diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mpl-scatter-density/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mpl-scatter-density/default.nix
index 269425357b5f..f8b4444ec0d8 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mpl-scatter-density/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mpl-scatter-density/default.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 {
   lib,
+  stdenv,
   buildPythonPackage,
   pytestCheckHook,
   fetchFromGitHub,
-  fetchpatch,
-  pythonOlder,
   setuptools-scm,
   setuptools,
   fast-histogram,
@@ -12,38 +11,28 @@
   numpy,
   wheel,
   pytest-mpl,
+  writableTmpDirAsHomeHook,
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mpl-scatter-density";
   version = "0.8";
-  format = "setuptools";
-
-  disabled = pythonOlder "3.6";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "astrofrog";
     repo = pname;
     tag = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-pDiKJAN/4WFf5icNU/ZGOvw0jqN3eGZHgilm2oolpbE=";
+    hash = "sha256-pDiKJAN/4WFf5icNU/ZGOvw0jqN3eGZHgilm2oolpbE=";
   };
 
-  patches = [
-    # https://github.com/astrofrog/mpl-scatter-density/pull/37
-    (fetchpatch {
-      name = "distutils-removal.patch";
-      url = "https://github.com/ifurther/mpl-scatter-density/commit/6feedabe1e82da67d8eec46a80eb370d9f334251.patch";
-      sha256 = "sha256-JqWlSm8mIwqjRPa+kMEaKipJyzGEO+gJK+Q045N1MXA=";
-    })
-  ];
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
+  build-system = [
     setuptools
     setuptools-scm
     wheel
   ];
 
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+  dependencies = [
     matplotlib
     numpy
     fast-histogram
@@ -52,8 +41,13 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   nativeCheckInputs = [
     pytestCheckHook
     pytest-mpl
+    writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
   ];
 
+  # Need to set MPLBACKEND=agg for headless `matplotlib` on darwin.
+  # https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/26292
+  env.MPLBACKEND = lib.optionalString stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin "agg";
+
   disabledTests = [
     # AssertionError: (240, 240) != (216, 216)
     # Erroneous pinning of figure DPI, sensitive to runtime environment