diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix
index 1a972daf610..bb43d2148bd 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@
 let inherit (lib) optional optionals; in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  version = "1.10.7";
+  # pinned to 1.10.6 for pythonPackages.tables v3.6.1. tables has test errors for hdf5 > 1.10.6. https://github.com/PyTables/PyTables/issues/845
+  version = "1.10.6";
   pname = "hdf5";
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://support.hdfgroup.org/ftp/HDF5/releases/hdf5-${lib.versions.majorMinor version}/${pname}-${version}/src/${pname}-${version}.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "0pm5xxry55i0h7wmvc7svzdaa90rnk7h78rrjmnlkz2ygsn8y082";
+    sha256 = "1gf38x51128hn00744358w27xgzjk0ff4wra4yxh2lk804ck1mh9";
   };
 
   outputs = [ "out" "dev" ];