diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyvips/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyvips/default.nix
index 71fe7601ce9c..477463e2c08d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyvips/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyvips/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 { stdenv
 , buildPythonPackage
+, pythonOlder
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , pytestCheckHook
 , glib
@@ -13,6 +14,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "pyvips";
   version = "2.2.1";
 
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
+
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "libvips";
     repo = "pyvips";