diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/accupy/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/accupy/default.nix
index dfe47d306811..7c6d33512bb7 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/accupy/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/accupy/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 { lib
+, stdenv
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , pythonOlder
@@ -56,6 +57,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     export HOME=$(mktemp -d)
   '';
 
+  # This variable is needed to suppress the "Trace/BPT trap: 5" error in Darwin's checkPhase.
+  # Not sure of the details, but we can avoid it by changing the matplotlib backend during testing.
+  env.MPLBACKEND = lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin "Agg";
+
   # performance tests aren't useful to us and disabling them allows us to
   # decouple ourselves from an unnecessary build dep
   preCheck = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotx/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotx/default.nix
index 7acb17c93667..f20812606869 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotx/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotx/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 { lib
+, stdenv
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , pytestCheckHook
@@ -41,11 +42,13 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     ];
   };
 
-  checkInputs = passthru.optional-dependencies.all;
+  # This variable is needed to suppress the "Trace/BPT trap: 5" error in Darwin's checkPhase.
+  # Not sure of the details, but we can avoid it by changing the matplotlib backend during testing.
+  env.MPLBACKEND = lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin "Agg";
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [
     pytestCheckHook
-  ];
+  ] ++ passthru.optional-dependencies.all;
 
   disabledTestPaths = [
     "tests/test_spy.py" # Requires meshzoo (non-free) and pytest-codeblocks (not packaged)
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/perfplot/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/perfplot/default.nix
index 96fa5309a81d..db8b4cd572b3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/perfplot/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/perfplot/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 { lib
+, stdenv
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , flit-core
@@ -35,6 +36,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     rich
   ];
 
+  # This variable is needed to suppress the "Trace/BPT trap: 5" error in Darwin's checkPhase.
+  # Not sure of the details, but we can avoid it by changing the matplotlib backend during testing.
+  env.MPLBACKEND = lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin "Agg";
+
   nativeCheckInputs = [
     pytestCheckHook
   ];