diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/4.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/4.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..49dfbf6ad8ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/4.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+{ lib
+, buildPythonPackage
+, fetchPypi
+, nose
+, isPy27
+, mock
+, ipython
+, jupyter_client
+, pexpect
+, traitlets
+, tornado
+}:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "ipykernel";
+  version = "4.10.0";
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "699103c8e64886e3ec7053f2a6aa83bb90426063526f63a818732ff385202bad";
+  };
+
+  checkInputs = [ nose ] ++ lib.optional isPy27 mock;
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    ipython
+    jupyter_client
+    pexpect
+    traitlets
+    tornado
+  ];
+
+  # Tests require backends.
+  # I don't want to add all supported backends as propagatedBuildInputs
+  doCheck = false;
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "IPython Kernel for Jupyter";
+    homepage = http://ipython.org/;
+    license = lib.licenses.bsd3;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/default.nix
index 9d4392583be5..43b1c9fd0349 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/ipykernel/default.nix
@@ -1,37 +1,31 @@
 { lib
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchPypi
-, nose
-, isPy27
-, mock
 , ipython
 , jupyter_client
-, pexpect
 , traitlets
 , tornado
+, pythonOlder
+, pytest
+, nose
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "ipykernel";
-  version = "4.8.2";
+  version = "5.1.0";
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.4";
 
   src = fetchPypi {
     inherit pname version;
-    sha256 = "c091449dd0fad7710ddd9c4a06e8b9e15277da306590bc07a3a1afa6b4453c8f";
+    sha256 = "0fc0bf97920d454102168ec2008620066878848fcfca06c22b669696212e292f";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ nose ] ++ lib.optional isPy27 mock;
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [
-    ipython
-    jupyter_client
-    pexpect
-    traitlets
-    tornado
-  ];
+  checkInputs = [ pytest nose ];
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ ipython jupyter_client traitlets tornado ];
 
-  # Tests require backends.
-  # I don't want to add all supported backends as propagatedBuildInputs
-  doCheck = false;
+  checkPhase = ''
+    HOME=$(mktemp -d) pytest ipykernel
+  '';
 
   meta = {
     description = "IPython Kernel for Jupyter";
@@ -39,4 +33,4 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     license = lib.licenses.bsd3;
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ fridh ];
   };
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index c63bd3a15207..8b5dce2605d8 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -2539,7 +2539,10 @@ in {
 
   ipy = callPackage ../development/python-modules/IPy { };
 
-  ipykernel = callPackage ../development/python-modules/ipykernel { };
+  ipykernel = if pythonOlder "3.4" then
+      callPackage ../development/python-modules/ipykernel/4.nix { }
+    else
+      callPackage ../development/python-modules/ipykernel { };
 
   ipyparallel = callPackage ../development/python-modules/ipyparallel { };