diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpy2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpy2/default.nix
index 027083232650..c10b23414b42 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpy2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/rpy2/default.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 , lib
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchPypi
+, fetchpatch
 , isPyPy
 , R
 , rWrapper
@@ -38,6 +39,12 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
       # R_LIBS_SITE is used by the nix r package to point to the installed R libraries.
       # This patch sets R_LIBS_SITE when rpy2 is imported.
       ./rpy2-3.x-r-libs-site.patch
+
+      # https://github.com/rpy2/rpy2/pull/1094
+      (fetchpatch {
+        url = "https://github.com/rpy2/rpy2/commit/026d069a008163a62d12567bcb938410d0f9bf7a.diff";
+        hash = "sha256-x778upSY3zab5EiRyOcsbDpPj7vN/7XzefEs+wvkNg0=";
+      })
     ];
 
     postPatch = ''
@@ -82,10 +89,6 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
     doCheck = !stdenv.isDarwin;
 
-    # newlines in environment variables are a problem due to
-    # https://github.com/rpy2/rpy2/issues/1066
-    preCheck = "unset postPatch";
-
     nativeCheckInputs = [
       pytestCheckHook
     ];