diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/cowsay/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/cowsay/default.nix
index 095c8bab48f5..87457e0a63d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/cowsay/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/cowsay/default.nix
@@ -1,47 +1,47 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, perl, installShellFiles, fetchFromGitHub }:
+{ lib, stdenv, perl, fetchFromGitHub, fetchpatch, nix-update-script, testers, cowsay }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "cowsay";
-  version = "3.04";
-
-  src = fetchFromGitHub {
-    owner = "tnalpgge";
-    repo = "rank-amateur-cowsay";
-    rev = "cowsay-${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-9jCaQ6Um6Nl9j0/urrMCRcsGeubRN3VWD3jDM/AshRg=";
-  };
-
-  buildInputs = [ perl ];
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ installShellFiles ];
-
-  # overriding buildPhase because we don't want to use the install.sh script
-  buildPhase = ''
-    runHook preBuild;
-    substituteInPlace cowsay --replace "%BANGPERL%" "!${perl}/bin/perl" \
-      --replace "%PREFIX%" "$out"
-    runHook postBuild;
-  '';
-
-  installPhase = ''
-    runHook preInstall
-    install -Dm755 cowsay $out/bin/cowsay
-    ln -s $out/bin/cowsay $out/bin/cowthink
-
-    installManPage cowsay.1
-    ln -s $man/share/man/man1/cowsay.1.gz $man/share/man/man1/cowthink.1.gz
-
-    install -Dm644 cows/* -t $out/share/cows/
-    runHook postInstall
-  '';
+  version = "3.7.0";
 
   outputs = [ "out" "man" ];
 
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "cowsay-org";
+    repo = "cowsay";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    hash = "sha256-t1grmCPQhRgwS64RjEwkK61F2qxxMBKuv0/DzBTnL3s=";
+  };
+
+  patches = [
+    # Install cowthink as a symlink, not a copy
+    # See https://github.com/cowsay-org/cowsay/pull/18
+    (fetchpatch {
+      url = "https://github.com/cowsay-org/cowsay/commit/9e129fa0933cf1837672c97f5ae5ad4a1a10ec11.patch";
+      hash = "sha256-zAYEUAM5MkyMONAl5BXj8hBHRalQVAOdpxgiM+Ewmlw=";
+    })
+  ];
+
+  buildInputs = [ perl ];
+
+  makeFlags = [
+    "prefix=${placeholder "out"}"
+  ];
+
+  passthru = {
+    updateScript = nix-update-script { };
+    tests.version = testers.testVersion {
+      package = cowsay;
+      command = "cowsay --version";
+    };
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "A program which generates ASCII pictures of a cow with a message";
-    homepage = "https://github.com/tnalpgge/rank-amateur-cowsay";
+    homepage = "https://cowsay.diamonds";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/cowsay-org/cowsay/releases/tag/v${version}";
     license = licenses.gpl3Only;
     platforms = platforms.all;
-    maintainers = [ maintainers.rob ];
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ rob anthonyroussel ];
   };
 }