diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/base.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/base.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..adb2a418b6e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/base.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitLab, cmake, libGLU, libGL, zlib, wxGTK
+, libX11, gettext, glew, glm, cairo, curl, openssl, boost, pkgconfig
+, doxygen, pcre, libpthreadstubs, libXdmcp, fetchpatch, lndir, callPackages
+
+, pname ? "kicad"
+, stable ? true
+, baseName ? "kicad"
+, versions ? { }
+, oceSupport ? false, opencascade
+, withOCCT ? true, opencascade-occt
+, ngspiceSupport ? true, libngspice
+, scriptingSupport ? true, swig, python, pythonPackages, wxPython
+, debug ? false, valgrind
+, withI18n ? true
+}:
+
+assert ngspiceSupport -> libngspice != null;
+
+with lib;
+let
+
+  versionConfig = versions.${baseName};
+  baseVersion = "${versions.${baseName}.kicadVersion.version}";
+
+  # oce on aarch64 fails a test
+  withOCE = oceSupport && !stdenv.isAarch64;
+  withOCC = (withOCCT && !withOCE) || (oceSupport && stdenv.isAarch64);
+
+  kicad-libraries = callPackages ./libraries.nix versionConfig.libVersion;
+
+in
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+
+  inherit pname;
+  version = "base-${baseVersion}";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitLab (
+    {
+      group = "kicad";
+      owner = "code";
+      repo = "kicad";
+      rev = baseVersion;
+    } // versionConfig.kicadVersion.src
+  );
+
+  # quick fix for #72248
+  # should be removed if a a more permanent fix is published
+  patches = [
+    (
+      fetchpatch {
+        url = "https://github.com/johnbeard/kicad/commit/dfb1318a3989e3d6f9f2ac33c924ca5030ea273b.patch";
+        sha256 = "00ifd3fas8lid8svzh1w67xc8kyx89qidp7gm633r014j3kjkgcd";
+      }
+    )
+  ];
+
+  # tagged releases don't have "unknown"
+  postPatch = optional (!stable)
+  ''
+    substituteInPlace CMakeModules/KiCadVersion.cmake \
+      --replace "unknown" ${baseVersion}
+  '';
+
+  makeFlags = optional (debug) [ "CFLAGS+=-Og" "CFLAGS+=-ggdb" ];
+
+  cmakeFlags =
+    optionals (scriptingSupport) [
+      "-DKICAD_SCRIPTING=ON"
+      "-DKICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON"
+      "-DKICAD_SCRIPTING_PYTHON3=ON"
+      "-DKICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON_PHOENIX=ON"
+    ]
+    ++ optional (!scriptingSupport)
+      "-DKICAD_SCRIPTING=OFF"
+    ++ optional (ngspiceSupport) "-DKICAD_SPICE=ON"
+    ++ optional (!withOCE) "-DKICAD_USE_OCE=OFF"
+    ++ optional (!withOCC) "-DKICAD_USE_OCC=OFF"
+    ++ optionals (withOCE)
+      [ "-DKICAD_USE_OCE=ON" "-DOCE_DIR=${opencascade}" ]
+    ++ optionals (withOCC) [
+      "-DKICAD_USE_OCC=ON"
+      "-DOCC_INCLUDE_DIR=${opencascade-occt}/include/opencascade"
+    ]
+    ++ optionals (debug) [
+      "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug"
+      "-DKICAD_STDLIB_DEBUG=ON"
+      "-DKICAD_USE_VALGRIND=ON"
+    ]
+  ;
+
+  pythonPath =
+    optionals (scriptingSupport)
+      [ wxPython pythonPackages.six ];
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake doxygen pkgconfig lndir ];
+
+  buildInputs = [
+    libGLU libGL zlib libX11 wxGTK pcre libXdmcp gettext
+    glew glm libpthreadstubs cairo curl openssl boost
+  ]
+  ++ optionals (scriptingSupport) [ swig python wxPython ]
+  ++ optional (ngspiceSupport) libngspice
+  ++ optional (withOCE) opencascade
+  ++ optional (withOCC) opencascade-occt
+  ++ optional (debug) valgrind
+  ;
+
+  # debug builds fail all but the python test
+  # 5.1.x fails the eeschema test
+  doInstallCheck = !debug && !stable;
+  installCheckTarget = "test";
+
+  dontStrip = debug;
+
+  postInstall = optional (withI18n) ''
+    mkdir -p $out/share
+    lndir ${kicad-libraries.i18n}/share $out/share
+  '';
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "just the built source without the libraries";
+    longDescription = ''
+      just the build products, optionally with the i18n linked in
+      the libraries are passed via an env var in the wrapper, default.nix
+    '';
+    homepage = "https://www.kicad-pcb.org/";
+    license = licenses.agpl3;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ evils kiwi berce ];
+    platforms = with platforms; linux;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/default.nix
index ca5d7da29e0f..47dd1f084961 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/default.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, libGLU_combined, zlib, wxGTK
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, libGLU, libGL, zlib, wxGTK
 , libX11, gettext, glew, glm, cairo, curl, openssl, boost, pkgconfig
 , doxygen, pcre, libpthreadstubs, libXdmcp, makeWrapper, gnome3
 , gsettings-desktop-schemas, librsvg, hicolor-icon-theme, lndir, cups
 , fetchpatch
 
