diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_spanner/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_spanner/default.nix
index ce03add44e4..4e86908b426 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_spanner/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google_cloud_spanner/default.nix
@@ -1,35 +1,32 @@
-{ stdenv
-, buildPythonPackage
-, fetchPypi
-, grpc_google_iam_v1
-, grpcio-gcp
-, google_api_core
-, google_cloud_core
-, pytest
-, mock
-}:
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, pytestCheckHook, pythonOlder
+, grpc_google_iam_v1, grpcio-gcp, google_api_core, google_cloud_core
+, google_cloud_testutils, mock, pytest }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "google-cloud-spanner";
-  version = "1.17.1";
+  version = "1.19.1";
 
   src = fetchPypi {
     inherit pname version;
-    sha256 = "3240a04eaa6496e9d8bf4929f4ff04de1652621fd49555eb83b743c48ed9ca04";
+    sha256 = "0b9ifh9i4hkcs19b4l6v8j8v93yd8p3j19qrrjvvf5a44bc7bhsh";
   };
 
-  checkInputs = [ pytest mock ];
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [ grpcio-gcp grpc_google_iam_v1 google_api_core google_cloud_core ];
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.5";
 
-  # avoid importing local package
-  checkPhase = ''
+  checkInputs = [ google_cloud_testutils mock pytestCheckHook ];
+  propagatedBuildInputs =
+    [ grpcio-gcp grpc_google_iam_v1 google_api_core google_cloud_core ];
+
+  # prevent google directory from shadowing google imports
+  # remove tests that require credentials
+  preCheck = ''
     rm -r google
-    pytest tests/unit
+    rm tests/system/test_system.py
   '';
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Cloud Spanner API client library";
-    homepage = "https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/google-cloud-python";
+    homepage = "https://pypi.org/project/google-cloud-spanner";
     license = licenses.asl20;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.costrouc ];
   };