diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ruffus/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ruffus/default.nix
index b3f09ee88ff..da905f7ab47 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ruffus/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ruffus/default.nix
@@ -9,39 +9,34 @@
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "ruffus";
-  version = "2.8.1";
+  version = "2.8.4";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "cgat-developers";
     repo = pname;
     rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = "1gyabqafq4s2sy0prh3k1m8859shzjmfxr7fimx10liflvki96a9";
+    sha256 = "0fnzpchwwqsy5h18fs0n90s51w25n0dx0l74j0ka6lvhjl5sxn4c";
   };
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ gevent ];
 
-  postPatch = ''
-    sed -i -e 's|/bin/bash|${stdenv.shell}|'          ruffus/test/Makefile
-    sed -i -e 's|\tpytest|\t${pytest}/bin/pytest|'    ruffus/test/Makefile
-    sed -i -e 's|\tpython|\t${python.interpreter}|'   ruffus/test/Makefile
-    sed -i -e 's|/usr/bin/env bash|${stdenv.shell}|'  ruffus/test/run_all_unit_tests.cmd
-    sed -i -e 's|python3|${python.interpreter}|'      ruffus/test/run_all_unit_tests3.cmd
-    sed -i -e 's|python %s|${python.interpreter} %s|' ruffus/test/test_drmaa_wrapper_run_job_locally.py
-  '';
-
-  makefile = "ruffus/test/Makefile";
-
   checkInputs = [
-    gevent
     hostname
     pytest
   ];
 
+  # tests very flaky & hang often on darwin
+  doCheck = !stdenv.isDarwin;
+  # test files do indeed need to be executed separately
   checkPhase = ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
-    cd ruffus/test
-    make all PYTEST_OPTIONS="-q --disable-warnings"
+    pushd ruffus/test
+    rm test_with_logger.py  # spawns 500 processes
+    for f in test_*.py ; do
+      HOME=$TMPDIR pytest -v --disable-warnings $f
+    done
+    popd
   '';
+  pythonImportsCheck = [ "ruffus" ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Light-weight Python Computational Pipeline Management";