diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/avro/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/avro/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ab95120f8dfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/avro/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, isPy3k }:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "avro";
+  version = "1.7.6";
+  disabled = isPy3k;
+
+  src = fetchPypi {
+    inherit pname version;
+    sha256 = "1mbsf1y7gnzmnfmqh8aw62yrwnpwm5bhmmkkbbq92a5vr91l3wgd";
+  };
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "A serialization and RPC framework";
+    homepage = https://pypi.python.org/pypi/avro/;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 6753c0aaab81..65b3c8147cfb 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -617,21 +617,7 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
-  avro = buildPythonPackage (rec {
-    name = "avro-1.7.6";
-
-    disabled = isPy3k;
-
-    src = pkgs.fetchurl {
-      url = "mirror://pypi/a/avro/${name}.tar.gz";
-      sha256 = "edf14143cabb2891f05a73d60a57a9fc5a9ebd305c2188abb3f5db777c707ad5";
-    };
-
-    meta = {
-      description = "A serialization and RPC framework";
-      homepage = "https://pypi.python.org/pypi/avro/";
-    };
-  });
+  avro = callPackage ../development/python-modules/avro {};
 
   avro3k = pkgs.lowPrio (buildPythonPackage (rec {
     name = "avro3k-1.7.7-SNAPSHOT";