diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 78ae505f1ff8..c284839fb378 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -7800,7 +7800,13 @@ let
     };
   };
 
-  numpy = buildPythonPackage ( rec {
+  numpy = let
+    support = import ./python-support/numpy-scipy-support.nix {
+      inherit python;
+      atlas = pkgs.atlasWithLapack;
+      pkgName = "numpy";
+    };
+  in buildPythonPackage ( rec {
     name = "numpy-1.9.2";
 
     src = pkgs.fetchurl {
@@ -7815,17 +7821,12 @@ let
       sed -i '0,/from numpy.distutils.core/s//import setuptools;from numpy.distutils.core/' setup.py
     '';
 
-    preBuild = ''
-      export BLAS=${pkgs.openblas} LAPACK=${pkgs.openblas}
-    '';
+    inherit (support) preBuild checkPhase;
 
     setupPyBuildFlags = ["--fcompiler='gnu95'"];
 
-    # error: invalid command 'test'
-    doCheck = false;
-
-    buildInputs = with self; [ pkgs.gfortran ];
-    propagatedBuildInputs = with self; [  pkgs.openblas ];
+    buildInputs = [ pkgs.gfortran self.nose ];
+    propagatedBuildInputs = [ pkgs.atlas ];
 
     meta = {
       description = "Scientific tools for Python";
@@ -11203,7 +11204,13 @@ let
   };
 
 
-  scipy = buildPythonPackage rec {
+  scipy = let
+    support = import ./python-support/numpy-scipy-support.nix {
+      inherit python;
+      atlas = pkgs.atlasWithLapack;
+      pkgName = "numpy";
+    };
+  in buildPythonPackage rec {
     name = "scipy-0.15.1";
 
     src = pkgs.fetchurl {
@@ -11211,19 +11218,16 @@ let
       sha256 = "16i5iksaas3m0hgbxrxpgsyri4a9ncbwbiazlhx5d6lynz1wn4m2";
     };
 
-    buildInputs = [ pkgs.gfortran ];
-    propagatedBuildInputs = with self; [ numpy ];
+    buildInputs = [ pkgs.gfortran self.nose ];
+    propagatedBuildInputs = [ self.numpy ];
 
-    # TODO: add ATLAS=${pkgs.atlas}
     preConfigure = ''
-      export BLAS=${pkgs.blas} LAPACK=${pkgs.liblapack}
       sed -i '0,/from numpy.distutils.core/s//import setuptools;from numpy.distutils.core/' setup.py
     '';
 
-    setupPyBuildFlags = [ "--fcompiler='gnu95'" ];
+    inherit (support) preBuild checkPhase;
 
-    # error: invalid command 'test'
-    doCheck = false;
+    setupPyBuildFlags = [ "--fcompiler='gnu95'" ];
 
     meta = {
       description = "SciPy (pronounced 'Sigh Pie') is open-source software for mathematics, science, and engineering. ";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-support/numpy-scipy-support.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-support/numpy-scipy-support.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6cca704dcdae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-support/numpy-scipy-support.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+{
+  # Python package expression
+  python,
+  # Name of package (e.g. numpy or scipy)
+  pkgName,
+  # Atlas math library
+  atlas
+}:
+
+{
+
+  # First "install" the package, then import what was installed, and call the
+  # .test() function, which will run the test suite.
+  checkPhase = ''
+    runHook preCheck
+
+    _python=${python}/bin/${python.executable}
+
+    # We will "install" into a temp directory, so that we can run the
+    # tests (see below).
+    install_dir="$TMPDIR/test_install"
+    install_lib="$install_dir/lib/${python.libPrefix}/site-packages"
+    mkdir -p $install_dir
+    $_python setup.py install \
+      --install-lib=$install_lib \
+      --old-and-unmanageable \
+      --prefix=$install_dir > /dev/null
+
+    # Create a directory in which to run tests (you get an error if you try to
+    # import the package when you're in the current directory).
+    mkdir $TMPDIR/run_tests
+    pushd $TMPDIR/run_tests > /dev/null
+    # Temporarily add the directory we installed in to the python path
+    # (not permanently, or this pythonpath will wind up getting exported),
+    # and run the test suite.
+    PYTHONPATH="$install_lib:$PYTHONPATH" $_python -c \
+      'import ${pkgName}; ${pkgName}.test("fast", verbose=10)'
+    popd > /dev/null
+
+    runHook postCheck
+  '';
+
+  # Creates a site.cfg telling the setup script where to find depended-on 
+  # math libraries.
+  preBuild = ''
+    echo "Creating site.cfg file..."
+    cat << EOF > site.cfg
+    [atlas]
+    include_dirs = ${atlas}/include
+    library_dirs = ${atlas}/lib
+    EOF
+  '';
+}