diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/shapely/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/shapely/default.nix
index d4d52a9bf035..eb3b5b9e44d1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/shapely/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/shapely/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, substituteAll
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, substituteAll, pythonOlder
 , geos, pytest, cython
 , numpy
 }:
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     inherit pname version;
     sha256 = "0adiz4jwmwxk7k1awqifb1a9bj5x4nx4gglb5dz9liam21674h8n";
   };
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.5";
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     geos # for geos-config