diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/default.nix
index 0be0d61ed0d..2d276c6dcca 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/default.nix
@@ -1,28 +1,32 @@
 { lib
 , buildPythonPackage
-, isPyPy
-, pkgs
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, libuv
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "pyuv";
-  version = "1.2.0";
-  disabled = isPyPy;  # see https://github.com/saghul/pyuv/issues/49
+  version = "1.4.0";
 
-  src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-    url = "https://github.com/saghul/pyuv/archive/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "19yl1l5l6dq1xr8xcv6dhx1avm350nr4v2358iggcx4ma631rycx";
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "saghul";
+    repo = "pyuv";
+    rev = "pyuv-${version}";
+    sha256 = "1wiwwdylz66lfsjh6p4iv7pfhzvnhwjk332625njizfhz3gq9fwr";
   };
 
-  patches = [ ./pyuv-external-libuv.patch ];
+  setupPyBuildFlags = [ "--use-system-libuv" ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ pkgs.libuv ];
+  buildInputs = [ libuv ];
+
+  doCheck = false; # doesn't work in sandbox
+
+  pythonImportsCheck = [ "pyuv" ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Python interface for libuv";
     homepage = "https://github.com/saghul/pyuv";
-    repositories.git = "git://github.com/saghul/pyuv.git";
     license = licenses.mit;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ dotlambda ];
   };
-
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/pyuv-external-libuv.patch b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/pyuv-external-libuv.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 41e169acd5f..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyuv/pyuv-external-libuv.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
-index 5071c3b..4b4a176 100644
---- a/setup.py
-+++ b/setup.py
-@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ try:
-     from setuptools import setup, Extension
- except ImportError:
-     from distutils.core import setup, Extension
--from setup_libuv import libuv_build_ext, libuv_sdist
-
-
- def get_version():
-@@ -35,11 +34,10 @@ setup(name             = "pyuv",
-           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.3",
-           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4"
-       ],
--      cmdclass     = {'build_ext': libuv_build_ext,
--                      'sdist'    : libuv_sdist},
-       packages     = ['pyuv'],
-       ext_modules  = [Extension('pyuv._cpyuv',
-                                 sources = ['src/pyuv.c'],
-+                                libraries = ['uv']
-                      )]
-      )
-