diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/symengine/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/symengine/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7bdbeea1452f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/symengine/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+{ stdenv
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, cmake
+, gmp
+, flint
+}:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "symengine-${version}";
+  version = "0.3.0";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "symengine";
+    repo = "symengine";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "1p7hk163rgn1zzvjlq4vskblry3s2rg5bc7xlr08wfqckfr47bqc";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ cmake gmp flint ];
+
+  cmakeFlags = [
+    "-DWITH_FLINT=ON"
+  ];
+
+  doCheck = true;
+  checkPhase = ''
+    ctest
+  '';
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "SymEngine is a fast symbolic manipulation library";
+    homepage = https://github.com/symengine/symengine;
+    platforms = platforms.unix ++ platforms.windows;
+    license = licenses.bsd3;
+    maintainers = [ maintainers.costrouc ];
+  };
+
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/symengine/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/symengine/default.nix
index 7e10c02460e8..a2c0578f0c7f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/symengine/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/symengine/default.nix
@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
 { lib
 , buildPythonPackage
-, fetchPypi
+, fetchFromGitHub
 , cython
 , cmake
 , symengine
-, nose
+, pytest
+, sympy
+, python
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "symengine";
-  version = "0.3.0";
+  version = "0.4.0";
 
-  src = fetchPypi {
-    inherit pname version;
-    sha256 = "e86d13aadc9f765f2c5462da32950edd36d1a0a52dbfc96e766be3689957c04d";
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "symengine";
+    repo = "symengine.py";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "07i9rwxphi4zgwc7y6f6qvq73iym2cx4k1bpd7rmd3wkpgrrfxqx";
   };
 
   postConfigure = ''
@@ -26,12 +30,17 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ cython cmake ];
 
-  setupPyBuildFlags = [ "--symengine-dir=${symengine}/" ];
+  checkInputs = [ pytest sympy ];
+
+  setupPyBuildFlags = [
+    "--symengine-dir=${symengine}/"
+    "--define=\"CYTHON_BIN=${cython}/bin/cython\""
+  ];
 
-  # tests fail due to trying to import local "symengine" directory
-  doCheck = false;
   checkPhase = ''
-    nosetests symengine/tests -v
+    mkdir empty
+    cd empty
+    ${python.interpreter} ../bin/test_python.py
   '';
 
   meta = with lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 96a6839231a8..d926975fa8d3 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -4607,6 +4607,10 @@ in {
 
   python-vagrant = callPackage ../development/python-modules/python-vagrant { };
 
+  symengine = callPackage ../development/python-modules/symengine {
+    symengine = pkgs.symengine;
+  };
+
   sympy = callPackage ../development/python-modules/sympy { };
 
   pilkit = callPackage ../development/python-modules/pilkit { };