diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/pybind11/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/pybind11/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 7dfbdc4d64a0..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/pybind11/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, catch, python, eigen }:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "pybind";
-  version = "2.2.4";
-
-  src = fetchFromGitHub {
-    owner = "pybind";
-    repo = "pybind11";
-    rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = "0pa79ymcasv8br5ifbx7878id5py2jpjac3i20cqxr6gs9l6ivlv";
-  };
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ];
-  checkInputs = with python.pkgs; [ catch eigen pytest numpy scipy ];
-
-  # Disable test_cmake_build test, as it fails in sandbox
-  # https://github.com/pybind/pybind11/issues/1355
-  patches = [
-    ./no_test_cmake_build.patch
-    (fetchurl { # Remove on bump to v2.2.5
-      name = "pytest_namespace_to_configure.patch";
-      url = "https://github.com/pybind/pybind11/commit/e7ef34f23f194cfa40bdbf967c6d34712261a4ee.patch";
-      sha256 = "1dhv6p0b5fxzxc8j3sfy8kvfmdshczk22xfxh6bk0cfnfdy9iqrq";
-    })
-  ];
-
-  doCheck = true;
-
-  cmakeFlags = [ 
-    "-DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=${python.interpreter}" 
-    "-DPYBIND11_TEST=${if doCheck then "ON" else "OFF"}"
-  ];
-
-  meta = {
-    homepage = https://github.com/pybind/pybind11;
-    description = "Seamless operability between C++11 and Python";
-    longDescription = ''
-      Pybind11 is a lightweight header-only library that exposes
-      C++ types in Python and vice versa, mainly to create Python
-      bindings of existing C++ code.
-    '';
-    platforms = with stdenv.lib.platforms; unix;
-    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
-    maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [ yuriaisaka ];
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/pybind11/no_test_cmake_build.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/pybind11/no_test_cmake_build.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index c5d6ecc4481e..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/pybind11/no_test_cmake_build.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
---- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt	2019-01-28 14:13:55.822119328 +0100
-+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt	2019-01-28 14:14:06.741161928 +0100
-@@ -233,4 +233,3 @@
- add_subdirectory(test_embed)
- 
- # Test CMake build using functions and targets from subdirectory or installed location
--add_subdirectory(test_cmake_build)
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pybind11/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pybind11/default.nix
index 2df360dfaabb..0f386a7c42fe 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pybind11/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pybind11/default.nix
@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@
 , python
 , pytest
 , cmake
-, numpy ? null
-, eigen ? null
-, scipy ? null
+, catch
+, numpy
+, eigen
+, scipy
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
@@ -21,22 +22,41 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     sha256 = "0k89w4bsfbpzw963ykg1cyszi3h3nk393qd31m6y46pcfxkqh4rd";
   };
 
-  dontUseCmakeConfigure = true;
-
   nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ];
-  checkInputs = [ pytest ]
-    ++ (lib.optional (numpy != null) numpy)
-    ++ (lib.optional (eigen != null) eigen)
-    ++ (lib.optional (scipy != null) scipy);
-  checkPhase = ''
-    cmake ${if eigen != null then "-DEIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIR=${eigen}/include/eigen3" else ""}
-    make -j $NIX_BUILD_CORES pytest
+
+  buildInputs = [ catch ];
+
+  cmakeFlags = [
+    "-DEIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIR=${eigen}/include/eigen3"
+  ] ++ lib.optionals (!python.isPy2) [
+  # Enable some tests only on Python 3. The "test_string_view" test
+  # 'testTypeError: string_view16_chars(): incompatible function arguments'
+  # fails on Python 2.
+    "-DPYBIND11_CPP_STANDARD=-std=c++17"
+  ];
+
+  dontUseSetuptoolsBuild = true;
+  dontUsePipInstall = true;
+  dontUseSetuptoolsCheck = true;
+
+  preFixup = ''
+    pushd ..
+    export PYBIND11_USE_CMAKE=1
+    setuptoolsBuildPhase
+    pipInstallPhase
+    # Symlink the CMake-installed headers to the location expected by setuptools
+    mkdir -p $out/include/${python.libPrefix}
+    ln -sf $out/include/pybind11 $out/include/${python.libPrefix}/pybind11
+    popd
   '';
 
-  # re-expose the headers to other packages
-  postInstall = ''
-    ln -s $out/include/python${python.pythonVersion}m/pybind11/ $out/include/pybind11
-  '';
+  installCheckTarget = "pytest";
+  doInstallCheck = true;
+  checkInputs = [
+    pytest
+    numpy
+    scipy
+  ];
 
   meta = {
     homepage = https://github.com/pybind/pybind11;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index ec80061329eb..abdb94363cd1 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -13531,7 +13531,7 @@ in
 
   pugixml = callPackage ../development/libraries/pugixml { };
 
-  pybind11 = callPackage ../development/libraries/pybind11 { };
+  pybind11 = pythonPackages.pybind11;
 
   python-qt = callPackage ../development/libraries/python-qt {
     python = python27;