diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index f0d6b6f195e6..2b6fdb8bc8dc 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -12546,6 +12546,13 @@ let
     buildInputs = with self; [ nose pillow pkgs.gfortran pkgs.glibcLocales ];
     propagatedBuildInputs = with self; [ numpy scipy pkgs.openblas ];
 
+    # doctests fail on i686
+    # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/9472
+    # https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn/issues/5177
+    patchPhase = ''
+      substituteInPlace setup.cfg --replace 'with-doctest = 1' 'with-doctest = 0'
+    '';
+
     buildPhase = ''
       ${self.python.executable} setup.py build_ext -i --fcompiler='gnu95'
     '';