diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/hickle/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/hickle/default.nix
index 036122f702b..1d6d6b39d04 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/hickle/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/hickle/default.nix
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "hickle" ];
 
   meta = {
+    # incompatible with h5py>=3.0, see https://github.com/telegraphic/hickle/issues/143
+    broken = true;
     description = "Serialize Python data to HDF5";
     homepage = "https://github.com/telegraphic/hickle";
     license = lib.licenses.mit;