diff --git a/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/common.nix b/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/common.nix
index 07db91eba091..ed070d8fb4d5 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/common.nix
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 {
   lib,
+  stdenv,
   src,
   version,
+  fetchpatch,
   bashInteractive,
   diffPlugins,
   gobject-introspection,
   gst_all_1,
   python3Packages,
   sphinxHook,
+  writableTmpDirAsHomeHook,
   runtimeShell,
   writeScript,
 
@@ -78,7 +81,19 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication {
   inherit src version;
   pyproject = true;
 
-  patches = extraPatches;
+  patches = [
+    (fetchpatch {
+      # Already on master. TODO: remove when updating to the next release
+      # Issue: https://github.com/beetbox/beets/issues/5527
+      # PR: https://github.com/beetbox/beets/pull/5650
+      name = "fix-im-backend";
+      url = "https://github.com/beetbox/beets/commit/1f938674015ee71431fe9bd97c2214f58473efd2.patch";
+      hash = "sha256-koCYeiUhk1ifo6CptOSu3p7Nz0FFUeiuArTknM/tpVQ=";
+      excludes = [
+        "docs/changelog.rst"
+      ];
+    })
+  ] ++ extraPatches;
 
   build-system = [
     python3Packages.poetry-core
@@ -145,14 +160,26 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication {
       rarfile
       responses
     ]
+    ++ [
+      writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
+    ]
     ++ pluginWrapperBins;
 
   __darwinAllowLocalNetworking = true;
 
-  disabledTestPaths = disabledTestPaths ++ [
-    # touches network
-    "test/plugins/test_aura.py"
-  ];
+  disabledTestPaths =
+    disabledTestPaths
+    ++ [
+      # touches network
+      "test/plugins/test_aura.py"
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [
+      # Flaky: several tests fail randomly with:
+      # if not self._poll(timeout):
+      #   raise Empty
+      #   _queue.Empty
+      "test/plugins/test_player.py"
+    ];
   disabledTests = disabledTests ++ [
     # beets.ui.UserError: unknown command 'autobpm'
     "test/plugins/test_autobpm.py::TestAutoBPMPlugin::test_import"
@@ -170,8 +197,7 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication {
       | sort -u > plugins_available
     ${diffPlugins (attrNames builtinPlugins) "plugins_available"}
 
-    export BEETS_TEST_SHELL="${bashInteractive}/bin/bash --norc"
-    export HOME="$(mktemp -d)"
+    export BEETS_TEST_SHELL="${lib.getExe bashInteractive} --norc"
 
     env EDITOR="${writeScript "beetconfig.sh" ''
       #!${runtimeShell}
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/default.nix
index 74abd34e13b7..a9cd1a9bdfb9 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/default.nix
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ lib.makeExtensible (self: {
     src = fetchFromGitHub {
       owner = "beetbox";
       repo = "beets";
-      rev = "v${version}";
+      tag = "v${version}";
       hash = "sha256-jhwXRgUUQJgQ/PLwvY1UfHCJ9UC8DcdBpE/janao0RM=";
     };
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/plugins/alternatives.nix b/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/plugins/alternatives.nix
index d2520fcaca63..4df52d61d45c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/plugins/alternatives.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/audio/beets/plugins/alternatives.nix
@@ -3,38 +3,51 @@
   fetchFromGitHub,
   beets,
   python3Packages,
+  writableTmpDirAsHomeHook,
 }:
 
 python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
   pname = "beets-alternatives";
-  version = "0.13.0";
+  version = "0.13.1";
   pyproject = true;
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     repo = "beets-alternatives";
     owner = "geigerzaehler";
-    rev = "refs/tags/v${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-i67Bzdh84TuVwcgwo5SgHFp1W04KF3VA6cbrFz82je0=";
+    tag = "v${version}";
+    hash = "sha256-+LvQC7hYtbJeWJiDEKtSFZaEtnuXZ+4mI75rrX9Sd64=";
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     beets
+  ];
+
+  dependencies = [
     python3Packages.poetry-core
   ];
 
-  nativeCheckInputs = with python3Packages; [
-    pytestCheckHook
-    pytest-cov
-    mock
-    typeguard
+  nativeCheckInputs =
+    with python3Packages;
+    [
+      pytestCheckHook
+      pytest-cov-stub
+      mock
+      typeguard
+    ]
+    ++ [
+      writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
+    ];
+
+  disabledTests = [
+    # ValueError: too many values to unpack (expected 2)
+    # https://github.com/geigerzaehler/beets-alternatives/issues/122
+    "test_embed_art"
   ];
-  preCheck = ''
-    export HOME=$(mktemp -d)
-  '';
 
   meta = {
     description = "Beets plugin to manage external files";
     homepage = "https://github.com/geigerzaehler/beets-alternatives";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/geigerzaehler/beets-alternatives/blob/v${version}/CHANGELOG.md";
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [
       aszlig
       lovesegfault