diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/python-prctl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/python-prctl/default.nix
index ffc946a56f54..b4c3731a76cb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/python-prctl/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/python-prctl/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   fetchPypi,
   libcap,
   pytestCheckHook,
+  distutils,
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
@@ -18,7 +19,17 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ libcap ];
 
-  nativeCheckInputs = [ pytestCheckHook ];
+  nativeCheckInputs = [
+    distutils
+    pytestCheckHook
+  ];
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace test_prctl.py \
+      --replace-fail \
+        'sys.version[0:3]' \
+        '"cpython-%d%d" % (sys.version_info.major, sys.version_info.minor)'
+  '';
 
   disabledTests = [
     # Intel MPX support was removed in GCC 9.1 & Linux kernel 5.6