-, oceSupport ? true, opencascade
-, withOCCT ? false, opencascade-occt
+, oceSupport ? false, opencascade
+, withOCCT ? true, opencascade-occt
 , ngspiceSupport ? true, libngspice
 , scriptingSupport ? true, swig, python, pythonPackages, wxPython
 , debug ? false, valgrind
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ;
 
   buildInputs = [
-    libGLU_combined zlib libX11 wxGTK pcre libXdmcp gettext
+    libGLU libGL zlib libX11 wxGTK pcre libXdmcp gettext
     glew glm libpthreadstubs cairo curl openssl boost
   ]
   ++ optionals (scriptingSupport) [ swig python wxPython ]
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/libraries.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/libraries.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9b262285e3c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/libraries.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+{ stdenv, lib, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, gettext
+, with3d ? true
+}:
+
+with lib;
+let
+  mkLib = version: name: sha256: attrs: stdenv.mkDerivation ({
+    name = "kicad-${name}-${version}";
+    src = fetchFromGitHub {
+      owner = "KiCad";
+      repo = "kicad-${name}";
+      rev = version;
+      inherit sha256 name;
+    };
+    nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ];
+  } // attrs);
+in
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  pname = "kicad-libraries";
+  version = "5.1.5";
+
+  passthru = {
+    symbols = mkLib "${version}" "symbols" "048b07ffsaav1ssrchw2p870lvb4rsyb5vnniy670k7q9p16qq6h" {
+      meta.license = licenses.cc-by-sa-40;
+    };
+    templates = mkLib "${version}" "templates" "0cs3bm3zb5ngw5ldn0lzw5bvqm4kvcidyrn76438alffwiz2b15g" {
+      meta.license = licenses.cc-by-sa-40;
+    };
+    footprints = mkLib "${version}" "footprints" "1c4whgn14qhz4yqkl46w13p6rpv1k0hsc9s9h9368fxfcz9knb2j" {
+      meta.license = licenses.cc-by-sa-40;
+    };
+    i18n = mkLib "${version}" "i18n" "1rfpifl8vky1gba2angizlb2n7mwmsiai3r6ip6qma60wdj8sbd3" {
+      buildInputs = [ gettext ];
+      meta.license = licenses.gpl2; # https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-i18n/issues/3
+    };
+    packages3d = mkLib "${version}" "packages3d" "0cff2ms1bsw530kqb1fr1m2pjixyxzwa81mxgac3qpbcf8fnpvaz" {
+      hydraPlatforms = []; # this is a ~1 GiB download, occupies ~5 GiB in store
+      meta.license = licenses.cc-by-sa-40;
+    };
+  };
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "Free Software EDA Suite, assets";
+    homepage = "http://www.kicad-pcb.org/";
+    license = with licenses; [ gpl2 cc-by-sa-40 ];
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ evils kiwi ];
+    platforms = with platforms; linux;
+  };
+
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/unstable.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/unstable.nix
index f47faae972c4..70e6768bba43 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/unstable.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/kicad/unstable.nix
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 , gsettings-desktop-schemas, librsvg, hicolor-icon-theme, cups
 , fetchpatch, kicad-libraries, lndir
 
-, oceSupport ? true, opencascade
-, withOCCT ? false, opencascade-occt
+, oceSupport ? false, opencascade
+, withOCCT ? true, opencascade-occt
 , ngspiceSupport ? true, libngspice
 , scriptingSupport ? true, swig, python, pythonPackages, wxPython
 , debug ? false, valgrind
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     group = "kicad";
     owner = "code";
     repo = "kicad";
-    rev = "65ef8c18944947c3305619032bd1aedbe8b99d64";
-    sha256 = "0p0bm2yb34gqwks3qppwzgf5nylmn85psx2wwgk34yc8hs1p7yq0";
+    rev = "ffcf3b01fce98f1bcbdf3b76fbc88228126be965";
+    sha256 = "0qzjv06az1xl3am5v4v09nyfjcpq1wf3137wjv7a0vh8m38dvrwk";
   };
 
   patches = [
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
index 4911f96fad62..c81964492442 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ mapAliases ({
   keepassx-reboot = keepassx-community; # added 2017-02-01
   keepassx2-http = keepassx-reboot; # added 2016-10-17
   keybase-go = keybase;  # added 2016-08-24
+  kicad-with-packages3d = kicad; # added 2019-11-25
   krename-qt5 = krename; # added 2017-02-18
   keymon = throw "keymon has been removed from nixpkgs, as it's abandoned and archived."; # 2019-12-10
   kvm = qemu_kvm; # added 2018-04-25
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index fd46ca3af593..aa9dc70b5bda 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -24204,7 +24204,10 @@ in
     python = python3;
     wxPython = python3Packages.wxPython_4_0;
   };
-  kicad-with-packages3d = kicad.overrideAttrs (old: { modules = old.modules ++ [ old.passthru.packages3d ]; });
+
+  kicad-small = kicad.override { with3d = false; };
+
+  kicad-libraries = callPackage ../applications/science/electronics/kicad/libraries.nix { };
 
   kicad-unstable = callPackage ../applications/science/electronics/kicad/unstable.nix {
     # wxGTK31 currently introduces an issue with opening the python interpreter in pcbnew