diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/radio_beam/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/radio_beam/default.nix
index 8b2fdc90f049..09d815134ef4 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/radio_beam/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/radio_beam/default.nix
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 { lib
 , fetchPypi
 , buildPythonPackage
-, astropy }:
+, astropy
+, pytest
+, pytest-astropy
+, astropy-helpers
+, scipy
+}:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "radio_beam";
   version = "0.3.1";
 
-  doCheck = false; # the tests requires several pytest plugins that are not in nixpkgs
-
   src = fetchPypi {
     inherit pname version;
     sha256 = "1wgd9dyz3pcc9ighkclb6qfyshwbg35s57lz6k62jhcxpvp8r5zb";
@@ -16,6 +19,21 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ astropy ];
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ astropy-helpers ];
+
+  # Disable automatic update of the astropy-helper module
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace setup.cfg --replace "auto_use = True" "auto_use = False"
+  '';
+
+  checkInputs = [ pytest pytest-astropy scipy ];
+
+  # Tests must be run in the build directory
+  checkPhase = ''
+    cd build/lib
+    pytest
+  '';
+
   meta = {
     description = "Tools for Beam IO and Manipulation";
     homepage = http://radio-astro-tools.github.io;