diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/lupa/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/lupa/default.nix
index 2566c91af20b..3273c9ae21ab 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/lupa/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/lupa/default.nix
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@
   cython,
   setuptools,
 
-  # nativeBuildInputs
-  pkg-config,
-
-  # buildInputs
-  luajit,
 }:
 buildPythonPackage (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "lupa";
@@ -22,7 +17,11 @@ buildPythonPackage (finalAttrs: {
     owner = "scoder";
     repo = "lupa";
     tag = "lupa-${finalAttrs.version}";
-    hash = "sha256-JlKxisVd0sbLcmVjzyFEkbUDAornAoCWekpASl6qeY4=";
+    # Lua sources are vendored as submodules under third-party/.
+    # They are needed so that setup.py builds properly named backend
+    # modules (e.g. lua51, lua54, luajit21) expected by consumers like fakeredis.
+    fetchSubmodules = true;
+    hash = "sha256-XLBUQ1TrzWWST9RJdMTnpsceldDNzidnL82bixLhSRA=";
   };
 
   build-system = [
@@ -30,18 +29,6 @@ buildPythonPackage (finalAttrs: {
     setuptools
   ];
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    pkg-config
-  ];
-
-  env = {
-    LUPA_NO_BUNDLE = "true";
-  };
-
-  buildInputs = [
-    luajit
-  ];
-
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "lupa" ];
 
   meta = {