }:
+{
+  stdenv,
+  fetchurl,
+  gfortran,
+  cmake,
+  python,
+  atlas ? null,
+  shared ? false
+}:
 let
-  atlasMaybeShared = atlas.override { inherit shared; };
+  atlasMaybeShared = if atlas != null then atlas.override { inherit shared; }
+                     else null;
   usedLibExtension = if shared then ".so" else ".a";
-in
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  inherit (stdenv.lib) optional optionals concatStringsSep;
+  inherit (builtins) hasAttr attrNames;
   version = "3.5.0";
+in
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "liblapack-${version}";
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "http://www.netlib.org/lapack/lapack-${version}.tgz";
@@ -17,11 +29,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   cmakeFlags = [
     "-DUSE_OPTIMIZED_BLAS=ON"
-    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_f77blas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libf77blas${usedLibExtension}"
-    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_atlas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libatlas${usedLibExtension}"
     "-DCMAKE_Fortran_FLAGS=-fPIC"
   ]
-  ++ (stdenv.lib.optional shared "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON")
+  ++ (optionals (atlas != null) [
+    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_f77blas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libf77blas${usedLibExtension}"
+    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_atlas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libatlas${usedLibExtension}"
+  ])
+  ++ (optional shared "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON")
+  # If we're on darwin, CMake will automatically detect impure paths. This switch
+  # prevents that.
+  ++ (optional stdenv.isDarwin "-DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT:PATH=''")
   ;
 
   doCheck = ! shared;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/default.nix
index 57d842bf437..f3832ba0a20 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/default.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,21 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, gfortran, atlas, cmake, python, shared ? false }:
+{
+  stdenv,
+  fetchurl,
+  gfortran,
+  cmake,
+  python,
+  atlas ? null,
+  shared ? false
+}:
 let
-  atlasMaybeShared = atlas.override { inherit shared; };
+  atlasMaybeShared = if atlas != null then atlas.override { inherit shared; }
+                     else null;
   usedLibExtension = if shared then ".so" else ".a";
+  inherit (stdenv.lib) optional optionals concatStringsSep;
+  inherit (builtins) hasAttr attrNames;
   version = "3.4.1";
-  inherit (stdenv.lib) optional;
 in
+
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "liblapack-${version}";
   src = fetchurl {
@@ -18,10 +29,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   cmakeFlags = [
     "-DUSE_OPTIMIZED_BLAS=ON"
-    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_f77blas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libf77blas${usedLibExtension}"
-    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_atlas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libatlas${usedLibExtension}"
     "-DCMAKE_Fortran_FLAGS=-fPIC"
   ]
+  ++ (optionals (atlas != null) [
+    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_f77blas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libf77blas${usedLibExtension}"
+    "-DBLAS_ATLAS_atlas_LIBRARY=${atlasMaybeShared}/lib/libatlas${usedLibExtension}"
+  ])
   ++ (optional shared "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON")
   # If we're on darwin, CMake will automatically detect impure paths. This switch
   # prevents that.
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 778d011af6e..c9639087d67 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -13851,7 +13851,7 @@ let
     # great feature, but it's of limited use with pre-built binaries
     # coming from a central build farm.
     tolerateCpuTimingInaccuracy = true;
-    liblapack = liblapack_3_5_0;
+    liblapack = liblapack_3_5_0WithoutAtlas;
     withLapack = false;
   };
 
@@ -13867,8 +13867,17 @@ let
 
   jags = callPackage ../applications/science/math/jags { };
 
-  liblapack = callPackage ../development/libraries/science/math/liblapack { };
-  liblapack_3_5_0 = callPackage ../development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/3.5.0.nix { };
+
+  # We have essentially 4 permutations of liblapack: version 3.4.1 or 3.5.0,
+  # and with or without atlas as a dependency. The default `liblapack` is 3.4.1
+  # with atlas. Atlas, when built with liblapack as a dependency, uses 3.5.0
+  # without atlas. Etc.
+  liblapackWithAtlas = callPackage ../development/libraries/science/math/liblapack {};
+  liblapackWithoutAtlas = liblapackWithAtlas.override { atlas = null; };
+  liblapack_3_5_0WithAtlas = callPackage ../development/libraries/science/math/liblapack/3.5.0.nix {};
+  liblapack_3_5_0WithoutAtlas = liblapack_3_5_0WithAtlas.override { atlas = null; };
+  liblapack = liblapackWithAtlas;
+  liblapack_3_5_0 = liblapack_3_5_0WithAtlas;
 
   liblbfgs = callPackage ../development/libraries/science/math/liblbfgs { };