diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/markdown-it-py/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/markdown-it-py/default.nix
index c1c5da228f0f..50b984f69d7a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/markdown-it-py/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/markdown-it-py/default.nix
@@ -1,20 +1,24 @@
 { lib
 , attrs
 , buildPythonPackage
+, commonmark
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , flit-core
 , linkify-it-py
+, markdown
 , mdurl
-, psutil
-, py
-, pytest-benchmark
+, mistletoe
+, mistune
+, myst-parser
+, panflute
+, pyyaml
+, sphinx
+, sphinx-book-theme
+, sphinx-copybutton
+, sphinx-design
 , pytest-regressions
 , pytestCheckHook
 , pythonOlder
-, typing-extensions
-# allow disabling tests for the nixos manual build.
-# the test suite closure is just too large.
-, disableTests ? false
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
@@ -36,30 +40,29 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   ];
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
-    attrs
-    linkify-it-py
     mdurl
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (pythonOlder "3.8") [
-    typing-extensions
   ];
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [
-    psutil
-    py
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (! disableTests) [
-    pytest-benchmark
     pytest-regressions
     pytestCheckHook
-  ];
+  ] ++ passthru.optional-dependencies.linkify;
 
-  pytestFlagsArray = [
-    "--benchmark-skip"
-  ];
+  # disable and remove benchmark tests
+  preCheck = ''
+    rm -r benchmarking
+  '';
 
   pythonImportsCheck = [
     "markdown_it"
   ];
 
+  passthru.optional-dependencies = {
+    compare = [ commonmark markdown mistletoe mistune panflute ];
+    linkify = [ linkify-it-py ];
+    rtd = [ attrs myst-parser pyyaml sphinx sphinx-copybutton sphinx-design sphinx-book-theme ];
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Markdown parser in Python";
     homepage = "https://markdown-it-py.readthedocs.io/";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdit-py-plugins/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdit-py-plugins/default.nix
index f93751ca71d5..291ea54c56bc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdit-py-plugins/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdit-py-plugins/default.nix
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@
 , markdown-it-py
 , pytest-regressions
 , pytestCheckHook
-# allow disabling tests for the nixos manual build.
-# the test suite closure is just too large.
-, disableTests ? false
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
@@ -33,7 +30,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     markdown-it-py
   ];
 
-  nativeCheckInputs = lib.optionals (!disableTests) [
+  nativeCheckInputs = [
     pytestCheckHook
     pytest-regressions
   ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/myst-parser/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/myst-parser/default.nix
index 4437c9edcb75..c2b1f0bdb667 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/myst-parser/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/myst-parser/default.nix
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     pytest-regressions
     sphinx-pytest
     pytestCheckHook
-  ];
+  ] ++ markdown-it-py.optional-dependencies.linkify;
 
   disabledTests = [
     # AssertionError due to different files
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix
index 065404f36c20..d2b8f1a0614b 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix
@@ -12,27 +12,16 @@ let
   python = ((if stdenv.isDarwin then python3 else python3Minimal).override {
     self = python;
     includeSiteCustomize = true;
-  });
-
-  # TODO add our own small test suite, maybe add tests for these deps to channels?
-  markdown-it-py-no-tests = python.pkgs.markdown-it-py.override {
-    disableTests = true;
+  }).override {
+    packageOverrides = final: prev: {
+      markdown-it-py = prev.markdown-it-py.overridePythonAttrs (_: {
+        doCheck = false;
+      });
+      mdit-py-plugins = prev.mdit-py-plugins.overridePythonAttrs (_: {
+        doCheck = false;
+      });
+    };
   };
-  mdit-py-plugins-no-tests = python.pkgs.mdit-py-plugins.override {
-    markdown-it-py = markdown-it-py-no-tests;
-    disableTests = true;
-  };
-
-  makeDeps = pkgs: small:
-    if small
-    then [
-      markdown-it-py-no-tests
-      mdit-py-plugins-no-tests
-    ]
-    else [
-      pkgs.markdown-it-py
-      pkgs.mdit-py-plugins
-    ];
 in
 
 python.pkgs.buildPythonApplication rec {
@@ -54,12 +43,15 @@ python.pkgs.buildPythonApplication rec {
     src = ./src;
   };
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    python.pkgs.setuptools
-    python.pkgs.pytestCheckHook
+  nativeBuildInputs = with python.pkgs; [
+    setuptools
+    pytestCheckHook
   ];
 
-  propagatedBuildInputs = makeDeps python.pkgs true;
+  propagatedBuildInputs = with python.pkgs; [
+    markdown-it-py
+    mdit-py-plugins
+  ];
 
   pytestFlagsArray = [ "-vvrP" "tests/" ];
 
@@ -67,7 +59,7 @@ python.pkgs.buildPythonApplication rec {
   # build closures small. mypy has an unreasonably large build closure for docs builds.
   passthru.tests.typing = runCommand "${pname}-mypy" {
     nativeBuildInputs = [
-      (python3.withPackages (p: [ p.mypy p.pytest ] ++ makeDeps p false))
+      (python3.withPackages (ps: with ps; [ mypy pytest markdown-it-py mdit-py-plugins ]))
     ];
   } ''
     mypy --strict ${src}