diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/numpy-scipy-support.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/numpy-scipy-support.nix
index 22be22633c20..915b27cb4cd3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/numpy-scipy-support.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/numpy-scipy-support.nix
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
   python,
   # Name of package (e.g. numpy or scipy)
   pkgName,
-  # Atlas math library
-  atlas
+  # OpenBLAS math library
+  openblas
 }:
 
 {
-  # Re-export atlas here so that it can be sure that the same one will be used
+  # Re-export openblas here so that it can be sure that the same one will be used
   # in the propagatedBuildInputs.
-  inherit atlas;
+  inherit openblas;
 
   # First "install" the package, then import what was installed, and call the
   # .test() function, which will run the test suite.
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@
   preBuild = ''
     echo "Creating site.cfg file..."
     cat << EOF > site.cfg
-    [atlas]
-    include_dirs = ${atlas}/include
-    library_dirs = ${atlas}/lib
+    [openblas]
+    include_dirs = ${openblas}/include
+    library_dirs = ${openblas}/lib
     EOF
   '';
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index a5ad7e46f4f2..80931ecfe1f6 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -7798,7 +7798,7 @@ let
   numpy = let
     support = import ../development/python-modules/numpy-scipy-support.nix {
       inherit python;
-      atlas = pkgs.atlasWithLapack;
+      openblas = pkgs.openblasCompat;
       pkgName = "numpy";
     };
   in buildPythonPackage ( rec {
@@ -7821,7 +7821,7 @@ let
     setupPyBuildFlags = ["--fcompiler='gnu95'"];
 
     buildInputs = [ pkgs.gfortran self.nose ];
-    propagatedBuildInputs = [ support.atlas ];
+    propagatedBuildInputs = [ support.openblas ];
 
     meta = {
       description = "Scientific tools for Python";
@@ -11260,7 +11260,7 @@ let
   scipy = let
     support = import ../development/python-modules/numpy-scipy-support.nix {
       inherit python;
-      atlas = pkgs.atlasWithLapack;
+      openblas = pkgs.openblasCompat;
       pkgName = "numpy";
     };
   in buildPythonPackage rec {